2007
(12 Chases)
Feb 13, 2007: Snow began during the early morning hours of the 13th, and continued through the day. The snow continued overnight and ended during the morning of the 14th. Throughout the day on the 13th, wind gusts of 30 to 35 mph were common, and the peak wind gust for the day was 38 mph. Winds continued to be gusty into the 14th with wind gusts around the 30 mph range. As the low pressure moved away and the snow ended, winds subsided through the late afternoon and evening hours of the 14th. Snowfall amounts ranged between 3 and 6 inches by the evening of the 13th across the area. However, snowfall was most intense during the late evening and overnight hours into the 14th. By the morning of the 14th, Toledo picked up 7.5 inches just since the night before, after already receiving 6.5 inches during the day on the 13th. Some other snowfall totals from Lucas County include 9.5 inches in Maumee, 8.3 inches at Toledo Express Airport, and 8.6 inches in Sylvania Township. Several power outages were reported in Toledo for approximately three hours during the event, and flights from Toledo Express Airport were canceled on the 13th and 14th.
Mar 14, 2007: A cold front extending through the Great Lakes region into the plains states moved through the area during the late afternoon and evening hours of the 14th. The SPC had a slight risk for severe all day with 15% chance for large hail and strong winds. Strong to severe thunderstorms developed ahead of this cold front. Nickel size hail was observed.
April 29, 2007: Just around 9pm last night we had a line of non-severe thunderstorms pop up. Just as the sun was going down these came up. My kid and I stood out on the porch and watch the lighting display. We also tested out my old lighting detector which still seem to be working. Next chance for storms here is on Tuesday.
May 1, 2007: Well today was totally unexpected. These storms I didn’t even think of developing. The SPC put out a slight risk early in the day. My forecast projected the storms to develop way south of here. But at 0730 the slight risk included a 5% chance of tornadoes and 30% of large hail and high winds. At 1600 SPC put out a Mesoscale Discussion (MCD) of a possibility issuing a watch box. Just soon after that, severe thunderstorm watch #205 was issued. Then the storms came roaring in. Numerous reports of funnels came in as I listen to it at work. All storms developed south of my location so by the time I would got off work and ready to chase, it would be a lost cause since the storms were traveling around 45mph. Here are some reports: 1¾ inch hail1 mile NE of Toledo, also several large limbs, 16 to 20 inches in diameter was reported down.
May 15, 2007: What a day. Early morning discussions from the SPC put us in a slight risk for storms, with a good (30%) chance for large hail and high winds. At 1400, severe thunderstorm watch #275 was issued. The storms came in fast and furious today. Most damage was from straight-line winds. I recorded an estimated wind gust of about 50MPH.
Mostly tree damage was reported.
Here is part of the article as it appeared in the local paper:
At the Anthony Wayne Trail and Western Avenue, large pieces of sheet metal, measuring at least 10 feet high, were torn from a fence and blown into the street.
By 9 last night, Toledo's forestry division had at least 65 reports of fallen trees or limbs across roads, power lines, and cars, said Denny Garvin, commissioner of forestry.
"Right now, most if it's in East Toledo, South Toledo, but it is everywhere," Mr. Garvin said. Forestry crews were working late into the night to clear debris.
In western Lucas County, a half-mile of State Rt. 295 from State Rt. 64 to Archbold Whitehouse Road was closed for hours because of a power line and several trees across the road.
On Airport Highway, law enforcement officers were called because traffic lights had reverted to emergency mode - flashing red one direction and yellow the other.
In Fulton County's Swancreek Township, County Road C was closed between State Rt. 109 and County Road 6, south of Delta.
In Ottawa County, part of a barn was blown onto Graytown Road in Benton Township between Oak Harbor and Genoa.
Large trees were down in Hillsdale and Lenawee counties, and shingles were reported to be coming off roofs of homes in Lenawee. Hail also was reported there.
