May 31 Severe Weather Outbreak...
"Thoughts on Severe Weather Outbreak of May 30-May 31"
Good Friday evening on this beautiful day for the end of the work week!!! I hope everyone soaked up the sun and nice weather today because that will not be the case tomorrow. Tomorrow in the infamous May 31. May 31 is a special weather day in Pennsylvania when our worst natural disasters have occured. The Johnstown Flood of 1889, tornado outbreak of 1985, and the tornado outbreak of 1999 all occured on May 31. So yet again another significant severe weather outbreak. Will it be up to the standards on the listed above outbreak? No, most likely this will not go down as a historic outbreak. But none the less by the end of this year it may be one of the major severe weather outbreaks to occur in Pennsylvania and the northeast including Middle Atlantic. So below in the following discussion will be details about all aspects of the storm. Please post observations tomorrow from all across the northeast even before the thunderstorms even develop. Also tomorrow I do not plan to post every warning posted as this clogs up the blog comments. But I will say which county is under which warning. And tornado warnings I will list the details. Also I would appreciate if others helped post radar images of the worst looking storms. Here is my thanks in advance. Now on to storm safety... Tomorrow is one of the days to really heed the warnings when they are issued. Supercellular thunderstorms may form in some areas and they could be quite dangerous capable of damage. Remember to follow the tornado safety guidlines. Also I would make sure your NOAA weather radios are turned on starting tonight and put them on the standby mode. I believe it is important to make people aware of the severe weather threats to help save lives and property. Overall just stay tuned to latest updates from your local media, NWS, and of course my blog lol. I will have no more storm discussions posted in the blog, but I will have short term updates posted in the form of comments. Stay tuned and have a wonderful Friday evening!!!
"Current Weather Setup"
Alright well we have quite a storm system on our hands. Usually in the current weather setup I detail the past history of this storm including earlier days of the severe weather outbreak. But instead since so many variables are coming together I felt it necessary to cover all of these factors that will lead up to the severe weather outbreak. Alright Friday storms are ongoing in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and moving into Ohio. A large complex of thunderstorms is beginning to form in Illinois and Indiana. This will develop into an organized MCS that will move into western Pennsylvania very early in the morning on Saturday during the predawn hours. CAPE values will still be near 500 j/kg so this will be enough to support some nocturnal thunderstorms that may be strong to severe in western Pennsylvania. Wind damage and an isolated tornado are the primary threats. Extreme lightning will also be a threat as MCS usually are associated with high density lightning. Flash flooding may be a threat in a few hours with the training thunderstorms. Elsewhere Friday night the low-level jet is increasing and turning southernly drawing up faster winds aloft and more low-level moisture. Precipitative water tables are increasing to near 1.2inch PWATS already in eastcentral Pennsylvania in the Lower Susquehanna Valley. By dawn the MCS complex will be weakening dramatically only now leaving behind rain and clouds. Low-level clouds may become quite thick in the northwest. The cold front by dawn will be in northwest Ohio and moving eastsoutheast. The warm front will lift northward through the Pennsylvania-New York Border and allow most of Pennsylvania to be in the warm-sector. Low-level winds remain moderate to strong throughout the day Saturday. Shear values also remain extremely high, especially over eastern Pennsylvania. Dewpoints will be on the rise all day long up into the 70s in southeastern Pennsylvania. Strong May sun inversion, strong winds aloft, and wind shear will rip apart the preceeding cloud cover in the morning allowing sun to filter out, especially across the east. High temperatures will be reaching into the low to mid 80s in the south and 70s elsewhere. Instibility will be on the rise throughout the afternoon. The cold front will move into western Pennsylvania by noon and develop a weak line of low-topped thunderstorms in the northwest and the southern part of the line will be associated with severe thunderstorms. Tornadoes are a slight threat in southwest Pennsylvania. Ahead of the weak to moderate squall the high instibility will kick off supercellular thunderstorms. With helocity values over 300 and EHI values from .5-1.5 rotation in the storms will become a possibility. Also the strong deep level shear and strong southernly jet of 50 knots will lead to rotation. The strong low level jet will lead to the damaging winds. And the low freezing levels ranging from 13000-11000ft will let supercells contain large hail cores capable of hail up to 1.5inches. Overall the highest threat for severe weather is in eastern Pennsylvania and I expect tomorrow for the storm prediction center in Norman, Oklahoma to issue a moderate risk. I believe the last time a moderate risk was issued for eastern Pennsylvania was on December 1, 2005 where tornadoes were reported in Luzerne, Westmoreland, and Dauphin Counties. Please tomorrow stay tuned for more updates as there is always a slight bust factor. I will have 12z storm soundings available tomorrow for all major airfields and I will post mesoanalysis reports from the SPC.
