April 5, 2010: Storm Chase #01
Severe thunderstorm watch #53 was issued for our chase counties north of us. It would have been a late chase (11pm-6am). So we already decided it was not going to be much of a chase and went to bed. The storms did come thru with little damage reports mostly wind and hail. BUST CHASE
April 6, 2010: Storm Chase #02
Two MCS and Severe thunderstorm watch #55 was issued for our counties North of here. Could not chase due to being at work. AUTOMATIC BUST. These storms prompted many thunderstorm warnings including one tornado warning as they marched thru the northernmost of our chase area. Most of the damage reports came in was large hail and high wind. These storms also went thru Canada and came back into the US around Buffalo, still severe.
April 7, 2010: Storm Chase #03
A slight risk was put out today. Also today was a road trip day. Storms was expected all along our trip. So why not chase as we drive. Heavy cloud-cover in the morning convinced me that no storms was going to happen in our main chase area. I did capture a very weak gust front in the morning before we headed down south. As we reached the Piqua area in Ohio, Thunderstorm warnings went up in our main chase areas for high wind and hail. No way to turn back now, we listened and watched on radar on the storms that hit our main chase area. Mostly it was a rain event according to some spotter friends. Almost 2 inches of rain fell in just a hour, prompting a flood warning for the area. No real storms developed in our area. So once again BUST CHASE.
April 16, 2010 Storm Chase #04
We had a slight risk for severe this morning and afternoon. A severe thunderstorm watch #71 was issued for southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. Since the main threat for these fast moving storms was wind and the long drive that would have been to intercept them, we decided on not to go and hope that something develop in our area. All we got here was wind gusts up to 30mph and showers.
So once again......BUST CHASE...
April 25, 2010 Storm Chase #05
A surprise Severe thunderstorm watch #103 was issued for our area. A MCS was put out detailing that developing storms would produce strong hail and high winds. The main part of the storms happen during working hours, so once again didn't have a chance to intercept the storms in time. Some of the damage reports came in was a possible funnel in Henry county with some tree damage and one inch hail in Crawford and Knox county.
Once again BUST CHASE for us.
April 26, 2010
Freezing conditions occurred in our area. A Freeze watch was issued which later turned into a freeze warning. The temperature did not reach the freezing point until the 27 and 28 where the temps dipped down to 32 and 33 respectively.
May 1, 2010 Storm Chase #06
Early morning storms brought a chance to film from the house. My navigator shot one awesome lighting shot. This storm later went severe in Monroe county Michigan. Finally a successful chase. YEA!
May 3, 2010 Storm Chase #07
Another semi-successful chase. No watches or warnings in for these storms. We decided to go out and give our chase vehicle a proper shake down. We encountered strong winds up to 40mph and heavy rain. Teresa shot video and pictures of the storm. All in all was a good chase.
May 5, 2010 Storm Chase #08
A very successful chase day. It was also the longest and most traveled in my 18 years of chasing. Without getting the exact mileage, I say that we traveled over 100 miles in our 6+ hours of chasing. We collected over 500 pictures along with 2+ hours of video. A lot to go through.
The storm prediction center put out a slight risk of severe storms today with the primary threat being destructive winds. At 3pm severe thunder storm watch #140 went out. Myself and my chase partner/girlfriend, Teresa gathered our gear and headed out in Chaser #1.
We encountered 3 big storms. The first one we intercepted brought heavy, almost horizontal rain. Wind gusts were measured up to 45MPH. Lighting was also pretty awesome with this storm. Teresa, my videographer and navigator shot some great video
of all the storms.
The second storm we intercepted was in the Sandusky/Erie county area. This storm prompted a severe thunderstorm warning. In additional to strong winds, rain, and lighting, pea size hail fell from this storm. We tried to catch video on this, but it was melting quickly. Will review video to find out.
The third and last of the big storms happen around sunset when another line of storms came thru the area as we were headed back home. We intercepted them in Ottawa County along Route 2 and Route 19. There we got some great video/pictures of the approaching storm. This storm produce hail as large as quarter size.
