May 21, 2004 Derecho - MI, OH, PA

[weathergy]

This was a derecho that swept through Southern MI in the early afternoon, Ohio, and PA for the rest of the evening. It packed hurricane force winds, and tons, and tons of hail.

Just received a report of 95 mph wind gusts in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is an extremely dangerous situation for southeast lower Michigan and into northwest Ohio where derecho wind gusts of 80-120 mph are expected.

Source: An old thread at EasternUSWx about the event

For any of you that remember this storm, it was possibly the most powerful storm that I've witnessed, and the only storm I can remember that was characterized by a green sky. I was just a high school freshman then, and it came just after we were let out of school that afternoon. I remember getting off the bus, seeing a green sky, and running home with quarter-sized hail bouncing on top of my head. It hailed so much that the ground was white. The winds were at least hurricane force, I never seen so many trees down. And possibly part of the most active year that Michigan has seen in recent history. I have yet to witness a year that trumps 2004 here.

SPC Severe Weather Event

[OHweather]

I remember that...trees down all over the place and hail covering the ground. Didn't quite see quarters here but tons of pea to dime sized hail whipped by winds that gusted over 50MPH for about 10 minutes after the initial, and likely hurricane force, gust of wind. Was likely the most intense storm that my back yard has seen in my lifetime, although an F2 tornado in November of 2001 came close.

[weathergy]

I remember that...trees down all over the place and hail covering the ground. Didn't quite see quarters here but tons of pea to dime sized hail whipped by winds that gusted over 50MPH for about 10 minutes after the initial, and likely hurricane force, gust of wind. Was likely the most intense storm that my back yard has seen in my lifetime, although an F2 tornado in November of 2001 came close.

I dug up old radar scans for your neck of the woods.

[Stebo]

i remember this event very well, I was living at my grandparents at the time and my dad woke me up right before it hit, as I was on midnights at the time. I remember the sky being pitch black then turning this very dark green shade. When it hit the winds were easily over 70mph on Harsens Island (where my grandparents live). Certainly one to remember.

[weatherpsycho]

Ugg I remember this one. I was on vacation (out west CA/AZ) at the time of this storm.

[Hoosier]

I remember this event. It was part of a very active finish to the month of May across the central US (4 high risk days from May 22-30)

[hm8]

Would have loved to be in AA for this one

[MichiganLion]

That Friday was a good one (I was in Shelby Township, Macomb County this afternoon). I would not personally call it the most powerful storm I've witnessed in Southeast Michigan (1995 & 1998 derechoes, July 2 1997) ... but it definitely ranks up there. Admittedly, the two tiers of Michigan counties to the South took it worse on May 21 2004 vs. the Macomb/Oakland/Livingston County tier.

It definitely caught me by surprise ..... it was actually somewhat cool (temps in the mid-60s), non-humid (dewpoints in the low-50s) and overcast before the event ..... much different weather versus what preceded the July 1995 & May 1998 derechoes.

[SpartyOn]

The shelf cloud associated was sick. I remember the sky turned green and the winds just freaking howled. One of the few times I was concerned in a thunderstorm. I was in Yipsilanti during the event.

[AppsRunner]

Was still pretty good here, probably the most hail I've seen in one storm... but not the best severe storm here. What I find interesting about this is that most of the damaging winds occurred north or along the warm front which as roughly on the OH/MI border at the time or just slightly north.

[weathergy]

I remember this event. It was part of a very active finish to the month of May across the central US (4 high risk days from May 22-30)

It was definitely an eventful month.

Never in the history of climate records for Detroit has a May been this stormy or wet across the Metro Detroit area. In addition to this climate write-up, a Public Information Statement regarding the rain, storms, flooding and severe weather warnings can be found at: http://weather.gov/dtx/may2004.php.

......

TOTAL DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORMS IN MAY BREAKS MAY'S OLD RECORD AND TIES FIRST PLACE FOR ANY MONTH (AND ALL PREVIOUS RECORDS ARE OVER 100 YEARS OLD)

Numerous thunderstorms during the month brought the amount of thunderstorm days to 14. This blew away the old record of thunderstorm days for the month of May which was 11 and set way back again in the 19th century /1896/. The 14 days of storms that occurred this May also tied June of 1892 and July 1902.

Source

[nwohweather]

Ahh I remember this storm. I was in 6th grade at the time and boy was there hail and a lot of wind. First time I remember Forbes putting us in his white "greatest risk" area

[jmstonier1990]

I remember this storm well. I was an 8th grader at Davidson Middle School in Southgate, MI. I remember the day being very cloudy, but not very hot or humid. It hit during the last class of the day around 2 pm. I remember seeing the green sky with the darkest clouds I had ever seen. It got so dark the street lights came on. There is a tornado siren directly across the street that blared for several minutes. Will never forget it.

[stormtrackertf]

Very old thread, but I too remember this storm very well. It also produced some of the heaviest rainfall I have ever seen, which was estimated by radar to be in the 6-8"/hr range. Of course, it was moving at a good 60-65mph at times so the torrent of rain was relatively short lived.

In fact, I still have a few radar images saved from this event. Some of the oldest stuff I still have original copies of.

[Chinook]

I drove from Toledo to Fort Wayne that day. It was more of a storm intercept than a storm chase-- there was a 100% chance I would drive into the storm. The sky got very dark greenish very fast and then the rain hit. I had to pull into a gas station parking lot outside of the Ft. Wayne suburbs because I couldn't see the road anymore. There was a wind damage report near where I parked at that gas station, as per SPC storm reports. Then I tried driving southwest and I got hit by 0.75" soft hail, once again hitting torrential rain for a minute. Then, by some stroke of bad luck, I got lost in downtown Fort Wayne. Then I drove back toward Toledo, and there was quick clearing of the sky since the storm moved so fast. There was easterly wind behind the storm, due to a wake low (dynamically generated low behind a bow echo.). GRLevel3 radar image from Ft. Wayne that day.

 

 

some interesting VIL values

 

 

EHI analysis

 

 

 

 

 

[osubrett2]

This day is one of my top weather moments. I was a senior in HS living in Youngstown at the time. This derecho was the 2nd of 3 rounds of storms that day and obviously was the most noteworthy event. Late on 5/20/04 and early on this day, an MCS moved from Michigan into Ohio and passed through around 6am to start the day. This derecho moved through NE Ohio around 5pm IIRC and is probably the 2nd greatest straight line derecho I've seen besides June 29, 2012. July 1995 is probably up there too.

We also ended that day with more storms after 11pm forming and training to cause even more damage and flooding. For this round, I was in my HS as a senior/8th grade "lock-in" orientation. We lost power, plumbing stopped, and we had to cut the night short. 

What at I remember most is the 3 rounds in less than 24 hours, all severe and caused damage. Don't think I've seen as filled and packed day like that since. 

[Floydbuster]

I was just thinking about this storm tonight. I remembered it was around May of 2004 and it was a derecho. I was a Freshman in HS at the time, and on the weekends, my father would pick me up to spend a couple of days at his home. I was in Northern Summit County and remember getting into his car just as the EBS was going off on the radio. Our local news channels had shown a tower cam view of downtown Cleveland as this giant swirling cloud crashed down into the city. Straight line winds, heavy rains, but all very fast.

Within minutes, the cloud actually struck the vehicle my father and I were in. I could see clouds on our windshield. It was intense. Encountered lots of downed trees in the road on the way south.