May 27, 2007: Early morning SPC report had us under a slight risk for severe. Today there were no watches out for our area. I was making dinner and watching a storm to my southwest moving ever so slow. After dinner I checked on the storm again, it was producing 1" hail and prompted a severe thunderstorm warning. After getting a track on the storm (moving only 15mph) the thunderstorm warning was upgraded to a tornado warning (Doppler based).
I loaded up my gear, my chase partners (my kid and my best friends kids) and headed south, towards Bowling Green. The storm was weakening in intensity as we approach it. So by the time we intercept the storm all we seen was a few lighting bolts and extremely heavy rain (about a rate of 2in and hour). I let the kids videotape the heavy rain just outside Bowling Green.
They really enjoyed themselves. I didn’t hear of any damage reports from this storm. Next possible chase day is Tuesday where an isolated heating of the day thunderstorm may develop. Wish me luck.
June 3, 2007: An isolated severe thunderstorm occurred in Perrysburg, Ohio, a tree fell on a car and another tree hit a house.
June 4, 2007: Yesterday was the day where you get all the months rain in one day. We had two slow moving storms come thru the area.
Storm one happen around noon. There was lots of lighting associated with the storm. Also the storm seem to pop out of nowhere and in less than 6 minutes, it was producing torrential rainfall. A flash flood warning was issued for my county. I estimated about 2-3 inches of rain fell in about 45 minutes.
Storm two happen around seven. Theses were also slow movers, but this time the storm didn’t just pop out of nowhere. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for this storm. High winds occurred south of my area were a tree branch fell on a car (no one was injured). Total estimated rainfall in this one was about 1-2 inches which brings the total to about 3-5 inches. Looks like I need to invest in a rain gauge(lol).
A tree hit a house and a few limbs were down due to the gust front in some of the storm reports.
June 8, 2007: A great severe weather day. We started out with a slight risk in the morning but as the air became more and more unstable, a moderate risk was issued at 1230. there was a 45% chance for large hail as well. Many MCD’s were issued for this event as well as severe thunderstorm watch #369. We had some tree damage in the area. About 20,000 people lost power at one time, some will be without for 24 hours. We had about an inch of rain in the storm with a peak wind gust of about 40mph, which brought down some limbs in the immediate area. Pea to penny size hail was reported in Wood County also trees were down in a swath ¾ to 1 mile wide and 7-8 miles long west of Whitehouse which is north of Neapolis. Power lines were also down in Whitehouse.
June 21, 2007: A slight risk for storm today. Today the storms came from Michigan, and they were fierce as they cross the border. Radar estimates said that there a at least 1" hail in these storms. My team consisted of my daughter who was the photographer and her best friend Devon, he was in charge of lighting spotting and recording.
We encounter severe winds and heavy rain, which was almost going horizontal!! The storms were moving about 50mph so it was hard to keep up with them. We hopefully did get some great shots of the storm. I will let you know later. Also, numerous large branches down west of Toledo.
June 27, 2007: Isolated storms came through the area. A few large limbs were down 10 miles west of Toledo. A 60mph wind gust was observed.
June 28, 2007: Another chase that kept me at home, I was busy cooking at the time so I did not get the chance to go out. Winds up to 35-40 mph were estimated at my location. Rain was estimated about an inch an hour here. I also noticed one time a rotating scuds just passed the house right before the second storm blew in.
Now we are getting some relief after 4 days of temps near or above 90. Nice cool day and weekend.
August 24, 2007: After 2 months of waiting for a good storm, it was finally delivered. This one was worth the wait. The SPC had a moderate risk throughout the day with the main damage would be high destructive winds (45%). Two MCD’s was issued saying that there will be a watch issued soon. So at 1605, severe thunderstorm watch #648 was issued. Less than a hour later we were under a tornado warning. My whole family was out spotting this one. My wife got some excellent pics of the storm. They will be posted later this week. We saw rotation in at least three different areas of the storm. The wind was the worst. I estimated wind gust at least 65 mph at one time.
Rainfall was intense, but brief. Not compared to last week when we were deluged with rain. Most reports that came in over the Skywarn band was tree damage with a few power outages.
