Recap of yesterday's storm

Courtesy of intellicast

According the the National Weather Service out of Romeoville, IL there were 3 confirmed tornado reports yesterday. An EF-2 occurred near Peotone, an EF-1 in Elburn, and an EF-0 inbetween Malden and Kouts.

In North Dakota, up to 8 inches fell near Williston. As of this morning Bismarck recorded 2.1" and Minot 4.0". These totals will likely be a tad higher because of the continuing snowfall going on today.

Here closer towards home, the weather service posted some peak wind gusts that were recorded yesterday.

Waukegan, IL: 62 mph (highest)

Rockford, IL: 52 mph

Valparaiso, IN: 52 mph

Midway Airport: 54 mph

O'Hare Airport: 51 mph

DuPage Airport: 50 mph

Aurora, IL: 50 mph

Wheeling, IL: 49 mph

Historic Storm

As winter approaches, we typically begin to see strong low pressure systems come crashing into the Continental U.S. This year, however, looks to be historic. This could end up being the lowest mb pressure recorded in decades for a synoptic scale system. Extremely intense winds are currently occurring across the Upper Midwest, as well as Blizzard condtions for North Dakota. Areas in North Dakota could see as much as 6 inches of snow tonight into tomorrow. Severe thunderstorms moved across Iowa, Illinois and Indiana late Monday night/early Tuesday morning. Wind gusts could reach 60 mph today across WI, IL, and IN. Expect much colder temperatures across the Upper Midwest. Lows around 20 degrees are likely for North Dakota Wednesday night, while 40 degree temperatures can be found across IL during the day Thursday.

Make sure to check back tomorrow as I will post which areas received the highest wind gusts.

Just around the corner.......

As the winter of 2010-2011 quickly approaches, it is time to take a look at what to expect this coming season. Long range computer models continue to vary from one another, but with a moderate to strong La Nina expected to take place during the winter, above average precipitation is probable for the Great Lakes, and the Northwest U.S. Across the Southern U.S., a warmer and drier winter season is in store. Considering El Nino dumped heavy amounts of rain and snow in this region last year, with a La Nina pattern, the exact opposite is what normally

takes place.
While the Eastern Seaboard saw record setting snow last year, this season will certainly be different. I still see above average precipitation for areas like Baltimore, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, and Hartford to name a few. While I could go on and on about different regions, I figured this illustration will help summarize what I mean.

For those of you who have signed up for my weather service this winter, I will be sending you a more personalized winter outlook for your specific area within the next two weeks.