July, 1995 Derechos

[Boogieman]

NWS had this on their FB page. 

 

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/jul1995derechopage.htm#2nd1995

 

The "Right-Turn Derecho" went through my area and was one of the most awesome storms I can remember. 

[Stebo]

NWS had this on their FB page. 

 

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/jul1995derechopage.htm#2nd1995

 

The "Right-Turn Derecho" went through my area and was one of the most awesome storms I can remember. 

I was 10 at the time and I was visting my grandparents house when this hit on Harsens Island where they live. It came in directly from the north in a rush and when the winds hit, they snapped 2 trees in half one on the neighbors lawn and the other fell into the street almost crushing a passing car. Really an incredible experience for a kid with a budding interest in meteorology.

[Powerball]

That period from about 1995 to 2005 around here was pretty epic as far as severe weather events, especially when you factor in the 1997 Tornado outbreak.

[Boogieman]

My wife at the time and I were Skywarn spotting that storm, in a little Cavalier wagon. I thought we were going over several times. The winds were epic. I recall that it was around 100° that day and too humid to even breathe. The storm cloud coming out of the north looked like the sky was opening up into night. The gust front hit like a shock wave, filled with all sorts of debris... lawn chairs, garbage cans, tons of litter and dust. 

 

It was like a wall of cloud to ground lightning and the thunder was the closest I'll hopefully ever hear to the roar of an atomic blast. There was no cooling effect from the wind or the rain. We finally careened into a parking structure when I saw the wall of hail coming a mile or better away. 

 

It was the craziest thing I've ever experienced. I watched more trees snap, power poles go down and just plain damage happen that I swore there was a major tornado right where we were, but it just kept on like that for a LONG time. I know it was at least 45 minutes we were hunkered down in that parking garage.

 

It was what I imagine those reporters covering hurricane landfalls would deal with. My wife, who normally didn't mind going spotting with me, was white as a ghost! 

[roardog]

I just remember how crazy hot and humid it was that day. I was doing stuff all morning and not really paying close attention to the weather. I remember stepping outside in the early afternoon to the extreme heat and increasing cirrus from the northwest which got my attention enough to turn on the tv to see what was coming.

[A-L-E-K]

best right turn...love the increase of reports right after the turn

[Stebo]

I just remember how crazy hot and humid it was that day. I was doing stuff all morning and not really paying close attention to the weather. I remember stepping outside in the early afternoon to the extreme heat and increasing cirrus from the northwest which got my attention enough to turn on the tv to see what was coming.

Right before the line hit it was 95/78 in Flint right afterwards the temp/dew point plummeted to 73/70. Same thing occurred at Detroit, of course the very next day both locations ended up hitting 100 with 80 degree dew points and no relief from storms.

[Jonger]

The July 7-8th 1991 derecho was sited in this article... I remember that one clearly. It was a warm sunny day when a tornado watch was issued, I was pretty amazed how that was possible being 12 years old. Anyhow, we went to a beach with some friends and suddenly the sky turned black, as we headed back the line hit. Probably the most intense storm I ever experienced. We were terrified knowing my dad was out fishing, no cell phones back then. Lost power for 5 days, longest outage I ever experienced.

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/jul7-81991page.htm

[Stebo]

The July 7-8th 1991 derecho was sited in this article... I remember that one clearly. It was a warm sunny day when a tornado watch was issued, I was pretty amazed how that was possible being 12 years old. Anyhow, we went to a beach with some friends and suddenly the sky turned black, as we headed back the line hit. Probably the most intense storm I ever experienced. We were terrified knowing my dad was out fishing, no cell phones back then. Lost power for 5 days, longest outage I ever experienced.

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/jul7-81991page.htm

Probably one of the few times I saw my parents actually worried about the weather, the other being the May 1998 derecho.

[roardog]

It seems to me that it's been awhile since we've seen a good northern Minnesota/UP of Michigan derecho that dives SE. The 90s seemed to have a lot of that.

[nwohweather]

Probably one of the few times I saw my parents actually worried about the weather, the other being the May 1998 derecho.

 

Nothing tops the EF4 that struck south of Toledo back in 2010. You wanna see some scared people? True story, after the storm people began going to their basements en masse for simple Severe T-Storm Warnings. Really struck a cord in the region

[Stebo]

Nothing tops the EF4 that struck south of Toledo back in 2010. You wanna see some scared people? True story, after the storm people began going to their basements en masse for simple Severe T-Storm Warnings. Really struck a cord in the region

Yeah I am waiting for the other shoe to drop in this state, considering it has been 37 years since the last F4/EF4 tornado in the state.

[Powerball]

It seems to me that it's been awhile since we've seen a good northern Minnesota/UP of Michigan derecho that dives SE. The 90s seemed to have a lot of that.

Not quite a derecho in the technical sense, but on July 4-5, 2012, there was an semi-organized area of covection that had developed early on the 4th back in N. Dakota and ws it tracked SE during the evening hours on the 4th and the overnight hours on the 5th, it began to bow out with a cold pool and produce widespread damaging winds across the southern portions of the state (very early in the morning, about 3-5am). It continued tracking SE into Ohio before diminishing.

For those who remember, this was in the wake of a day in which widespread highs in the low 100s was experienced across the state, and that bow encho was pretty much the saving grace in breaking the 100*F streak we had going, as the high in Detroit on the 5th only made it to an extremely sticky 85*F (granted the worst heat was still yet to come given it was the 3rd hottest July in Detroit's history).

