Spring/Summer 2018 Banter and Complaint Office

[Spring 2018 Is The Worst]

5 hours ago, Harry Perry said:

Can’t wait for this awesome weekend... 

From a meteorological standpoint it doesn't make sense that the cold gets pushed so far south. Why is this happening? Why does the warm front just hit a brick wall like that? It has nothing to do with the lakes, something else is at play here.

[madwx]

1 hour ago, Spring 2018 Is The Worst said:

From a meteorological standpoint it doesn't make sense that the cold gets pushed so far south. Why is this happening? Why does the warm front just hit a brick wall like that? It has nothing to do with the lakes, something else is at play here.

I think HAARP has been acting up again.  And there was a recent deployment of chemtrails up north as well.

[CoalCityWxMan]

This chilly NE wind in May sucks  I’d pay money to have that front come back north 

[Torchageddon]

18 years ago right now I was experiencing the worst storm I've ever lived through. Fields became lakes, cars were being swept away in parking lots, 123 km/h wind gust reported in Mount Forest, every type of lightning except ball, 5 hours from 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm the storm continued. Extremely damaging straight line winds all over my region with spin-ups sprinkled in. Had to have used some amazing parameter potential locally with a multi-cluster configuration. Epic is an understatement. I'd love to have high-resolution radar and velocity data of it, and lightning maps. Nothing like that occurs anymore of course.

[on_wx]

13 hours ago, Torchageddon said:

18 years ago right now I was experiencing the worst storm I've ever lived through. Fields became lakes, cars were being swept away in parking lots, 123 km/h wind gust reported in Mount Forest, every type of lightning except ball, 5 hours from 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm the storm continued. Extremely damaging straight line winds all over my region with spin-ups sprinkled in. Had to have used some amazing parameter potential locally with a multi-cluster configuration. Epic is an understatement. I'd love to have high-resolution radar and velocity data of it, and lightning maps. Nothing like that occurs anymore of course.

I was only 11 in 2000 and don't remember this. Was it hours long severe storms?

[Chinook]

15 hours ago, Torchageddon said:

18 years ago right now I was experiencing the worst storm I've ever lived through. Fields became lakes, cars were being swept away in parking lots, 123 km/h wind gust reported in Mount Forest, every type of lightning except ball, 5 hours from 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm the storm continued. Extremely damaging straight line winds all over my region with spin-ups sprinkled in. Had to have used some amazing parameter potential locally with a multi-cluster configuration. Epic is an understatement. I'd love to have high-resolution radar and velocity data of it, and lightning maps. Nothing like that occurs anymore of course.

This is base reflectivity for May 12, 2000 (May 13, 2000, 0205z). Not sure if this is your storm. Getting the archived storm-relative velocity from Detroit or Buffalo may be a bigger task.

[Torchageddon]

1 hour ago, on_wx said:

I was only 11 in 2000 and don't remember this. Was it hours long severe storms?

If you were in K-W at the time it wasn't as bad I think south. One of the few references to it online when I checked years ago was from a Niagara ON weather site where the storm eventually reached. It was a gradual build up with lots of lightning and the heavy rain probably started shortly after and didn't end. It wasn't until 7:15 pm roughly that it became dangerously severe. We put our shoes on to prepare to go down into the basement as the winds were becoming ridiculously strong and the ferocity was something I've never seen before or since. That lasted a few minutes and then a general powerful storm continued. There were tons of tree branches everywhere, some large. I'm sure backbuilding occurred with lots of lightning past that.

[Torchageddon]

10 minutes ago, Chinook said:

This is base reflectivity for May 12, 2000 (May 13, 2000, 0205z). Not sure if this is your storm. Getting the archived storm-relative velocity from Detroit or Buffalo may be a bigger task.

Where did you find that? I've only come across national US radar frames where some of it showed up from the Detroit/Buffalo radars. This is much higher res than those. At 10:05 pm the storm was winding down (location is cut off reflectivity wise from that scan). Anything from 22:30-23:00 UTC? I wish EC's radar archive went back to before 2000.

[on_wx]

44 minutes ago, Torchageddon said:

If you were in K-W at the time it wasn't as bad I think south. One of the few references to it online when I checked years ago was from a Niagara ON weather site where the storm eventually reached. It was a gradual build up with lots of lightning and the heavy rain probably started shortly after and didn't end. It wasn't until 7:15 pm roughly that it became dangerously severe. We put our shoes on to prepare to go down into the basement as the winds were becoming ridiculously strong and the ferocity was something I've never seen before or since. That lasted a few minutes and then a general powerful storm continued. There were tons of tree branches everywhere, some large. I'm sure backbuilding occurred with lots of lightning past that.