Friday has even a bigger chance for severe weather. So we mite not even get thru this footage before the next one hits. And this time we mite get a tornado.
May 7, 2010 Storm Chase #09
A moderate risk for severe was issued for our area today. Also it was found out that Reed Timmer from Stormchasers on Discovery Channel will also be in the area. We know that this will be a big day. Early morning checks brought us 2 areas of interest, Fort Wayne, IN and Defiance, OH. Gut choice told me Defiance but we saw Reed headed toward Fort Wayne. We headed toward Ft. Wayne. We arrived there about 2 hours before the storms went up. During that time tornado watch #143 was issued for the entire area until 11pm. Storms went up around 1700 in the Ft. Wayne area. As the storms grew in intensity, and tore eastward at speeds up to 70MPH. Before the storms went up we did get to see Reed and the Dominator, which was the highlight of the day. We were in an area foreign to us and chose the wrong road where there were no exits to intercept the storms. The storms was getting away from us and now it was a race to catch up with the storms.
The road network in Indiana was not as I expected and the storms going up to 80mph was almost a futile attempt in getting anything. Back in our main chase area, thunderstorm and tornado warnings went up for these storms.
The following warnings were recorded:
Severe Thunderstorm Warning Defiance county with possible rotation in the storm.
-This was later upgraded to a Tornado Warning
Severe Thunderstorm Warning Monroe County, MI
Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Lucas & Wood County
Tornado Warning for Ottawa and Wood County
Numerous damage reports came in. As we drove on Route 24 behind the storm we observed many tree and branches down.
A lot o hail damage came in from all over the area as well as tree damage. This is one of the better reports that came in.
2.5 inch hail at Holgate in Henry County-this storm also produce wind gusts up to 75mph.
We got just a few photos of the storms as we were out of range for most of them. However I did add just a few of the awesome storm clouds that other people snapped in the area.
All in all this was a good chase.
May 11, 2010 Storm Chase #10
This was a chase that should of happen. My forecast was no storms could be possible. So we decided to have movie night. During the movies, a line of severe thunderstorms popped up east of us. When they first formed one cell went tornadic immediately, prompting a tornado warning for sandusky county Ohio. The storm had some damage reports including a 1,000 propane tank being blown 500 feet. So this was defently a bust since the storms were in Cleveland by the time we got out of the movies but i do recommend to see Iron Man 2.
This came from the NWS in Cleveland:
After a National Weather Service survey, damage in Sandusky county was determined to be that of and EF0 tornado. The tornado touched down southeast of Fremont and was just north of the intersection of Buchanan Road and McGormley Road. The tornado lifted east of Fremont near the intersection of Beeler Road and Flora Road. Intermittent damage occurred along the path mainly to barns and trees.
May 13, 2010 Storm Chase #11
A slight risk of severe storms was issued for our chase area, which was the Cincinnati area. The temperature was a muggy 86 degrees with dew points in the 70s. It wasn't before long that Tornado Watch #167 was issued. The only problem with this watch is that the storms really didn't develop. We had one good severe thunderstorm which we could not intercept due to being stuck in city traffic. Some reports came in was wind damage and 1 inch hail about an hour south of where we were at. So once again a bust day.
This is what the SPC put out in a MCS# 548 at 1502 to confirm that the storms were not developing:
STORMS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE OH VALLEY. CONVECTION THAT HAS DEVELOPED SO FAR INCLUDE DISCRETE SUPERCELLS THAT INITIATED OVER NRN KY AND SWRN OH IN ASSOCIATION WITH EWD PROPAGATING GRAVITY WAVE...AND OVER IND ALONG PROGRESSIVE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY. COVERAGE HAS BEEN LIMITED AND ACTIVITY DEVELOPING ALONG THE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY HAS BEEN SLOW TO INTENSIFY.
THE BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW HAS VEERED TO SWLY AHEAD OF THE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY...AND THIS IS LIMITING LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE AND HODOGRAPH SIZE...BUT DEEP SHEAR REMAINS SUPPORTIVE OF ORGANIZED STORM STRUCTURES. ANOTHER POTENTIAL LIMITING FACTOR IS WEAK UPPER FORCING WITH ANTICYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT.