"Current Advisories"
"Current Satellite"
(Courtesy of Penn State Meteorology.)
"Current Surface Map and Weekly History of Jet Stream Position"
"Radar for Western Pennsylvania"
"Radar for Central Pennsylvania"
"Radar for Eastern Pennsylvania"
"Forecasts from Storm Prediction Center"
DAY 1 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1125 AM CDT SAT MAY 31 2008
...CENTRAL APPALACHIANS TO THE MID ATLANTIC COAST...
HEIGHT FALLS AND STRONGEST MID LEVEL JET ASSOCIATED WITH PROGRESSIVE
SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVING INTO THE NORTHEAST WILL OVERSPREAD THE
CENTRAL APPALACHIANS AND THE MID ATLANTIC/CHESAPEAKE REGIONS TODAY.
EARLY DAY CLOUDS/CONVECTION HAS HINDERED DESTABILIZATION ACROSS A
LARGE PART OF NY AND WRN/CENTRAL PA LATE THIS MORNING...BUT MODERATE
MLCAPE AXIS IS ALREADY BECOMING ESTABLISHED NNEWD OUT OF CENTRAL VA
AT 16Z. THIS SHOULD CONTINUE BUILDING/EXPANDING UP THE MID ATLANTIC
COAST/REST OF VA AS HEATING AND FURTHER MOISTENING OF THE BOUNDARY
LAYER OCCURS. STRENGTHENING LARGE SCALE ASCENT WILL ENHANCE
THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE ACROSS THIS REGION THROUGH THE EARLY TO MID
EVENING WHEN MOST STORMS WILL BEGIN MOVING OFFSHORE. SHEAR PROFILES
AND LOW LEVEL THERMODYNAMIC PROFILES WILL FAVOR STORM-SCALE
ORGANIZATION INTO LINES AND SUPERCELLS...PRODUCING A MYRIAD OF
SEVERE THREATS INCLUDING POTENTIAL FOR WIDESPREAD DAMAGING WINDS AND
A FEW TORNADOES.
...NORTHEAST...
SEVERE THREAT IS MORE PROBLEMATIC INTO THE LOWER GREAT LAKES EWD
INTO THE WRN NEW ENGLAND GIVEN AMOUNT OF CLOUDS/STABILIZATION IN
PLACE LATE THIS MORNING. HOWEVER...STRONG HEIGHT FALLS/DEEP ASCENT
AHEAD OF APPROACHING SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL MAINTAIN A THREAT OF DEEP
MOIST CONVECTION THROUGH THE DAY. IN ADDITION...SHEAR WILL BE MORE
THAN ADEQUATE FOR ORGANIZATION INTO LINES/CLUSTERS AND EVEN A FEW
SUPERCELLS...PARTICULARLY INTO THE HUDSON RIVER VALLEY WHERE
STRONGER SLY LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL BE FOUND. THEREFORE...BREAKS IN
CLOUDS OVER WRN NY AT 16Z AHEAD OF UPPER TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED
SURFACE COLD FRONT MAY BE INDICATIVE OF SUFFICIENT INSTABILITY
DEVELOPING FOR THREAT OF SEVERE STORMS. HOWEVER...CONFIDENCE IS
LOWER THAN AREAS IMMEDIATELY SOUTH OVER VA/MID ATLANTIC.
