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