Tornadoes Rake Okla., Kansas as Storm Threat Continues
Severe thunderstorms struck from Oklahoma all the way to Minnesota as a strong cold front edged eastward, plowing into warm and humid air as it did so. Strong upper level winds provided support for supercell thunderstorms, which are thunderstorms that have persistent rotation associated with them, and can cause tornadoes and damaging large hail.… Read More
Deadly Texas Outbreak May Mark End of Tornado Drought
The hardest-hit community on Wednesday evening was Granbury, about 40 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds told the media that an entire neighborhood, consisting of 100-plus homes, was “heavily damaged to destroyed.”… Read More
Rare May Snowstorm Annihilates Records in Midwest
In Iowa, the 11 inches recorded at the town of Britt, which is in the north central part of the state, is also likely a state record. The 6.7 inches that fell in Des Moines was the biggest May snowstorm on record for that city as well. In Wisconsin, 16.2 inches fell at Ashland, which also set a state record for the heaviest May snowstorm on record.… Read More
Twin Cities Narrowly Escape Record May Snowstorm
Had the storm hit only 50 miles or so further northwest, the Twin Cities would have been in the bullseye for at least a foot of snow, which would have shattered the all-time May snowfall record there, which stands at just 3 inches.… Read More
Winter is Coming: Texas, Midwest Bracing for Cold
A sharp cold front is ushering in some of the coldest temperatures on record for the month of May in the southern Plains and into Texas, with temperatures plummeting from the mid-90s on Tuesday in Amarillo, Texas, to the upper 20s on Wednesday night. Houston may be in line to set a record for the coldest May day on record if the low temperature on … Read More
Winter Is Finally Releasing Its Chilly Grip on the U.S.
When the AO index is in its “negative” phase, air pressure over the Arctic is higher than average, while pressure over the mid-latitudes is relatively low, and prevailing winds allow extremely cold air to spill out of the Arctic, as if opening the Northern Hemisphere's refrigerator door. … Read More
Ferocious Storm Set to Explode in North Atlantic
What is currently a relatively innocuous weather system spreading light snow, freezing rain, and rain across the eastern U.S. is forecast to explode, through a process known to meteorologists as “bombogenesis,” into a ferocious storm once it emerges over the North Atlantic. Computer models indicate that the storm may intensify so significantly that… Read More
Monster Storm Lashing Outer Reaches of Alaska
At its most intense point, the storm had an air pressure reading of about 936 mb or slightly lower, roughly equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane, and similar to the intensity of Hurricane Sandy as that storm moved toward the New Jersey coastline in October. (In general, the lower the air pressure, the stronger the storm.)… Read More