"Tornado Risks"
"Hail Risks"
"Wind Risks"
"Model Analysis"
Ok here comes the time I take a look at the models and I pick out their possible flaws and discrepancies against each other. The NAM and GFS are pretty similar with each other and are quite impressive in terms of some indices. CAPE values look to get up into the 3000 j/kg range for southern Pennsylvania for the Lower Susquehanna Valley and southeast piedmont regions. In western Pennsylvania CAPE values also get up into the 3000 j/kg range for counties such as Greene and Washington. EHI indexes are impressive for southwestern Pennsylvania and the southeast piedmont where they range from 1-3 on the models. Something interesting also to note is that supercell potential in near 71% near Pittsburgh and near 75% for Philadelphia. Those are some impressive numbers usually found in places such as tornado alley. The SREF model though is a little more conservative in terms of CAPE and only shows values getting near 2000 j/kg as far north as Reading-Allentown, Pennsylvania line. But from past history I have found this model to be somewhat always conservative in CAPE values. Also the SREF model shows the corridor of highest threat for tornadoes to be in extreme eastern Pennsylvania, while the GFS and NAM show it in east central Pennsylvania. The NMM model is very odd for the 12z run and the simulated radar for Saturday shows little convection areas. I think the model is suffering from some convective feedback errors. Taking a look against models currently and the current surface map. Well it looks as if they have a good hold on the storm system, only difference I see is the storm may be traveling a little farther north than originally forecast. For tomorrow I will update again for 9z and 12z model runs. Below the following maps highlight the latest most important severe weather indices.
"15z SREF Model Forecast Max Cape Index"
(Saturday)
"15z SREF Model Forecast Lowest Cin Index"
(Saturday)
"12z GFS Model Forecast Max Helicity Values"
(Saturday)
"12z NAM Model Forecast Max Significant Tornado Parameter Index"
(Saturday)
"12z NAM Model Forecast Max Sweat index, helicity, and Cape Index"
(Saturday)
"12z NAM Model Forecast Min LI index"
(Saturday)
"12z NMM Model Forecast Simulated Future Radar"
(Saturday)
"My Forecast for Severe Weather"
Ok I just posted my final severe weather risk map for Saturday. I have two areas of concern. My main area of concern is in my high risk area for southeastern Pennsylvania. Yes I have a high risk, but it does not translate to the definition of a high risk from the SPC. I issued a high risk because Pennsylvanians have a limited history of severe weather and they are not accustomed to it. My high risk would translate to a official Storm Prediction Center moderate risk. I believe isolated tornadoes, damaging large hail, and destructive straight-line winds are the primary threats. Also I can rule out flash flooding as PWATs are becoming increasingly high and they are several deviations above normal. Supercells may be also found in my high risk and moderate risk for eastern Pennsylvania. For southwestern Pennsylvania I also have a moderate risk out for that region as I expect storms to be quite intense in that region as indices and past history prove that strong convection will form in that region. Shear values are also quite high in that region of Pennsylvania. Also EHI values are quite impressive too. Stay tuned for more updates from my forecast and I will be issued hourly updates when possible tomorrow until severe storms form. I will be happy to answer any questions also. And when severe storms I will be posting updates by the minute. So stay tuned!!!
