Category: Posts EN

Tornado Touches Down In NYC

Written by Meteo Expert Josef Lukas

A tropical shower crossing New York City briefly put down a tornado across the borough of Queens around 10:30 pm Thursday evening.

The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF0 tornado touched down in the College Point neighborhood of Queens. The tornado traveled just over 1km with maximum winds estimated at 70-85 mph.

Numerous trees were damaged and some Queens residents lost electricity during the time the tornado was on the ground.

Historically, there have been 10 tornadoes since 1950 that have touched down in NYC. 2010 was a particularly active year across the city with 3 tornadoes impacting 3 of NYC’s 5 boroughs.

Manhattan is the only NYC borough to escape any tornado touch downs.

Serious Flood Threat for the Eastern Appalachians!

Written by Team Morecast

 

This summer’s pattern of wet weather in the Eastern U.S. is getting a fresh influx of tropical moisture. Persistent south to southeast flow will bring moisture up to the eastern slopes of the Appalachians. Expect flash flooding through tonight and Thursday.

 

 

Torrential rain has been falling today across portions of the mid-South and Gulf Coast, up to 6-8 inches (150-200 mm) in spots (see above). Flash flooding affected the city of Mobile in southern Alabama earlier today:

 

 

For tonight and Thursday, the main flood threat will shift towards the foothills and east-facing slopes of the southern and central Appalachians, from Georgia and South Carolina up to Pennsylvania. Many areas will see 1-3 inches (25-75 mm) with 3-6 inches (75-150 mm) more common in the foothills and mountains. Significant flash flooding will be the result – extreme caution is advised for anyone traveling near or through the mountains in the next few days. Mudslides could also affect secondary roads.

 

July 2018 Weather Recap For United States

Written by Meteo Expert Josef Lukas

July 2018 brought a smattering of temperature and precipitation extremes to the United States.

The western US experienced a very dry month that exacerbated wildfire issues, while portions of the Mid-Atlantic saw record rainfall that lead to flooding problems. Below are several maps that break down the temperature and precipitation departures across more than 800 climate stations over the contiguous US for July 2018.

Temperature Departures

Temperatures across the US favored warmer than average conditions over cooler than average by a ratio of more than 3:1. Some cities that have (unofficially) set new record July mean high temperatures include: Key West, Florida, Albany, New York, Caribou, Maine, and Long Beach, California.

Some locations from the Midwest to the central Appalachians experienced a cooler than average July. Burkes Garden, Virginia has (unofficially) experienced it’s coldest mean July temperature on record.

Precipitation Departures

Precipitation departures varied widely across the contiguous US, which highlights the hit-and-miss nature of summertime thunderstorms.

In additional to being hot, much of California and the Pacific Northwest were drier than average. Meanwhile farther east, the northern Mid-Atlantic experienced a very wet July that was highlighted by a week of heavy rain and storms during the latter part of the month.

Some bigger cities that saw their record wettest July on record include Baltimore, Maryland and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Temperature and Precipitation Records

While official temperature and precipitation values for July are still being evaluated for quality control, as it stands on 1-August there are 90 climate stations across the US that have set or tied a new July temperature or precipitation record.

Another Active Severe Storm Day in the High Plains!

Written by Team Morecast

 

Severe storms have ripped down through the High Plains for much of the past week, producing everything from tornadoes to huge hail and destructive winds. Today was no exception as meteorologists watched an intense supercell move all the way from near Cheyenne to eastern Colorado. The NWS Doppler radar site at Front Range Airport just east of Denver captured the evolution of the storm (animation below).

 

 

You can see the storm initially just south of the Colorado-Wyoming border at the top of the screen. It moves on a south-southeast trajectory, at times displaying the intense spinning motion that contributes to giant hail and tornadoes. Reflectivity values are near the radar’s max, indicating the presence of either large hail or torrential rain, or both. Spotters along the path of this storm reported numerous hail stones of 2-3 inches (5-7.5 cm) in diameter, wind gusts of 70-85 mph (110-135 kph), and a few tornadoes.

 

 

You might also spot the outflow front pushed out by the severe storms while they were near the state line. It’s the thin green line that moves directly towards Denver and the radar site (the radar is located where you see the small hole in radar values at the center of the screen). You might also notice that part of the line deforms and seems to hang back just south of the radar site compared to other parts of the outflow to the west and east. That’s the outflow front hitting a small bank of hills and slowing down!

 

 

We can also detect the outflow front’s arrival at Denver International Airport, located northwest of the radar site. The record of observations from the airport shown above tells the story. Winds for much of the day were from the north at about 10-15 mph (15-25 kph). The outflow arrives at about 5:45 pm LT – winds quickly shifted to the northeast, gusting to 50 mph (80 kph). At the same time temperatures dropped from the lower and middle 80s to the middle 60s. Note that skies remain mostly sunny through this period with no storms in the vicinity.