oldlogin Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Watch just went up here. Has storm tops to 60,000 feet. That big dog to your Northeast must be a sight---Hope you 've got a good visual---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevlon62 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Ended up driving down to Elmhurst for work early this morning. At around 6 a.m. on I-90 eastbound, skies were clear and the sun was poking out of the canopy from earlier/overnight storms moving out over LM near Milwaukee. Clear skies ruled the commute down. I noticed the skies darkening and the north facing warehouse doors were open when the big one hit. Unfortunately, I did not get a view of the shelf cloud coming in. Watched sustained high winds last for several minutes, consistent with that report from last night I believe in Iowa of 10+ minutes of 60 mph winds. Anyway, it was intense, with power lines arcing twice not far down the block. We did not lose power there, although apparently many other properties in the immediate area did. The drive home was more interesting. I saw a handle of large limbs and some mature trees down on my way via 290 & 90. Once traveling north through Huntley and towards Crystal Lake (I went a bit out of the way for an errand), there were more obvious, although still scattered remnants of the high winds (large trees with clean breaks near ground level). There were a few fields where the corn was bent way over in spots (more than 45 degrees). I am not sure if the stalks were broke, but found the blow down effect to be the greatest indicator of the storm's strength locally, given that the corn is still not quite waist high in most spots. Might go for some pics before sunset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebo Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 514 PM CDT MON JUL 11 2011 ...PRELIMINARY STORM SURVEY RESULTS FOR BENTON COUNTY INCLUDING THE TOWNS OF GARRISON AND VINTON... LOCATION: GARRISON IOWA...430 AM CDT ON JULY 11 2011. ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS: STRAIGHT LINE WINDS OF 110 TO 130 MPH. DAMAGE: * WIDESPREAD DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES INCLUDING MANY ROOFS PARTIALLY OR FULLY REMOVED. SOME BUILDINGS HAD COLLAPSED WALLS. * NEARLY EVERY TREE SIGNIFICANTLY DAMAGED OR SNAPPED OFF IN TOWN. * WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES. LOCATION: VINTON IOWA...435 AM CDT JULY 11 2011 ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS: STRAIGHT LINE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 110 MPH. DAMAGE: * NUMEROUS STRUCTURES SUFFERED MINOR TO MODERATE DAMAGE. * MOST TREES SIGNIFICANTLY DAMAGED OR SNAPPED OFF. * SIGNIFICANT POWER OUTAGES. STORM SURVEYS ARE ONGOING. FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE PROVIDED IN THE NEAR FUTURE. So basically Garrison, Iowa got winds equivalent of a category 4 hurricane whist Vinton, Iowa got category 2 winds. All I can say is DAMN! That is unreal, that circulation was impressive and to top it over occurring at 4-5am simply amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-K Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Seriously 110 plus set that time of day from a non tornadic storm is some epic stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimChgo9 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 You know, I KNEW when the weather radio sounded at 5:40 this morning for the Severe Thunderstorm Watch, that it was going to be bad. I watched that bow echo move across N IL toward our area, knowing full well, that it was NOT going to be a good morning.... I watched the storms approach from the back yard... it was a pretty rapid changeover from sunny to gray, to black to green...I didn't see the shelf cloud, however. We had to have gotten hit by a gust of 75mph, because of the heavy tree damage in my neighborhood. Once again, no power, and no prospect of seeing any before Wednesday, earliest. I heard anywhere from 615,000 to 700,000 people without power. Last time we got storms, I had no power for 2 days... (If I didnt' work from home, this wouldn't bother me so much... no power=no work.. No work=no money) At least ComEd is being up front. I write this from a hotel, because it is way too uncomfortable to sleep in a hot, non a/c house, and speaking of the hotel, it looks like a power company convention in the parking lot. At least 30 trucks are parked there, and their crews are staying in the hotel, and the one next door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AppsRunner Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 It could have been worse if it wasn't for the clouds overhead during peak heating, which is basically true. The clouds that tend to be associated with MCS are cirrus clouds (rather cirrostratus clouds). Yeah but it was already in the mid 80s with mid 60s DP when the storms did hit. And even so, warning text was for winds in excess of 75mph. It's one of the more widespread damaging wind events in NWOH this year/last year Also, the cirrus clouds didn't move in until just before the storms hit... so unless he was thinking redevelopment would occur, I still dont' get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerball Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Yeah but it was already in the mid 80s with mid 60s DP when the storms did hit. And even so, warning