May 21, 2010 Storm Chase #12
We had a slight risk for severe today and a Thunderstorm watch out for Indiana. Watching the storms today in our area, We forecast that there was a small chance that these storms will become the severe criteria. We went out anyway. We did encounter heavy rain and some cloud to ground lighting. All in all it was a good run to test our equipment. Some pics will be posted soon.
May 27, 2010 Storm Chase #13
This chase was mainly a bust. Had a few rouge storms that went severe in Wood county, Ohio. These storms were hard to intercept and by the time we were even close to it, it died down considerably. So mostly it was a bust chase. Tree damage was reported in Wood county.
May 31, 2010 Storm Chase #14
We had no watches, no slight risk, no MCS. But storms did develop today. We had many rounds come thru the area. They were screaming at an astonishing 20mph. So we had a good intercept. Thunderstorm warnings came up for Monroe, Wood, Lucas, Ottawa. We intercepted the Monroe County storm. We got some great CG on video. Video will be posted later. We are still catching up on footage.
More storms occurred later in the day/early evening. Some of these storms went severe but it turned mostly into a heavy rain event. My station in Walbridge (Wood County) recorded over 1in of rain.
Damage reports came in were 1.25in hail in Tiffin, Ohio (Seneca County) and tree branches down in the Mamuee area (Lucas County)
June 4, 2010 Storm Chase #15
There was a slight risk for severe storms for today. No storms developed. There was a severe thunderstorm watch # 254 issued for area way south of us, and then there was severe thunderstorm watch # 257 issued for the North of us, but not in our chase area. Bust Day.
June 5, 2010 Storm Chase #16
This was a day that will go down into history. The day started out to be a moderate risk for storms. Temps and dew points were muggy in the morning but dropped in the afternoon, making me think that storms will not develop. As the day/night went on dew point did increase as tornado watch #268. So since it was night time chase all we did was spot from our apartment. The first warnings came in at 947pm which was a tornado warning for Defiance county and Fulton County. A tornado spun into Liberty Center in Fulton county, Ohio. It was an EF2 and began along highway 109. It continued northeast for 7 and a half miles as it passed into Lucas County OH.
Branches and power lines were down from the strong rotating winds. Storms was moving in at 40mph. Many of the warnings came in was tornado warnings. Lucas/Wood county tornado warning came in at 0956 and was later extended at 1053 and expiring at midnight. This storm headed toward the town of Millbury. At 11:15 a tornado touch down around Oregon road near the turnpike. This tornado stayed on the ground for 15min or 10 miles (40mph). This tornado was rated EF-4. The storm went thru the Lake Township police station, Metcalf Airport, and Lake High School were the building was destroyed. The storm later went thru the town of Millbury where many homes were damaged or destroyed.
My team went out to the area after the storm went through. We headed to Lake High since this was my high school. The damage was extensive. I couldn't describe it. We took some shots of the school what we could in the night and headed back. There was a second wave coming in fast. Another tornado warning was issued for the area. This storm didn't do to much damage in this area but 20 miles north of here in Dundee, MI was hit hard. This storm produced a EF-2 tornado with a width of 800 yards or about ½ mile wide.
My team headed out to the Millbury storm in the afternoon. The damage was indescribable. My chase partner Teresa commented that she hasn't seen this much damage since the Xenia tornado in 74. Lots of photos was taken in what turned out to be a tornado outbreak. From what I have heard there were 7 Tornadoes in the area. Millbury had 5 deaths. Many news articles on this storm. This will probablythe worst storm ever to come across and intercepted for a long time to come.
There were many other tornadoes that happen in the chase area. The news sources say as many as 5 tornadoes occurred in the area, the worst of which was the EF-4.
