Tag: Midwest

Elsewhere in Weather News: April 26th, 2014

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Tornadoes Tear through North Carolina

It was an active day severe weather-wise for parts of East Coast yesterday, where tornadoes, large hail and strong winds were all experienced. These severe storms were triggered by a shortwave racing across the mid-section of the US and approaching the East Coast. Moisture was plentiful streaming up from the tropics which promoted low cloud bases and sufficient amounts of Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE). In addition to this, wind shear was significant enough to support supercells as well as an approaching cold front from the west acting as a trigger mechanism. Considering all of these, conditions were primed for supercells in North Carolina and Virginia.

Trucked flipped in Chicod, NC. (Source: WITN)
Trucked flipped in Chicod, NC. (Source: WITN)

Supercells quickly formed Friday afternoon across eastern parts of North Carolina and Virginia as the atmosphere destabilized. Elizabeth City appeared to be the hardest hit, likely by straight line winds and not a tornado. As of Friday evening, several injuries were reported because of the strong winds downing trees and power lines in the city. According to the SPC there were 10 different tornado reports which appeared to account for three different tornadoes. Fortunately, no injuries or deaths were reported to be associated with any of the tornadoes.

This event comes at the same time a significant negatively-tilted trough arrives ashore on the west coast. The trough is expected to bring severe weather from the US plains this weekend, to the East coast for the beginning of next week. Sunday through Tuesday look to be the most dangerous days where numerous tornadoes could touch down across Dixie Alley and the Midwest. As of Friday evening, the SPC had already issued a Moderate Risk, mentioning strong tornadoes in their discussion and suggesting a high risk (highest tier) upgrade could be in order in future updates.

With only 89 tornadoes reported in the US as of April 13th, that number could easily double within the next few days.

Elsewhere in Weather News: January 4th, 2014

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Snowstorm Sweeps across Northeast US, Cold Temperatures Follow

A powerful low off the Atlantic coast impacted the Northeast US this past Thursday/Friday bringing heavy snow to the region and blizzard-like conditions. Blizzard warnings were issued for Cape Cod and surrounding regions as winds howled around 70km/h and heavy snow fell. Conditions did improve snow-wise late Friday, but very cold Arctic air ushered in behind the low was of concern. In total, about 4,500 flights were cancelled out of New York alone, causing problems for holiday travelers. Schools and most government offices were closed in Washington DC on Friday due to the adverse weather conditions. Boxford, Mass appeared to be hardest hit with snowfall totals around 60cm, however, Boston was not far behind with 45cm followed by New York’s 25cm. On Friday night 16 deaths had been reported to be associated with the storm.

Temperatures are expected to rebound and warm up for the Northeast as another low pressure system approaches, from the west. It will draw in some warm air; highs Sunday (overnight) are even expected to rise in the (positive) double digits making for a 30°C temperature swing in less than 48 hours for parts of the Northeast.


Arctic air infiltrates across the Northern Plains, US Midwest behind the low centered in southern Quebec. Valid Monday morning. (Source: Twisterdata)
Arctic air infiltrates across the Northern Plains, US Midwest behind the low centered in southern Quebec. Valid Monday morning. (Source: Twisterdata)

Some potentially record-breaking low temperatures are expected on the horizon for the Midwest behind this system though, as the polar vortex pivots all the way down to the Midwest. On Friday the Governor of Minnesota had already cancelled schools state-wide on Monday in preparation for this next potent blast of Arctic air that will make its way east.

Elsewhere in Weather News: November 29th, 2013

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Flooding Affects Italy

Severe flooding has been taking place in Sardinia, Italy this past week causing residents to rush for higher ground. Sardinia is one of Italy’s islands located in the Mediterranean Sea; about 1.7 million Italians reside here. An upper level low drew in moist air from the Mediterranean Sea and spun just off the coast of Sardinia, causing for some significant flooding on the island. Rainfall totals generally ranged between 35 and 50mm on the island, which is over half of their monthly total for November.