The storms came in quick and left quickly as well. Tornado warnings were issued but no confirmed touchdowns. As I stated earlier we spotted rotation in the storm clouds but nothing dropped.
October 18, 2007: On Thursday, October 18, 2007 a strong low pressure system centered over Minnesota touched off supercell thunderstorms throughout Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee -- all the way down to the panhandle of Florida. These storms produced about 35 tornadoes. Two people died in an EF-2 tornado that touched down in Williamston, Michigan around 10:30 PM EDT. Three people died as a result of the Michigan tornadoes. A total of seven tornado warnings issued for Ingham County with the one confirmed touchdown near Williamston.
November 6, 2007: The first shot of cold air hit today. Today was also the first flakes of winter. Temperatures were about 25 degrees colder than yesterday. What made it feel real cold was that we had strong winds of 15-30mph, bringing the wind chills of 25-30 throughout the day.
November 10, 2007: the five year anniversary of the 2002 outbreak. Got a new film camera, a Fuji discovery 120mm zoom. All I have to do is get a battery and film before the 2008 chase season begins, so I have a little time.
November 20, 2007: I thought I would not see the 60s again this year, but guess what, I was wrong. Today's high hit 63. strong southwest winds help this. By thanksgiving we shall be back into the 30s. today is also my birthday. I share a birthday with a few famous people such as Richard Dawson (75), Dick Smothers (69), Joe Walsh (60), Ming-na (44), Sabrina Lloyd (37), and Marisa Ryan (33).
November 21, 20007: Temperatures took a nosedive today. The high temperature of 58 occurred at 9am. The next hour the wind shifted from SW to NE, causing the temperature to drop 9 degrees to 47. it was also a very wet day. Rainfall estimates were from 1.50 to 2.00.
December 3, 2007: A wind advisory was issued today. After a wintry mix that was received on the first, strong winds were forecast today. A peek wind gust of 40mph was recorded here.
December 5, 2007: Snow advisory was issued today. The first real snowfall of the season. Today’s forecast was for 2-4 inches of snow. Pressure was low, as of 6am the pressure was at 29.77 and the temp 23 degrees. That means a fine steady snow could fall in the next few hours. Special thanks to the Alberta Clipper; we received about 2 inches of snow.
December 6, 2007: This morning’s wind-chill reached below zero. At 8am the air temp was 10 degrees with a SW wind of 7 mph brought the wind-chill of –1. Low temp of 7 was recorded this morning.
December 9, 2007: The full icy blast of winter hit us today. Freezing rain, freezing drizzle fell most of the day. A winter weather advisory was upgraded to an ice storm warning for a short time. Temperatures were at or just above 32 all day. Total ice accumulations was a 1/10 of an inch or less. The main roads were fine but the secondary streets and sidewalks were slick. Numerous accidents were reported and 2 people died in a vehicle accident later in the night.
December 10, 2007: Day 2 of the icy weather. A winter weather advisory was issued. A light freezing drizzle fell most of the morning. Later in the afternoon, an ice fog developed. More accidents occurred. All area schools were closed this morning.
December 11, 2007: Day 3. Freezing mist, drizzle occurred in the morning hours. Another winter weather advisory was issued. The temperatures warmed up by noon. Then the rains came and it rained hard most of the afternoon, causing some small flooding.
December 13, 2007: Another winter weather advisory was issued for a wintry mix, not much happen on this day. Waiting for this weekend though.
December 16, 2007: Winter Storm Warning!!! This was issued from 12pm Saturday to 7pm Sunday. It started as light snow around 2pm Saturday. It flurried for about a few hours then stopped because of a dry slot. It did not start back up until 7 or 8 pm. sometime during the night the snow changed over to sleet for a short time. Snowfall rates in the early morning hours were about 2 inches and hour. Lucas County was under a level 2 snow emergency. Strong winds came in Sunday morning as well to cause blowing snow. We received about 8 inches of snow with 3-foot drifts.