The Lowdown on the Millbury Storm:
Rating: EF-4 (Winds of 175) Path Length: 10 miles Width: 300 yards
Deaths: 5 Injuries: Several
Weather Synopsis
The morning of Saturday June 5th began with a stationary boundary located across the southern great lakes. Additional outflow boundaries from early morning convection and the lake breeze were also located across northern Ohio. These various boundaries contributed to the afternoon spin up of tornadoes across the Central Highlands into eastern Ohio.
As low pressure moved eastward along the stationary boundary Saturday evening it strengthened significantly as it moved onto Lake Erie. Moist and unstable air south of the stationary boundary and ahead of an advancing cold front set the stage for supercell thunderstorms to develop across northwest Ohio before midnight. As the cold front moved overhead it brought a second round of strong to severe thunderstorms after midnight.
This is the summary of the tornado outbreak that occurred on June 5, 2010:
Wood/Ottawa County, OH
Location: East of Perrysburg
Begin Time: 11:20PM
End Time: 11:30PM
EF Scale: EF4
Wind Speed: 170-175MPH
Max Path Width: 300-400 yards
Path Length: 8-10 Miles
Fatalities: 5
Injuries: Numerous
A team of National Weather Service Meteorologists performed an extensive survey of the tornado path in northeast Wood and western Ottawa counties. It was determined that a tornado with an intensity of EF4 with winds of approximately 170-175 MPH moved through the area.
The tornado first touched down near I-80 and Oregon Rd. (east of Perrysburg) at 11:20 PM EDT, moved across the south side of Moline, near Metcalf Airport, across the northwest side of Millbury, into Ottawa county following Trowbridge Rd., and finally lifting at 11:35 PM EDT just west of Clay Center.
The most intense damage occurred in two locations. The first location was at State Route 795 near Lake High School and then again on the northwest side of Millbury. The damage near Lake High School was rated a strong EF3. The damage on the northwest side of Millbury was rated in the EF4 category due to the extreme damage to structures. Five fatalities and numerous injuries were attributed to the tornado.
Western Lucas County, OH
Location: West of Whitehouse
Begin Time: 11:00PM
EF Scale: EF-1
Wind Speed: 86-110MPH
Max Path Width: 100 yards
Path Length: 4 Miles
A tornado with a rating of EF1 first touched down at State Route 64 and the county line. The tornado moved northeast to the intersection of Reed and Spencer Road. Damage to trees occurred along the path. Some damage also occurred to roofs of homes and some out-buildings.
Lenawee County, MI
A National Weather Service storm survey team confirmed that a tornado touched down at 148 AM at Southard Highway and Woerner Road in Lenawee County. The tornado tracked 2.5 miles east-southeast to Springville Highway before lifting at 152 AM. The path width was 250 yards with maximum winds of 90 mph (EF1) as it crossed Onsted Highway just south of Woerner Road. Several buildings were destroyed and numerous trees downed by this tornado. No injuries were reported with this tornado.
Monroe County, MI
A National Weather Service storm survey team confirmed that a tornado touched down at 211 AM at County Line Road and Rankin Road in extreme western Monroe County. The tornado tracked east-southeast along M-50, moving through Dundee at 217 AM. Maximum sustained winds of 130 to 135 mph (high end EF2) were estimated from damage just west of Dundee. The width of the tornado at that time was 800 yards. As it passed through Dundee, the tornado was still producing damage consistent with maximum winds of 115 mph (low end EF2). The tornado then tracked another 7 miles along M-50 producing damage consistent with winds of 70-80 mph (EF0) before lifting at 227 AM at the Dixon Road intersection. The path length of this tornado was 13 miles. There were 11 injuries reported with this tornado.
A National Weather Service storm survey team also confirmed that a tornado touched down at 233 AM at the southwest portion of Detroit Beach (see track map 3). The tornado tracked 6.5 miles to the northeast, reaching Estral Beach at 239 AM before moving over Lake Erie. The path width was 500 yards with damage consistent with estimated maximum winds up to 110 mph (EF1). This tornado also impacted the Fermi Nuclear Power Facility. No injuries were reported with this tornado.
