Moore, OK

To be hit by one EF-5 tornado in a lifetime is gut-wrenching enough, but to have another strike only 14 years later is absolutely crippling.   That's exactly what happened yesterday, as a mile wide tornado swept through the southern half of Moore, Oklahoma.  Considering the number of chasers that are currently on the roads now-a-days, nearly every different angle was captured of this awe inspiring tornado as it moved east/ northeast at 25 mph.   It was on the ground for approximately 40 minutes and covered about 20 miles.  Below is an image which shows the eerily similar storm track that the May 3rd 1999 tornado went through across the northern part of Moore, as well as the track from yesterday which took a direct hit through downtown Moore, OK.

Sadly, the tornado struck an elementary school killing almost a dozen children.  With just over 20 people having died from this tornado, and over 200 injured, this is the deadliest since the Joplin, MO event from two years ago.  As population continues to grow, this will unfortunately continue to be a trend.  The lead time on the tornado warning was approximately 20 minutes, which may seem like enough time, but when a lot of people are in store retail stores, schools, etc., there just isn't enough time to take shelter.  It is a known fact that the National Weather Service continues to try and make the warning systems better.

                             Courtesy of the National Weather Service (Norman, OK)

 

 

Above radar image actually shows a "debris ball" (highlighted in blue) in association with the strong rotation that this storm was showing.  This storm is considered a "Supercell" which is a particular storm that shows a strong, persistent, rotating updraft.   

 

 

Below is a link from theatlantic.com which shows several devastating pictures of the damage from Moore, OK.

 

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/05/photos-of-tornado-damage-in-moore-oklahoma/100518/

 

 

Eric Szos

Chief Meteorologist



 

Historical April Flood

Chicago saw it's worst rainfall since July 22nd of 2011 when 8.00" fell within a 24 hour period.  Unfortunately, a similar situation happened again on Wednesday/Thursday when a system dropped a range of 5.00" to 6.00" across a majority of the Chicagoland area.  This was the most rainfall that Chicago has experienced since for a single day in April.   If another 1.00" to 2.00" of rain falls for this month, Chicago will break the ALL-TIME record for April rainfall.

                                                                                        Courtesy of NOAA

 



                                                                                        Courtesy of NOAA



Eric Szos
Chief Meteorologist

Halfway Point in the Winter Season

Cold temperatrues will be on tact for this upcoming week as the winter season comes to the half way point. Temperatures will reach into the single digits for the Chicagoland area by next Monday. These cold temperatures are due to an Arctic air mass coming out of Canada; there will be chances for some records to be broken for lowest maximum temperature recorded for a 24 period.


So far this winter has seen even less snowfall than last winter which had a below average snowfall of 19.5"; the average snowfall for Chicagoland area is roughly around 30+ inches. Around this time last year temperatures for the Chicagoland area were having average highs of 41 degrees and average lows of 26 degrees. Last winter season by this date there was a total snowfall of 7.4" which was recorded at the official Chicago observational station at O'Hare airport; this current winter season there has only been 1.3" of snowfall for Chicago. So far this winter season looks to have little chances to see any major snow events to occur by the end of January. February has always been a tricky month to predict when major winter events will occur. Hopefully there will be some more snow on the way, only time will tell!

John Barmann
Meteorologist

Might be having a very dry Christmas....

 

       The Chicagoland area hit a record of 283 consecutive days of no snowfall. Total snowfall for the Chicagoland area is still at zero where only a slight trace of snow has been recorded at the Chicago O'Hare Airport. Looking at the December snowfall rankings (1958-Present) for Chicago, this December ranks as the least amount of snowfall for the Chicagoland area. The highest snowfall ever recorded at O'Hare Intl. Airport was in 1978 with 35.3".

      Most of the Midwestern states are seeing precipitation values well below their normal levels. On average the whole Midwest is about 2" below the average precipitation amounts this is including snowfall for the winter season. The above map shows the probability for above or below average precipitation in the U.S.; most of the Great Plains is set to have below average precipitation values through next week. It seems that this December is going to be very similar to last years where Chicago saw 1.7" of snowfall for the month.

John Barmann
Meteorologists

Beginning to look a lot like summer?

 

The first three days of the official meteorological winter saw temperatures way above normal. Yesterday on December 3, temperatures for the Midwest region were in the upper 60s to lower 70s!! Most of the Midwest saw temperatures pass the daily normal by more than 10 degrees.  Rockford, IL had a maximum temperature of 69 degrees at 1:44 PM yesterday; this breaks the record of 65 degrees set back in 1970! Columbia, MO also saw their maximum temperature surpass the record; the high for Columbia was 75 degrees yesterday which breaks the record of 72 degrees set back in 1998. Chicago Ohare airport almost tied their record maximum temperature yesterday by having a maximum temperature at 70 degrees with the record still at 71 degrees from 1970. This has been one of the warmest starts to the winter season in over ten years; with temperatures staying in the upper 60s for three consecutive days. This pattern does not look to hold up long, as some winter time weather will set in next week.


John Barmann
Meteorologist

A look into December...

 

 

 

 

As the fall season comes to a close, Illinois has a mean temperature of 52.7 degrees, which ranks 25th coldest fall. Total precipitation for the fall season so far is at 5.86", with only three days left it seems that this will be the official total. Looking ahead into the winter season, most of the United States will see temperatures above normal as the upper level atmospheric blocking over the north Pacific has been persistent for the past few weeks. This upper level blocking is contributing to the abnormally high temperatures as well as the lack of any significant storms in the midwest. Looking ahead in the season, we can see that the first third of the season will be lacking any significant snowfall which is due to the north Pacific blocking.  

 

 

John Barmann

Meteorologist

 

Warmest Thanksgiving in 40 years...

 

Thanksgiving day will be one of the warmest days of the month with high temperatures expected to reach 63 degrees for the Chicagoland area! If the forecast holds out; this Thanksgiving will rank second highest for maximum temperature in the Rockford region. For Chicago region the month of November has seen a mean temperature of 42 degrees. This mean temperature ranks as the 52nd highest mean temp with records  taken from National Climate Data Center (NCDC: 1865-2011). Snowfall totals for the state of Illinois is still at 0.0" which is far below the normal snowfall to this date by more than an inch! Although no snow has fallen so far, the season is still young and showing some promise.

John Barmann
Meteorologist