text was for winds in excess of 75mph. It's one of the more widespread damaging wind events in NWOH this year/last year Also, the cirrus clouds didn't move in until just before the storms hit... so unless he was thinking redevelopment would occur, I still dont' get it. Well the keyword in my post was "peak heating." The clouds moved in around 10-11 AM, before peak heating. Sure, the storms today with a mid 80s and mid 60s parcels were good, but imagine if they took place under a 95*F/70*F parcel, especially with that line hauling at 70 MPH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornadotony Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Well the keyword in my post was "peak heating." The clouds moved in around 10-11 AM, before peak heating. Sure, the storms today with a mid 80s and mid 60s parcels were good, but imagine if they took place under a 95*F/70*F parcel, especially with that line hauling at 70 MPH. You are unbelievably irritating. You complain about getting no storms, and then you complain about the derecho you get as not being strong enough. I wish each and every person affected by the massive power outage in nrn IL read your post so that you could see their reactions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyhb Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Or all the people in Iowa who lost their roofs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerball Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 You are unbelievably irritating. You complain about getting no storms, and then you complain about the derecho you get as not being strong enough. I wish each and every person affected by the massive power outage in nrn IL read your post so that you could see their reactions... Don't respond to my posts. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerball Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Yeah but it was already in the mid 80s with mid 60s DP when the storms did hit. And even so, warning text was for winds in excess of 75mph. It's one of the more widespread damaging wind events in NWOH this year/last year Also, the cirrus clouds didn't move in until just before the storms hit... so unless he was thinking redevelopment would occur, I still dont' get it. BTW, a lot of mets were thinking redevelopment would occur, with the exception of a few Hi-Res outputs the models were clueless with today's MCS activity, and many thought they would fizzle across the Western Upper Great Lakes versus continue propagating SE. As expected that thought was shot when the MCSs in fact held together relatively well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone77 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Seriously 110 plus set that time of day from a non tornadic storm is some epic stuff I can't imagine waking up in the middle of the night to something like that. That had to have scared the hell out of a lot of people. I'm sure many thought a tornado was close by, or in progress even. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebo Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 You are unbelievably irritating. You complain about getting no storms, and then you complain about the derecho you get as not being strong enough. I wish each and every person affected by the massive power outage in nrn IL read your post so that you could see their reactions... Agree, I am sure everyone who had trees fall on their houses in Western Michigan would love to see his post about expectations not being met... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmichweather Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 We are now gonna head into MCS time with the ridge, we'll have to see how far SE these systems wanna dive but the High isn't in the best place for a classic setup to hit most of the upper midwest. I'd think N MN, N WI, the UP upper MI then collapsing into the Toronto area and then western NY will all be in play. This ridge is gonna be a beast and inhibit convection in most of the US but the collapse further south towards higher instability at night will help these systems dive SE. I think the UP is gonna get rocked a couple of times but who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersnow12 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 You are unbelievably irritating. You complain about getting no storms, and then you complain about the derecho you get as not being strong enough. I wish each and every person affected by the massive power outage in nrn IL read your post so that you could see their reactions... Agreed, we here in Kane Co didn't get it too bad, atleast where I am. Fortunately I'm not further east that got hit harder (I-355) or eastern IA. I love storms but you wont see my complaining that i didn't get 100mph straight line winds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyhb Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 We are now gonna head into MCS time with the ridge, we'll have to see how far SE these systems wanna dive but the High isn't in the best place for a classic setup to hit most of the upper midwest. I'd think N MN, N WI, the UP upper MI then collapsing into the Toronto area and then western NY will all be in play. This ridge is gonna be a beast and inhibit convection in most of the US but the collapse further south towards higher instability at night will help these systems dive SE. I think the UP is gonna get rocked a couple of times but who knows. How long do you think the ridge is going to last? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersnow12 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 been a busy day and haven't had much time to post but damn! talk about an impressive derecho that will go down in the record books, what happened in eastern IA is something we may never see again in our lifetimes. I was about till about 2 30am and just had a feeling something bad was going to happen...that was SO MUCH instability still at that time of not and even though the bulk shear wasn't through the roof impressive, the instability, moisture, and steep mid-level lapse rates really help offset that. I'm sure several case studies will be done on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonbo Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 ABC7 said more than 850,000 were without power in the Chicago area alone basically at the peak of it all. Stlil approx 367,000 without power as of this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-K Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Another write up from LOT, seems like derechos sure have been a regular summer occurence of late http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/?n=20110711severe You all can count my place on the north side as one of those 800k that lost power for a time. Funny that after so long of never losing power, i've lost it three times since the blizzard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimChgo9 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Well the keyword in my post was "peak heating." The clouds moved in around 10-11 AM, before peak heating. Sure, the storms today with a mid 80s and mid 60s parcels were good, but imagine if they took place under a 95*F/70*F parcel, especially with that line hauling at 70 MPH. Yeah, you are right, the storms weren't "good enough".... Perhaps if one of trees around my house had fallen on my car, or my house, would they have rated a "great" from you then? This is the 2nd time in less than 3 weeks I am going mulitple days without power, and this after just replacing everything I lost from my fridge and freezer after the last outage. (On this past Saturday, just finished restocking the meat and other losses from the last outage) Once again, I have to miss work, because I work from home. Since I have no power, I have no computers, so I cannot work. The first power outage cost me a couple of hundred bucks... this one is going to do the same, and its money my girlfriend and I don't have. I am not in the mood to read frivolous comments from some folks on on the sidelines, giving the storms a grade, like it was some sort of academic exercise. Or lamenting that the storms lacked power, or some other feature, denying them the "thrill" they were seeking, what ever it was.. Just so you know.: More trees than I can count were blown down in my neighborhood. Three of them just narrowly missed the houses they close to. At least two cars were damaged by falling trees... I had the sick feeling of watching the wind bend the tree over that is next to my driveway, until it touched my car....my new car... the one I just bought a few weeks ago.. The wind bent the tree over a couple of times, and each time I feared it would snap, and damage my new, hard earned vehicle... It's not a huge tree, but it's not a small one either, but it is big enough to substantially damage the vehicle. If you want to "rate" storms, please do so in a less than glib manner, and keep in mind just how these storms affect the people of the areas they pass through. Power crews are at the hotel I am at, and as they get ready to go to work, and even though they are working in this area, it is still going to be Wednesday evening at the earliest before my lights come back on. So, I am on the way home soon to clean out the fridge and freezer once again, and toss out $$$$ worth of meat, and other perishables. And, face the prospect of another short paycheck.... As far as I am concerned, your "not quite good enough" storms, were, "good enough"... perhaps, they were even, " a bit much". Now, when a prediction goes up for severe weather, I pay closer attention to it, and look at it with more concern. And I am giving serious concern to seriously curtailing a trip in the fall to see my son graduate basic training so we can buy a generator, so I am prepared for the next time... and based on what I have seen so far this summer, there WILL be a "next time" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-K Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I'll say this much, it's been a good summer to be a guy with a chainsaw and a wood chipper in Chicagoland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMADreamer Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Yeah weak storms for sure, that's why my friend whose brand new Caddy said after the tree fell on it. I assume these complainers have never lost any property to a storm, probably got into weather because they saw it on tv and thought it was neat. Of course these people are always in MI who think the storms were weak, never been there but judging by the post from this forum it's gotta be full of miserable people. Let me tell you guys power outages are not fun, it's hot, you lose your groceries, if