Fulton County, OH
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONFIRMED AN EF2 TORNADO IN FULTON COUNTY OHIO. THE TORNADO BEGAN ON HIGHWAY 109 JUST NORTH OF COUNTY ROAD A...CONTINUED TO THE NE THROUGH MAUMEE STATE FOREST AND THEN ENTERED LUCAS COUNTY OHIO. THE TORNADO HAD A PATH LENGTH OF 7.5 MILES AND WAS HALF A MILE WIDE AT THE WIDEST POINT. MULTIPLE HOUSES AND STRUCTURES WERE DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. NUMEROUS TREES WERE UPROOTED...STRIPPED OR DAMAGED. MAXIMUM WIND SPEEDS WERE ESTIMATED AT 111 TO 135 MPH.
June 11, 2010-Storm Chase #17
There was no warnings for the thunderstorm we chased. It did at one time warranted a tornado warning in Allen and Putnam counties. But by the time we intercepted in central Wood county, it has weaken considerably. We did get some awesome rainbow photos, thanks to my chase partner and girlfriend Twister T. Photos to come soon. There was a report of a tornado in Allen county. Only damage was to a trampoline.
June 12, 2010-Storm Chase #18
SPC didn't have us under a slight risk of severe. Temperatures were very hot and muggy. Dew points were in the lower to mid 70s. Late in the afternoon, SPC put out a MD #914 on a possible thunderstorm watch being issued soon. It did, watch #307 was issued for the southern half of our chase area. Thunderstorm warnings went up for Defiance and Putnam Counties. We headed out to the Waterville area to intercept. Unfortunate, the storms died out and all was left was lighting and heavy rain. Mostly a bust chase but saw some awesome lighting. Hopefully some video will be up soon as well as video on past chases.
June 18, 2010-Storm Chase #19
Slight risk for severe today, combined with high dew points brought severe thunderstorm watch #345. Many mesoscale discussions were issued for our area. Our team was headed back from Cincinnati. This storm was a bow echo and brought some high wind to our area. Some tree damage occurred. The highest wind gust reported was 65mph. We encountered high winds from the drive from Piqua to Bowling Green. Not a real good chase but a chase.
June 22, 2010-Storm Chase #20
Strong to severe storms came thru the early morning hours today. One of my rules is not to chase at night and they came in at 3am. Thunderstorm watches were issued for the counties East, West, and North of us but not for our county. Most of the severe weather went up in Michigan and since i was very tired and at night we didn't pursue the storm. Our county did have a strong storm go thru, bringing some vivid lighting. It was a nice show. Storm reports from the area only netted one wind damage report. So it was a bust for chasing but a plus for the light show.
June 23, 2010-Storm Chase #21
A moderate risk for severe storms for today. Temperatures were very hot and humid. Temps were in lower 90s and dew points in the lower 70s. This was going to be a major severe weather day. All day most of NW Ohio area was under some kind of watch. The storms came in 3 waves.
Wave 1
A severe thunderstorm watch #394 was issued at 0740 for the counties West and North of Toledo. The storms went North producing several T-Storm warnings. Some damage was reported. At the bottom will be the total listings of damage.
Wave 2
A severe thunderstorm watch #395 was issued at 1340 for Toledo and the counties South and East. These line of storms went south of Toledo.
Wave 3
A tornado watch was issued at 1915 for the counties west and North of Toledo. These are the storms we went after. We went to stage in Fulton county. We caught lighting in the North near the Michigan border where some tornado warnings were issued. We did observed possible funnel clouds from this storm. Will have to review the video sometime in the future. No stills was taken because the the darkness. The storms eventually came in our location, which was mainly at county road S and 7. Max wind gusts were about 40mph and heavy rain. Visibility was near zero at the time the storm came thru.
As the storm approached, a severe thunderstorm watch #402 was issued for the rest of the area. All counties was under some kind of warning. Our county that we were in was under a tornado warning. Since spotting storms is very dangerous at night we parked at a 4-way intersection so we could make a quick escape if we needed.