July 4-5, 2012 is still one of my favorite weather periods to date. Record highs in the 100s followed by two rounds of unexpected severe weather. I also remember air temps dropping a good 30+ degrees into the 60s once the first round of severe weather came through in the late afternoon/early evening hours on the 4th.

[IWXwx]

Since we're on the subject of derechos, tomorrow (7/16) is the 34th anniversary of the 1980 derecho that produced straight-line winds as high as 150 MPH in Wayne Co. MI.

 

Here is a very nice writeup on this event by our very own William R. Deedler. He wrote this in 2005:

 

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dtx/stories/1980derecho.php

[Chicago WX]

Since we're on the subject of derechos, tomorrow (7/16) is the 34th anniversary of the 1980 derecho that produced straight-line winds as high as 150 MPH in Wayne Co. MI.

 

Here is a very nice writeup on this event by our very own William R. Deedler. He wrote this in 2005:

 

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dtx/stories/1980derecho.php

 

Nice write up indeed. And the 150 mph straight-line winds is nutso. Summer of 1980 was derecho happy.

[MichiganLion]

Bump --- as I just recently viewed a Youtube video with Detroit TV coverage from this event.  Radar loop of the event is at the 4:30 mark.  On a side note, what is that suit Chris Edwards is wearing?!?

 

 

FWIW, I was in Detroit for each of the 1991, 1995 and 1998 derechoes.  How I would rank them, best to worst ("worst" is relative, they were all spectacular events):

 

1. July 13, 1995.  CRAZY amount of lightning, nearly continuous cloud-to-ground strikes.  Most under-rated part of this event.  Really broke the heat and humidity of the afternoon, which was an intense levels.  Although not nearly as intense as the next day!

 

2. May 31, 1998.  Extra points for hitting Detroit at about 7 AM: remarkable in its own right that it maintained through the night.  I Tracked the event in the hours before and that was fascinating.  DTW obs in the next few sentences.  At 10 PM there was a very light SE wind and it was a delightful 73/52.  A beautiful spring evening, although pressure was at 29.81 and a keen eye would raise an eyebrow at the "PRESFR" in the METAR comments.  At 2 AM it is 69/62, much more humid but still a light wind, pressure to 29.72.  At 6 AM, it's all the way up to 76/68 with strong SW winds sustained at 30 and gusting to 40, pressure at 29.52.  Scene is set for the explosion an hour later.

 

3. July 7, 1991.  Still a remarkable event, but a bit below the 2 above.

[Powerball]

Ah yes, the "good ol' days" for Severe Weather in Detroit...

 

The last roughly 10 years have been virtual crap in comparison. In fact, I can barely remember the last time we had storms with a crazy amount of lightning or a decent shelf cloud.

[Hoosier]

Can't remember the date or even if it qualified as a derecho but I recall something in the evening on one night in the late 90s in which I was actually able to hear the wind building in the distance before it hit my location a couple minutes later. That was pretty cool.

[HillsdaleMIWeather]

Ah yes, the "good ol' days" for Severe Weather in Detroit...

The last roughly 10 years have been virtual crap in comparison. In fact, I can barely remember the last time we had storms with a crazy amount of lightning or a decent shelf cloud.

If ya want some wishful thinking look at the night of June 9th on the 0Z GFS.

[RogueWaves]

Right before the line hit it was 95/78 in Flint right afterwards the temp/dew point plummeted to 73/70. Same thing occurred at Detroit, of course the very next day both locations ended up hitting 100 with 80 degree dew points and no relief from storms.

 

Not sure about the dew pt, but my place in Traverse City was fringed by edge of this one, and the air temp plummeted from 100*F to 59*F before recovering nicely by nightfall. Storm was tremendous down in town and over GT Bay there were lots of Coast Guard rescues of unsuspecting boaters. Warnings were issued only about 30 mins prior, but most folks were already out on the water and it was so hot and sunny all were in festival mode, so nobody was clued into what was coming across Lk. Michigan from Wisco.

[stormtrackertf]

I will never forget the 1995 derecho not only because how widespread the damage was, but because it knocked out the power and the next day, the temperature rose to 103°F at DET, with a heat index of over 120°F during the the afternoon, and the air temperatures were still in the low-90's at midnight in the city. Probably the most oppressively hot day I have ever experienced. A crazy couple of weather days.

The crazier part is that it wasn't until 2011 that we would pass the 100 degree mark again.

[Roger Smith]

I was in the path of derecho #4 in this series, and it was a scary (and totally unpredicted) event. This was in Lakefield, ON about 150 kms northeast of Toronto.

 

Early morning July 15/95, after a sweltering hot day, was trying to sleep around 0230h when distant thunder and frequent lightning caught my attention. By 0300h this storm had broken with wind gusts of at least 70 mph, continuous thunder and lightning. This went on for about 20-30 mins and we were ready to hit the basement but stayed near kitchen door looking out at the spectacle. Next day, we learned that an embedded F-2 tornado had swept across nearby lake and lifted off the ground about 5 miles west of our location (from damage track estimates). As far as I recall in those pre-internet, pre-forum days, there was no mention of thunderstorms in the evening forecast and a post-analysis showed that the front went from a weak windshift over northern Lake Huron at 04z to a full-blown derecho over Georgian Bay at 06z.

 

Current weather situation reminds me of the set-up earlier in the sequence and I would not be too surprised if there was a squall line moving south over Lake Huron and Georgian Bay tonight, once again, not particularly well forecast if it happened.

[bwfan40]

Awesome stories to hear guys. It's unfortunate tonight and today have been a bust in terms of severe weather.