I cant even imagine what that must have been like! That radar shot is wicked especially if that's 5 or so hours after it started. 2000 was a huge year for floods IIRC so not surprised by your accounts. I'll see what I can do about ordering some radar shots or loops but it wont be for a couple weeks. I'm really curious now!

[Chinook]

41 minutes ago, Torchageddon said:

Where did you find that? I've only come across national US radar frames where some of it showed up from the Detroit/Buffalo radars. This is much higher res than those. At 10:05 pm the storm was winding down (location is cut off reflectivity wise from that scan). Anything from 22:30-23:00 UTC? I wish EC's radar archive went back to before 2000.

I got it from:

https://gis.ncdc.noaa.gov/maps/ncei/radar

I don't think this involves Canadian data. Maybe the DTX/BUF/CLE radar data was used to maximum effectiveness to show this storm over Canada.

[Chinook]

Interestingly, May 9, 2000 was a severe weather outbreak for IN/OH/MI. There was a big squall line with a couple of tornadoes near Toledo. I remember it specifically. I was in Ann Arbor, watching The Weather Channel while hanging out with friends.

[Torchageddon]

7 hours ago, on_wx said:

I cant even imagine what that must have been like! That radar shot is wicked especially if that's 5 or so hours after it started. 2000 was a huge year for floods IIRC so not surprised by your accounts. I'll see what I can do about ordering some radar shots or loops but it wont be for a couple weeks. I'm really curious now!

The spot where I was is just to the right of the radar gap of the two radar circle ranges. I can get a lot of information about the type of storm system this was from the DTX/BUF radars - it was a eastward sliding line of storms that slowly sunk south (there was a day in July 2015 that was similar?). It was the perfect intersection of getting the most amount of rain and storms so that's how you get 5 hours without a break!

Ordering radar shots? What is that? I thought you could only order EC climate data that is certified.

7 hours ago, Chinook said:

I got it from:

https://gis.ncdc.noaa.gov/maps/ncei/radar

I don't think this involves Canadian data. Maybe the DTX/BUF/CLE radar data was used to maximum effectiveness to show this storm over Canada.

I don't remember seeing that page, but it looks familiar. Thanks. I know its purely US radar data, I've never seen any CAN radar from the event. Didn't even see or recall the radar on TV but did see the local weatherman state, "Batten down the hatches". I saw the EC severe thunderstorm warning scroll during 7:00 pm programming before the TV cut out.

6 hours ago, Chinook said:

Interestingly, May 9, 2000 was a severe weather outbreak for IN/OH/MI. There was a big squall line with a couple of tornadoes near Toledo. I remember it specifically. I was in Ann Arbor, watching The Weather Channel while hanging out with friends.

May 12 was a broad event spanning from Texas to Ontario, with tornadoes sprinkled all over per SPC reports. It sounds the same as the May 9 outbreak that your describing. May 12 22z there is a monster cell heading east over lake Huron and what looks to be a nice supercell near the thumb of MI.

[Hoosier]

3 hours ago, Chinook said:

Interestingly, May 9, 2000 was a severe weather outbreak for IN/OH/MI. There was a big squall line with a couple of tornadoes near Toledo. I remember it specifically. I was in Ann Arbor, watching The Weather Channel while hanging out with friends.

I remember it too, although I think it hit very late on the 8th here (a little before midnight). I was living not too far from where I am now.  That was one of the best storms I've experienced.  I recall hearing the wind picking up in the distance a minute or two before it hit.  A lot of large branches were knocked down on my block and one or two trees as well.    

May 18, 2000 was another one.

[Hoosier]

9 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

I remember it too, although I think it hit very late on the 8th here (a little before midnight). I was living not too far from where I am now.  That was one of the best storms I've experienced.  I recall hearing the wind picking up in the distance a minute or two before it hit.  A lot of large branches were knocked down on my block and one or two trees as well.    

May 18, 2000 was another one.

Damn my memory is good, lol

[Torchageddon]

The 2nd worst thunderstorm I've experienced was during the summer of 2003. It was just as the sun had set and had prolific lightning and high winds. I would like to figure out the date of that one so anyone from southern Ontario/eastern MI who remembers some good ones from that June-August give your take. I don't know how to search for t-storm events by region or where to start.

These archived radar images seem to come from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

[Chinook]

Storm report throwback Thursday! Hundreds of storm reports hit the Midwest on these days in May 2000. Keep in mind, in past years, there were fewer storm spotters and less overall awareness of severe weather. On the other hand, hail of 0.75" - 0.99" was considered severe up until 2010, but it is not considered severe now.