What we documented was intense lighting and when the storm came thru nearly horizontal rain and zero visibility. A lot of areas received a lot worse. Funnel cloud slighting was reported near Tecumseh, MI. Some damage reports taken in South and East Toledo. This was a very good storm chase. I rate it a 8/10. It probably much better if it happen in the daylight.
This is the Storm Data from our area for all the waves of storms:
2 miles South of Milan in Monroe County, MI---
A NWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMED A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN JUST
NORTH OF THE CONE RD EXIT OFF US 23. THE TORNADO LIFTED
ABOUT 2 1/2 MILES NORTHEAST OF MAYBEE, NEAR STEFFAS RD
BETWEEN SCOFIELD AND ZINK. TOTAL PATH LENTH WAS 11 1/2
MILES AND THE PATH WIDTH WAS 50 YARDS. THE TORNADO WAS
RATED AN EF0 ALONG MOST OF ITS PATH. HOWEVER...EF1 DAMAGE
WAS FOUND NEAR TUTTLE HILL RD WHERE A ROOF WAS TORN OFF
OF A POLE BARN AND SUBSTANTIAL TREE DAMAGE WAS FOUND.
SEVERAL HOMES ALSO HAD ROOF AND SHINGLE DAMAGE
2 miles S of Fremont in Sandusky county, OH--- 1 inch hail
City of Sandusky in Sandusky county, OH---2 reports of 1 inch hail
Pauling, OH---measured 61mph wind gust
2 miles ENE of Kalida in Putnam County, OH---Multiple trees down at County road M and K-14
Tiffen Ohio---5 inch diameter tree limb down on the east side of town
Findaly, Ohio---Wires down at US 68 and SR 103
Monroe, MI---1.5 foot diameter tree limb, 15 feet long, fell on power-line onto Telegraph road. about a quarter mile SW of I-275.
6 miles N of Britton in Lenawee county, MI---20 inch diameter tree down with several additional 4-6 inch limbs down.
Edgerton in Willams County, OH---Fire station sustained damage. one injury
Lattery in Paulding county, OH--Power lines and tree branches down
June 27, 2010-Storm Chase #22
The Storm Prediction Center put us under a slight risk for severe for the day. Temps were warm during the early morning hours. A weak line of showers and storms came thru lower Michigan mid-morning, further destabilizing the atmosphere. Before long Severe thunderstorm watch #423 was issued from 1140 to 1900.
The first wave of storms came thru lower Michigan, promoting several thunderstorm and tornado warnings. Since I was at work, all i could do is watch them on radar. The second wave started small, but later as the day went formed an long line of thunderstorms that was from lower Michigan to the Northern point of Missouri. All that i can hope for is that the storms will wait till i get off work.
Thunderstorms waited for us to get to them, well at least the second wave. The first wave that headed towards us kinda fizzled out and then reformed when they past us. Not much video/stills was taken on these storms. We decided to wait it out and head out to a more developing line of storms that were coming out of Indiana. The team didn't get to our target area due to all the wonderful road construction that Ohio has to offer. Instead we staged at State Route 6 and Henry County Road S to watch and take video/stills of an fast approaching gust front. Video will be posted soon of this storm. Wind gusts were high as 40-45mph, not reaching severe limits but a good strong thunderstorm to say the least.
Heavy torrential rain followed the gust front passage where i estimate about 3inches an hour was falling combined with 30+mph winds. There was a flood warning for Henry county which we were in. We saw many farm fields flooded. Some small tree damage was observed but nothing significant. We also observer some great cloud to ground lighting. Some i wish that i had on video but forgot to hit the record button. Our chase day lasted about 3 hours and traveled about 130 miles. I, myself thought it was a great chase with the lighting, gust front, and the winds. i give it a 8/10.
This is some of the other storm reports that came in:
72 mph wind gust reported 5 miles N of Defiance, OH
Trees down and penny size hail 5mi S of Sandusky, OH
Several large limbs down on SR 53 between Tiffen, OH and Fort Senca
Several large limbs down 4mi east of Bowling Green in Wood County, OH
Partial Structural collapse in Mount Cory in Hancock County, OH
78 mph wind gust reported in Findaly, OH
Large limbs down on SR 118 near Ohio City in Van Wert County, OH
Weather is going to be real calm for the next 7 days. Low humidity and little to no chance for rain. Time to relax
July 8, 2010-Storm Chase #23
had a good thunderstorm come through. There was a warning issued. Chased from my porch. winds gusted up to 45mph and very heavy rain fell. Got some pics of fast moving clouds. Got about an inch of rain in one hour.