you live in a rural area on well water you don't have water. losing you car suck, losing your house sucks even worse. but hey keep complaining about your lack of action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimChgo9 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I'll say this much, it's been a good summer to be a guy with a chainsaw and a wood chipper in Chicagoland. Yes it has.... The rental shop nearby can't keep the small "back yard" versions in stock. I called looking for a generator yesterday, and he said he was fresh out of generators, chain saws, and wood chippers. I was wondering, because we went through some serious storms last summer, the "Octobomb" last fall, and the blizzard in February, with very little tree damage around here, as well as no power outages. Now, we have had 3 bad storms through here since early June, and we lost lights in the last 2, and had some very serious tree damage with whole trees being taken down as well as many, many trees losing huge limbs. My question is: Could the trees have been weakened by the past weather events? It would make sense..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimChgo9 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 An image from last night: The hotel we stayed in had five floors, and we had a good view of the southern sky. We noted the below storm (my son and I). Upon checking the radar, I noted the storm was near Lafayette. I am always amazed at how far away they can be seen. (Pictured is a bit noisy... but it turned out okay) Radar wasn't showing much motion on this storm, at least not when I was looking at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Martin Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Very nice view there Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanStWx Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 I find the bolded part of this warning interesting as I have never seen that in a warning before THIS STORM IS PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS OVER 80 MPH...AND SUSTAINED WINDS OF 60 MPH FOR 10 MINUTES OR MORE. I can say that Benton County has one of the best and most reliable EMs/spotter networks in the DVN CWA. It helps immensely when you can get those reports accurately and in real time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanStWx Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Well I literally slept on the derecho event, as I was in bed for the whole show. But I went back and checked the SPC mesoanalysis archive to see what some of the parameters were looking like, and even at that time of day it was a theta-e rich air mass. MUCAPE was over 6000 J/kg as it was coming through east central Iowa. MLCAPE over 4000 J/kg at 5 AM! Even at night, these things like to follow gradients. You can see the main part of the bow and the most extreme damage lay just to the north of the MUCAPE maximum. The LLJ was analyzed at 50 kt down to 925 mb, becoming westerly at 700 and 60 kt. Impressive numbers for this time of year. Here is the theta-e air mass that was feeding right into the apex of the bow. Pretty awesome stuff, at 5 AM Moline was still 80/78 as was Burlington, and Dubuque was 76/75. When I finally got around to looking at the pictures online, I was impressed. Just based of the magnitude of tree damage in the LSRs you knew it was at least 80-90 mph type wind. But I was struck most by the pictures in Vinton of the masonry buildings without roofs and with the loss of some of the top story walls (DI 7 DOD 5 = 133 mph expected) and the street signs bent to the ground (while not explicit in the EF Scale it's pretty close to DI26 DOD 2 = 102 mph expected). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-K Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 When I finally got around to looking at the pictures online, I was impressed. Just based of the magnitude of tree damage in the LSRs you knew it was at least 80-90 mph type wind. But I was struck most by the pictures in Vinton of the masonry buildings without roofs and with the loss of some of the top story walls (DI 7 DOD 5 = 133 mph expected) and the street signs bent to the ground (while not explicit in the EF Scale it's pretty close to DI26 DOD 2 = 102 mph expected). 130+, that's just so crazy, I had no idea straight line winds without any weird topographic enhancement or something could get that high, so wicked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEMIweather Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 130+, that's just so crazy, I had no idea straight line winds without any weird topographic enhancement or something could get that high, so wicked. Yeah that's just insane to think about. Highest winds I've ever seen were right around 70-75 mph on 6/8/2008, and that was a fairly scary experience, so I can't even imagine what 130 would be like. Not sure I'd want to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornadotony Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Yeah that's just insane to think about. Highest winds I've ever seen were right around 70-75 mph on 6/8/2008, and that was a fairly scary experience, so I can't even imagine what 130 would be like. Not sure I'd want to know. 100 MPH is bad enough...I've lived it once and it is very scary... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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