 

 

 

 

[Harry Perry]

4 hours ago, Torchageddon said:

The 2nd worst thunderstorm I've experienced was during the summer of 2003. It was just as the sun had set and had prolific lightning and high winds. I would like to figure out the date of that one so anyone from southern Ontario/eastern MI who remembers some good ones from that June-August give your take. I don't know how to search for t-storm events by region or where to start.

These archived radar images seem to come from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

I’m pretty sure the storm you’re talking about is the same storm I remember as well. I just looked it up a couple of months ago.

 

We we had a stationary boundry/warm front slowly advancing north. Had a 20% chance of an isolated storm. At this age, I was glued to the local radar channel in hopes to see a spec of green and red form lol... Against the odds, one lone storm developed just off the Lake Michigan shoreline near South Haven.. it developed pretty quickly and then went severe warmed shortly after. It was moving almost due east and was following the Van Buren/Allegan county line. My grandparents lived in Bedford, Michigan - just north of Battle Creek and roughly a mile or so from the county line (Calhoun county/Barry county which is due east from where this storm was coming from). “Let’s go to grandpa and grandmas and watch the storm”, my mom said. Remember it like yesterday. My mother and I jumped into the car around sunset and made the 20 minute drive... on the way, just before dark, we crossed a Veterans Memorial bridge that gave quite a good view from all angles, I remember seeing prolific lightning to the WNW... and then I saw a flash to the north and then another to the SW. I knew at this point storms were developing everywhere near that boundry. Got to my grandparents and the lightning was nearly constant. Went inside and looked at the radar - I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were three tornado warnings and a handful of severe thunderstorm warnings; storms everywhere exploding (severe weather wasn’t expected). The storm grew closer - steady rumbler and continuous lightning by now. Sirens went off and another tornado warning was issued for Calhoun County. I remember the local Mets saying “if you’re in Bedford - TAKE COVER NOW! 85MPH winds were being reported in Hickory Corners (only about 15-20 minutes to my West). At the same time, the specific radar was set on velocity with the rotating cones to show rotation in place of the hook. There were three inbound with several peppered around. First legit time in my life I thought the big one was coming. Power flickered - lightning was the most intense I’ve witnessed to date. Every strike sounded like it was within a few hundred feet of the house.

 

Picked up nearly four inches of rain, lost five healthy large trees and several downed lines. We didn’t make it back home until close to 1AM and the ONLY way I remembered what year it was - the song that was on the radio on the way home after the broadcaster talked about some of the damage reports he was getting from around the area - It was Dilemma by Nelly lol. Came out in the summer of 2002 - became a hit in the spring/summer of 2003. 

 

The storms eventually prompted a small tornado watch as well. It was only from Barry County to Maccomb and south to the MI/IN/OH border. High winds and dangerous lightning moved across the state that night, and it was 85° and miserable the next day. I’ll look again and see if I can’t find the date and radar. I remember finding it and couldn’t believe I actually found it. Those storms stuck out in my head a lot like May 29th 2011 did. Oddly enough, both events were due to a quasi-stationary boundry with shortwaves riding along it - similar to our current pattern. 

 

IIRC, I had to be on my computer to pull the data and radar images/loop from IEM (Iowa Environmental Mesonet Archive), my phone couldn’t do it. 

[Torchageddon]

^^ Great story, I love those types of accounts. If you remember the temperature being 85F the next day, couldn't you go look at the nearest station database and find all the days where it reached that and then check either the SPC or radar archive for the storm your looking for?

I wish I had more storm events where I was in a car looking at lightning and cloud building like that but I was extremely fortunate to happen to be in a car during the early part of the May 12, 2000 event. Aside from it being the best storm, another reason I loved that was it was a Friday evening...can't ask for much more.

Looking further into it from that radar data map (I can extract so much information now from that) the monster cell that brought me the worst of that historic thunderstorm was formed way way back in get this...Nashua Iowa!! I was blown away! The very first dbz returns started just north of Nashua at 8:45 am EDT and just exploded racing up towards La Crosse Wisconsin and then heading east and reaching my backyard at 7:50 pm EDT. It wasn't just how long it lasted or how far it traveled, but the intensity it maintained during the vast majority of its time. It maxes out the reflectivity in certain time snapshots I checked. When it was in the eastern part of WI it was flooring it. Had a bow at some point(s) so acted like a derecho. You can really see it start at 2:25 pm over western MI. I'm not sure I would call it a sup because it doesn't look like one but damn that is one of the most badass storm cells ever. The identifiable part of it lasted 1000 km total and morphed just west of Toronto. Never seen a MCS hold together like that and slam into me so it makes sense that I have nothing to compare that with (radar wise) since it was the top storm. The final remnant of the congealed MCS fizzled out off the Nantucket MA coast at 9:30 am the next day.