July 11, 2010-Storm Chase #24
Had storms come thru in our chase area in Michigan. Unfortunately the storms did not look that good and also happened at work time so it was a bust. Some wind damage happen with these storms
July 15, 2010-Storm Chase #25
total bust. The air was way to stable in our area. The storms came thru fizzled out before they crossed the border. The Detroit area did get hammered with storms. better luck next time.
This came from 13abc at 1330
SevereT-Storm Watch for our western counties in effect until 10pm...very rare to get a watch valid for 9 hours! We could see two lines of storms between 3pm-10pm. We'll be on the north end of the first line and the south end of the second line. A new watch may be issued soon for much...of Michigan. Straight line wind gusts over 60 mph and heavy rain are still the two biggest threats.
July 18, 2010-Storm Chase #26
This was a day that where ever you chased, you was going to be wrong. Two storm systems formed in our area the North storm was a single cell that was causing 70mph winds and up to golf size hail. This storm was about 30 miles north of our location. The southern storm was part of a line of storms that only a few cells was producing warnings. That line was about 40 miles south. Both storms was moving at 30mph.
We chose to chase the nothren storm based on radar returns. A thunderstorm warning was issued for our storm which was in northeast Monroe county. Our chase lead us into new territory into Michigan, along 275, near Flat Rock. By the time we intercepted the storm we encountered about 40mph winds and heavy rain. We did have some brief cloud to ground lighting, but that was it. The storm had weaken considerably by the time we got there.
A chase friend who was at the EOC in Henry county had a report come in of wind damage. That storm was later issued a t-storm warning.
No photos or video was taken in this storm.
More scattered severe storms are foretasted all this week,
July 22, 2010-Storm Chase #27
This little chase caught us a little off guard. Most of the chase gear was at home. All we had is our digital camera and the police scanner. We were running errands when a Severe thunderstorm watch #516 was issued for our chase counties in Michigan from 1700-2200. Storms on radar at that time indicated that the storms would stay up in Michigan and it would be a drive to intercept. Being that we had what i call the bare minimum for chasing and we were 35-40mi away from these storms, we continued to do our errands. Then the storms started to make a right turn and headed SE toward right at us at 20-30mph. Tornado watch #517 was issued for our counties from 1830-0000.
Here was the discussion in the text of watch#517
A SMALL CLUSTER OF SUPERCELLS IS EXPECTED TO PERSIST
THIS EVENING ALONG THE SRN FRINGE OF STRONGER LOW-LEVEL FORCING AND SHEAR PRESENT ACROSS LOWER MI. GIVEN THE MOIST/UNSTABLE AIR MASS IN PLACE...THE THREAT FOR A COUPLE OF TORNADOES WILL EXIST THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE EVENING IN ADDITION TO HAIL AND LOCALLY DAMAGING
WIND GUSTS.
The storms were intensify as they cross the OH/MI border. We decided to intercept the storm. After a short core punch we got into the core of a possible tornadic storm. A tornado warning was issued for the storm we were on. We were on the outskirts of Sandusky county where we shot a quick 45sec video of some rotation above us and to the west of us. As we staged to shoot pics we were quickly getting out of the hook and started get pounded with 3+ in/hr rain. Surprising there was no one on the road. This road is pretty busy.
After taking various county roads and side streets we ended up south of the Gibsonburg area where we once again stopped to take various stills/video of rotating wall cloud. This wall could was very persistent. We followed it about 40-50miles into the darkness. Tornado warnings were issued all the way. As darkness fell we were on Route 20 headed east staying a safe 10-20 miles behind the storm.