"My Severe Weather Risk Map"
"Conclusions on Severe Weather Outbreak"
Again I do not expect a historic severe weather outbreak by any means, but none the less it looks like it will be sigificant. Last year was a pretty calm tornado year here in Pennsylvania, but yet a very significant severe weather year in terms of wind damage. Our June last year was one of the most stormy on record. For here in Pennsylvania many people are not accustomed to severe weather and many do not heed the warning of severe weather when statements are issued from the National Weather Service. This time though tomorrow will be very important to monitor statements. Saturday it appears that the only bust factor really is sunshine. This is typically a problem in forecasting severe weather in Pennsylvania. How fast we scower out cloud debris will determine alot about what will happen in the afternoon. And I do expect sunshine to peak for most areas by noon. Also even if for some reason the clouds hold strong, the dynamics are strong enough to produce severe weather and some thunderstorms, but it will not be as widespread as if there was sunshine to cause greater instibility. For those going out storm chasing tomorrow, snapping video, and taking pictures please be careful about going about throughout some of these storms. I expect one or two thunderstorm to have supercellular nature and be quite organized. Overall I am most worried for Lancaster County who is typically the county with most tornadoes recorded annually do the geography of the region and climate. Tornadoes will not be widespread tomorrow, only isolated at best. The worst of the tornadoes will be confined to Virginia and North Carolina. For Saturday stay tuned for many updates throughout the day. Have a great Friday evening and stay safe for Saturday!!!
"Storm Reports"
"Here north of Harrisburg 2008 statistics"
(Severe Weather Stats...)
Severe Thunderstorm Watches- 0
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings- 1
Tornado Watches- 0
Tornado Warnings- 0
Total Thunderstorms- 10
(Precipitation Stats...)
Flood Watches- 4
Flood Warnings- 3
Monthly Precipitation- 4.15inches
Yearly Precipitation- 17.81inches
(Temperature Stats...)
Heat Advisories- 0
Excessive Heat Warnings- 0
90degree days- 0
Reader Comments
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Forget the severe weather. My tomatoe plants are gonna freeze tonight!!! Damn it. LOL
Link
As for yesterday, we had 3 rounds of storms. Nothing severe in my town. Lots of lightning and rainfall varied. At my house .48". My moms place which is only 1/2 mile south had much more. She said her driveway washed out pretty severly.
I have the tomatoes covered up. We shall see if they can handle another frost/freeze.
you know why we are getting cold this evening and last - i planted new cucumbers yesterday. the first ones died from the cold evenings, so i guess these will also.
what a weird weather pattern to be getting frost on May 28-29.
maybe there will be snow on the 4th of July.
You never know it might.
TheRasberryPatch- Lol, remember I am forecasting a cooler than normal summer so who knows about snow on July 4. Also I just planted new cucumber plants too after mine died. And my basil plant is looking pretty poor from all this cold so I expect that probably to die too after tonight.
***Signing out for the evening! Have a great night all!
My cool weather crops are growing like mad. The tomato plants are struggling though. I should have left them inside for two extra weeks.
I always hear how Norfolk and Bakersville are the cold spots in Ct. My place is just as cold if not the coldest of the reporting stations. Just on the clear, calm and cloudless mornings.
Bliz, I'll be watching your posts about this coming saturday's storms. Thanks for the info!
Hopefully, JD we won't be planting anymore cukes. Nothing like a fresh from the garden cucumber and making some delicious pickles with them.
and afterall JD you need a majority of bloggers to vote for a ban of cucumber planting. : )
Ok RP, We'll see what happens when I plant my cukes. But if it starts to snow, they're coming right back out of the ground! :>}
Edit: All maps have been updated according to todays 12z model runs and all I have to say is WOW!
EHI below 1.0: Supercells and tornadoes unlikely in most cases, but be aware of convective interactions and shear zones that could make EHI values unrepresentative.
EHI = 1.0 to 2.0: Supercells and tornadoes are possible but usually tornadoes are not of violent or long-lived. Can get non-supercell/shear vorticy tornadoes near the leading edge of bow echoes/LEWPS.
EHI = 2.0 to 2.4: Supercells more likely and mesocyclone-induced tornadoes possible.
EHI = 2.5 to 2.9: Mesocyclone-induced supercellular tornadoes more likely.
EHI = 3.0 to 3.9: Strong mesocyclone-induced tornadoes (F2 and F3) possible.
EHI over 4.0: Violent mesocyclone-induced tornadoes (F4 and F5) possible.
Link
I just took a peek at your maps. It is looking more likely for a good chance of severe storms this weekend.