At some point I can create radar loops and forward speed analysis on the 650 mile cell and the overall complex. I should post some images with some highlights of what insane stuff was ongoing that day. I finally have nearly the full radar story now.

[nwohweather]

Interestingly, May 9, 2000 was a severe weather outbreak for IN/OH/MI. There was a big squall line with a couple of tornadoes near Toledo. I remember it specifically. I was in Ann Arbor, watching The Weather Channel while hanging out with friends.

I remember the May 9th one. We huddled in the basement for that event, tornado touched down a few miles away with 70 mph winds and 1.25” hail

[Chinook]

8 hours ago, nwohweather said:

I remember the May 9th one. We huddled in the basement for that event, tornado touched down a few miles away with 70 mph winds and 1.25” hail

I specifically remember being at a friend's place in May 2000. We were watching The Weather Channel, and a squall line was moving into OH/ SE Michigan. Jim Cantore was on the forecast map and he said, "There's 6000 CAPE in Texas. That's 6 times as much energy as you need to create a severe thunderstorm." It registered with me because that was when I was beginning to understand those things and look at maps of CAPE on College of Dupage. Jim Cantore... what a rockstar of weather. And his twitter feed is usually interesting, without a lot of clutter.

[Indystorm]

Gee, all the MCS's make me think that this is mid July.  Whatever happened to spring storm season?

[zinski1990]

Amazing how it went from miserable crappy weather from March and April to currently indys warmest may on record. First 2 weeks all above normal highs and lows

[luckyweather]

Sitting on an aircraft on the tarmac at ORD where I’ve been sitting for about two hours, another ground stop as this next cell is inbound. Looks like I’ll be here for a while longer. Really need to take a leak.

[CheeselandSkies]

Just once I'd like a year where seasons act like seasons and bring the potpourri of weather we normally associate with them. Instead when we finally get into an active snow pattern in BLOODY APRIL, events' ceilings are being tempered by climo rather than enhanced.* Same goes for wasting May with the jet stream way the hell up in Canada.

*Out-of-climo events are cool and all, but only if they are extreme enough that they would be considered unusual/impactful even during peak climo for that type of weather. Big Midwest tornado outbreak in November, for example (remember 2013?).

[Spring 2018 Is The Worst]

3 hours ago, CheeselandSkies said:

Just once I'd like a year where seasons act like seasons and bring the potpourri of weather we normally associate with them. Instead when we finally get into an active snow pattern in BLOODY APRIL, events' ceilings are being tempered by climo rather than enhanced.* Same goes for wasting May with the jet stream way the hell up in Canada.

*Out-of-climo events are cool and all, but only if they are extreme enough that they would be considered unusual/impactful even during peak climo for that type of weather. Big Midwest tornado outbreak in November, for example (remember 2013?).

You can thank climate change for that. It’s starting to have serious impacts on our weather now, potentially irreversible impacts later in the future. Pretty scary stuff tbh.

[Spring 2018 Is The Worst]

On 5/14/2018 at 5:31 PM, zinski1990 said:

Amazing how it went from miserable crappy weather from March and April to currently indys warmest may on record. First 2 weeks all above normal highs and lows

Again, climate change. The extremes are only going to get more extreme. 

[Stebo]

I saw this earlier on twitter and I couldn't believe it but it is true

Nearly 3 years since DTX/GRR has had a tornado watch issued.

[cyclone77]

10 minutes ago, Stebo said:

I saw this earlier on twitter and I couldn't believe it but it is true

Nearly 3 years since DTX/GRR has had a tornado watch issued.

That's freakin' crazy.

[snowlover2]

16 minutes ago, Stebo said:

I saw this earlier on twitter and I couldn't believe it but it is true

Nearly 3 years since DTX/GRR has had a tornado watch issued.

Wow that's actually just as bad as the winter storm warning drought for some of us. 

[Hoosier]

40 minutes ago, Stebo said:

I saw this earlier on twitter and I couldn't believe it but it is true

Nearly 3 years since DTX/GRR has had a tornado watch issued.

Made me think that it means that a number of tornadoes have occurred in DTX and/or GRR while not under a tornado watch.