We went thru one small town where we saw a combine dealership. Thoughts of the twister movie came to mind. Thank goodness we didn't have to doge them. We chased thru a small town called Bellvue, OH where a report of a touchdown occurred. We only observed some tree limb damage.
By the time i call off the chase it was 2300. This was a very intense storm system that produced one the best chases I've been on in a long time. This rates a 9.5!!!
July 23, 2010-Storm Chase #28
The day started off very early with a tornado watch #520 issued for us at 0000-0700. Most of the storms look like they were going to be North into Michigan and not to be very severe. Coming directly off a very successful chase, we decided to call this one a bust and get some sleep.
The day got very hot and humid. Temperatures were in the upper 90s and dew points in the mid/upper 70s. This brought the heat index near 110. Storms blew up in Michigan late in the afternoon prompting a Severe thunderstorm watch #524 to issued North and west of our chase area from 1730-0100(sat morning). Several thunderstorm warnings were issued for Michigan. One storm prompted a tornado warning in Monroe county, MI. We went after that storm.
We encountered a wall cloud with little to no rotation on the first and intense cell to the NE of us. By the time we got into position around Newport, MI, the storm had move out over the lake the tornado warning was canceled.
Storms started to enter NW Ohio, making SPC to issues Severe thunderstorm watch #526 from 1930-0300(sat). Looking at radar, i figured that these storms was going to be a rain/wind event as night began to fall. There were some thunderstorm warnings issued, but no damage reported. The watches were canceled by 2200.
This chase day also breaks my personal record in the number of chases in a year, but for today i give in a 3.
July 24, 2010-Storm Chase #29
A total bust. Really no severe weather happen in our area even with a t-storm watch. Guess better chance next time
July 28, 2010-Storm Chase #30
A thunderstorm watch was issued. Storms didn't really develop like they are supposed to. So Bust chase. We did intercept a storm in Monroe county with heavy rain, wind gusts up to 40mph, and some cloud to ground lighting. We did get some video on it.
August 4, 2010-Storm Chase #31
Thunderstorm watch #566 issued
all storm damage occurred in central and southern Ohio
August 15, 2010-Storm Chase #32
Thunderstorm watch #617. didn't chase, think it wasn't going to be severe. Many damage reports in Ottawa county
September 16, 2010-Storm Chase #33
Severe thunderstorm watch was issued. Storms blew by. Not much damage here in Toledo. Walbridge had some limbs down. They were about an inch in diameter. Rainfall was heavy there too. Total rainfall there was almost 2inches.
October 24,2010-Storm Chase #34
No watches, or slight risk was issued today. One lone storm prompted a severe thunderstorm warning for pulding, putman, henry counties. We went out along 23 south and encountered several CG lighting. The storm was weaking considerably and just a HP storm was left. This storm was also moving at 60mph, so by the time we got into it, it had weakened. The storm did produce a rainbow. Good chase!!
October 26, 2010-Storm Chase #35
High risk for severe in our area. As far as I know, our chase area has never been a high risk. A PWO (Public severe Weather Outlook) also was issued for our chase area. The forecast called for a extremely fast cold front to come thru our area. Large and damaging tornadoes are likely. Unfortunately, this was a work day and I had to hope that the storms wait till I go off of work. I watch the radar at work throughout the day as part of my job. A tornado watch #722 was issued between the hours 0900-1600 of for all western Ohio. In the text it call for a moderate chance of tornadoes EF-2 or greater.
Watching the storms on radar, I knew they would come thru and be long gone by the time I got off work. The line of storms at one time was from Flint, MI to the TN/AlL border with most all the warnings being tornado warnings. In our area, all counties were under tornado warnings at one point in time. Since being stuck at work, it was basically my call to help with management to find out if we had to take cover. I was motoring radar and our local ham radio frequency. There were no reports of severe weather and looking on radar, the storm split into two, one going north and one going south (no surprise, this happens all the time). What we got was a brief wind storm. Peak gust was measured around 55mph.
No damage was reported locally but this was part the the second biggest tornado outbreak in October. Last I heard it was something like 90 tornadoes.