Severe flooding in the city of Uras, on the island of Sardinia. (Source: AP)
Severe flooding in the city of Uras, on the island of Sardinia. (Source: AP)

As this fell in a span of about 24 hours, sewers were unable to handle these large volumes of water in that short period of time. In some areas water levels reached about three meters, causing roads and bridges to be washed away. As of Friday night 18 fatalities had been reported. Several waterspouts and brief tornadoes had also been spawned by this system off of Italy’s coast and on the mainland.

Tornadoes Rip through US Midwest

In last week’s post of EIWN the risk for severe storms affecting the Midwest US had been briefly talked about. The event that occurred on Sunday was a fairly significant event; the moderate risk talked about in last week’s post had been upgraded to a high risk on Sunday – a risk only issued once or twice by the SPC when major severe weather events are imminent. This severe weather event followed up with all the hype ahead of it. In total, 106 tornado reports were received and 74 tornadoes were confirmed. Two of these were classified as EF-4 strength and 33 classified of EF-2 strength and higher, making November 17th a significant tornado outbreak in the Midwest. There were also numerous (400+) wind damage reports scattered from Iowa to New Jersey, as expected with the high shear environment on that day. One of the strongest tornadoes of the day – an EF-4 ripped through the town of Washington, Ill., where some houses were completely ripped apart by the twister. Death toll from the outbreak is at eight but could have been significantly higher if not for the good forecasting and swift warning issuance by NWS.


Map of all the warnings and watches issued on the 17th. Tornado watches/warnings in red and severe thunderstorm watches/warnings in blue. Polygons are the warnings. (Source: SPC)
Map of all the warnings and watches issued on the 17th. Tornado watches/warnings in red and severe thunderstorm watches/warnings in blue. Polygons are the warnings. Click on image to enlarge. (Source: SPC)

Elsewhere in Weather News: November 16th, 2013

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Typhoon Haiyan Final Update, Moderate Risk for Midwest US

It’s been over a week since super typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines and a second landfall over Vietnam. The impacts in the Philippines and Vietnam are just now starting to surface and the reports coming out of the countries are not good.

Vietnam had had quite a bit of time to prepare for the storm and 70,000 people were evacuated from low lying areas. These preventive measures surely saved lives in the flood-prone and landslide-prone areas of Vietnam, but unfortunately five people still lost their lives in the floods. Storm surge was not as big an issue as it was for the Philippines as Haiyan had significantly weakened by the time it made landfall in Vietnam.

For the Philippines the death toll continues to climb (3,600 people) as the cleanup continues. One neighbourhood of Tacloban City of about 10,000 people has been literally washed off the map according to the city’s mayor, with no houses left. An early estimate for the damage is 12-15 billion dollars.


Aerial picture of Guiuan, one of the hardest hit areas, to the east of Tacloban. (Source: National Post)
Aerial picture of Guiuan, one of the hardest hit areas, to the east of Tacloban. (Source: National Post)

Unfortunately, this past week another tropical disturbance made its way to Vietnam and brought anywhere from 250mm to 500mm in the central part this past week. To the already saturated grounds, this was enough to cause some more flash flooding. As of Friday night’s reports 3,500 houses had been lost and power was out for various cities in central Vietnam. In total, 17 people had lost their lives from this event.

In other weather news this week, a negatively tilted trough will be making its way across the US Midwest and has the chance to produce some severe weather on Sunday. SPC has outlined a 45% hatched area, moderate risk stretching up to Southern Ontario. Though CAPE is limited, shear is quite impressive, thus, severe winds will be the main threat with this event. If the sun does get a chance to heat up, brief spin-ups could become a threat with the low cloud bases. It is not all that common to see severe events of this magnitude stretching up to Southern Ontario in the middle of November.


45% hatched area for the US Midwest, the main threat will be wind damage. (Source: SPC)
45% hatched area for the US Midwest, the main threat will be wind damage. (Source: SPC)