Morning low here was 30 degrees. I called it last night. I could have turned the damn heat this morning, BUT I DIDNT!! High of 76 degrees. Just about a perfect day.
cchamp6- Good call on the temperature!
Well good Thursday evening!!! Time for an update on the severe weather situation. My stance has not really changed all that too much on the storm setup. I believe a Mesocyclone complex of thunderstorms will be headed towards western Pennsylvania overnight Friday especially towards morning. CAPE values are around 500 j/kg during the time in western Pennsylvania and the LI index is around -2. These are pretty impressive instibility signs for the late at night time period. I believe the complex will be losing energy as it will have already hit its max intensity over the Ohio Valley during the day Friday. But none the less severe wind reports and an isolated tornado is not out of the question. Remember the MCS's are known to have quite some loud thunder along with some intense cloud to groud lightning. By Saturday morning the convection should be working off the coastline as mist and fog form low-level clouds over parts of the northern Pennsylvania mountains. But the effects of downsloping, high shear values, and strong May sunshine should be enough to quickly kick out most of the cloud cover across parts of the state except for the northwest. CAPE values quickly increase to near 3000 j/kg in southern Pennsylvania with EHI values around 2. Also temperatures will shoot up into the 80s with dewpoints in the 70s. Shear values are progged to be most intense over eastern Pennsylvania, same with helicity values. The warm front will work northward throughout the day saturday and the strongest low-level lapse rates will be found around the boundary. Also CAP levels look to be little to none over much of the state. LI index is also impressively low with them in the -4--6 in southeastern Pennsylvania. Questions for other parts of the northeast remain for cloud cover. I believe that some areas may suffer from a winter-like cold air damming especially near the coast. Like yesterday I expect the main threat to stay south of NYC, but still isolated severe weather could be expected as far north as central Massachusetts. The storm prediction center is pretty much in correspondance with my latest thoughts. The highest confidence of severe weather remains for southern Pennsylvania with dwindling chances the farther north you go. I am most concerned for Virginia as tornadoes could be quite common throughout that area. Overall I expect large hail and wind damage to be the primary threats, but still I would not be surprised to hear weak tornado reports out of Pennsylvania. More updates are still pending and will be out tomorrow with a full forecast and updated severe weather map. Stay tuned from the NWS also and make sure your NOAA weather radio now longer remains in the dust. Also one more thing a high risk is now out for the midwest. Keep in mind this energy is all headed our way along with all of the dynamics. But still bust potential is there and that is why is it necessary to stay tuned for more updates. Have a great evening and enjoy the nice weather tomorrow!!!
---
HERE IT IS AT ITS PEAK !
look at my blog for a little diary of this storm, detailed in radar images
hope we make it through the next two days without any damage.
Thanks for the maps update. Looking forward to your commentary later.
hopefully, the severe weather won't be horrific for anyone.
time to sit outside and enjoy the evening and drink a beer or two or three or
cchamp6- I wouldn't say it is in the bullseye. But I do think you will see some severe weather but not too much at this point. I still question how much cloud cover will be over your region.
***My final severe weather outlook map is out.
Ras Patch - who needs TWC anyway ? it's like the Fox News of Weather. All super glamourised weather forecasts but no real down-to-earthness. John Hope must be rolling in his grave
oh and bliz not sure if u ever opened up the full version of my blog entry about this supercell in KS i was following last night, but here is another radar image.... aint it beautiful ?
You know I was watching some local weather guys tonight and not one mentioned the possibility of severe weather tomorrow. I mean they did say we could get some strong storms, but they just dont alert people to the possibility of something big happening. They should not over hype something but they should put out there the possibility exsists for some real bad weather. Most people will have no idea what hits them when it does. I mean out west they expect it, but here its not a regular thing.
PENNSYLVANIA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE
ALLEGHENY ARMSTRONG BEAVER
BUTLER FAYETTE GREENE
INDIANA LAWRENCE WASHINGTON
WESTMORELAND
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