Latest Thunderstorm Stories
The Midwest has experienced an increase in extreme rainfall and severe flooding over the last half century and authorities need to take steps now to minimize the impact of these events, two environmental groups said in a report released Wednesday. The Rocky Mountain Climate Organization (RMCO) and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in their report -- Doubled Trouble: More Midwestern Extreme Storms -- said severe storms that led to devastating and costly flooding in many Midwestern...
RedOrbit Meteorologist Joshua Kelly Big Story Weather from May 16, 2012: No tornados yesterday across the country. However, there were plenty of damaging wind reports. New York and the Carolinas had the majority of the reports, along with other isolated wind damage reports throughout the US. Large hail the size of 1.5 inches was found in New York State. Other than that, the rest of the hail reports were smaller. Big Story Weather Outlook for May 17: High pressure is in...
Report Details Major Storm/Flooding Trends in 8 States: IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, MO, OH and WI; Midwest Illustrates Growing Concerns About Climate Link Between Big Storms and Flooding. CHICAGO, May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The kind of deluges that in recent years washed out Cedar Rapids, IA, forced the Army Corps of Engineers to intentionally blow up levees to save Cairo, IL, and sent the Missouri River over its banks for hundreds of miles are part of a growing trend,...
RedOrbit Meteorologist Joshua Kelly Big Story Weather from May 15, 2012: The majority of the severe weather was found along the Carolina coast yesterday, with one isolated tornado report in North Carolina. There was also large hail in the region. In Southwest Texas there were a few reports of hail and wind damage. The chilly weather continues for the North as portions of Northern Minnesota were under frost and freeze watches last night and will be again tonight. Big Story...
RedOrbit Meteorologist Joshua Kelly Big Story Weather from May 14, 2012: The first tropical system of the Eastern Pacific formed yesterday and should continue a westward track away from land. Yesterday two tornadoes were reported. The first one was in Eastern Alabama in a fairly rural area only causing damage to a few trees. The second one was a rare tornado as it struck in Eastern New Mexico in a region that usually does not see many tornadoes. Strong winds were reported in the Florida...
RedOrbit Meteorologist Joshua Kelly Big Story Weather from May 10, 2012: Southern Texas was the area of concern yesterday as tornadoes set up along the frontal boundary. Over a dozen tornadoes were reported from just south of Houston down to around the US and Mexico border in the southeastern portion of Texas. Along with the tornadoes came large hail, which was also reported in this region with isolated reports of hail the size of golf balls. A large area of estimated winds in...
RedOrbit Meteorologist Joshua Kelly Big Story Weather from May 9, 2012: Severe weather made a small return to the United States yesterday. Two tornadoes were reported in Louisiana which started as waterspouts and moved onshore. Secondly there were numerous waterspouts from the Texas coast all the way over to the Florida Panhandle. Medium size hail reports also came in from Southern Texas and Southern Florida with the largest hail size being estimated around 4.5 inches which occurred in...
WASHINGTON, May 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA researchers have flown off on a campaign that is taking them into the heart of thunderstorm country. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO ) The Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) field campaign is using an airport in Salina, Kan., as a base to explore the impact of large thunderstorms on the concentration of ozone and other substances in the upper troposphere. The campaign is being led by...
NASA researchers are about to fly off on a campaign that will take them into the heart of thunderstorm country. The Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry (DC3) field campaign will use an airport in Salina, Kan., as a base to explore the impact of large thunderstorms on the concentration of ozone and other substances in the upper troposphere. The campaign is being led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)...
RedOrbit Meteorologist Joshua Kelly Big Story Weather from May 4-6, 2012: The Northern Plains experienced a lot of severe weather this weekend including multiple tornado reports along with golf ball- to baseball-size hail. Also a unique tornado was reported about 40 miles north of Tokyo Japan. Big Story Weather for May 7: High pressure will be off the East Coast today bringing with it partly cloudy skies along the East Coast. An area of low pressure moving through the Great...
Latest Thunderstorm Reference Libraries
Surface Dew-points can play a huge role in weather forecasting. The first such role is that it helps determine the amount of moisture in the atmosphere for a given point. If we look at the current dew-point map above from January 28, 2013 we can note several things of interest. First, if we look at where the black circle is around the number 70, we can make note that this air right off the coast of Texas is at a dew point of 70F. The temperature outside must be above 70F, because the...
Air mass thunderstorms are found in marine time tropical air. In short they are also known as MT Thunderstorms. Air mass thunderstorms represent what is known as the common three stage thunderstorm development. This means that an air mass thunderstorm goes through the stages of Cumulus which is represented by the updrafts only being present; secondly it moves into the mature stage where it has both updrafts and downdrafts; finally it goes into the dissipating stage where you see only the...
In this lesson we are going to take a look at super-cell thunderstorms and what they mean and how they impact our daily lives. First, a super-cell thunderstorm is formed from a cumulus-nimbus cloud. Super-cell thunderstorms are the most advanced form of thunderstorms known on earth. This is because these types of thunderstorms need so many things to come together in the atmosphere at the same time. The first thing they need is the warm moist air at or near the surface. Secondly, is...
Orographic thunderstorms are formed when the air is pushed up a mountain side. This type of thunderstorm is found only on the windward side of a mountain range. In the United States we would find these types of thunderstorms on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains and also on the western slopes of the Appalachians. Things that make this thunderstorm important: First of all they only form in certain geographical places on the earth as mentioned above. But they can form anywhere in the...
September 5: The southwest was encompassed in the monsoon rains yesterday bringing areas of flash flooding to portions of Arizona. Another smaller but large flooding event occurred along the Mississippi Gulf Coast where places in Jackson County received 7inches of rainfall in 2 1/2hours which lead to large flooding problems of already saturated grounds from Isaac-1. The heat persisted in Eastern Texas and into Louisiana and northward into Arkansas as some places felt temps hit the100’s with...
