Summer in March continues for Midwest; Dexter, MI tornado an EF-3
For the third consecutive day, Chicago, Illinois hit their warmest temperature on record so early in the year, going back to 1872. The mercury hit 82°F, giving the city its third consecutive day of 80°+ temperatures, smashing the old record by a month. Previously, the earliest Chicago had ever seen three consecutive 80 degree days was back on April 14 - 16, 1976. This morning's Public Information Statement from the National Weather Service in Chicago had this to say:
Chicago and Rockford have both broken high temperature records 3 days in a row and will likely break record highs for 5 days in a row. There is even the potential they could tie or break record highs for 6 or 7 days in a row depending on how warm temperatures get on Monday and Tuesday. It is extraordinarily rare for climate locations with 100+ year long periods of records to break records day after day after day. At the current pace... it is likely that Chicago and Rockford will not only break... but shatter their current record warmest Marches.
Figure 1. "This is the kind of sunset that you can expect to see in July, not in March. 77degrees when I took this," said the caption on this wunderphoto taken yesterday in Windom, Minnesota by wunderphotographer sally.
Minneapolis, Minnesota hit 79°F yesterday, the warmest it's ever been this early in the year, going back to 1872, and 39°F above average. This smashes the old record by a remarkable 6°F. Previous record: 73°F, set just two days previously, and also on March 7, 2000.
Bismark, North Dakota hit 81°F yesterday, which was a remarkable 41°F above normal. Not only does this tie Bismarck's warmest all-time monthly March temp on record (three other 81°F readings later in the month, with March 22,1910 being next earliest), it beats the next warmest early season record by a full 6°! The previous record was 75°F on March 12, 2007. Temperatures also soared into the 70's well into Canada's prairies on Friday, setting all-time warm temperature records for so early in the year across much of southern Canada.
International Falls, Minnesota hit 71°F yesterday, which was 36°F above normal, and their earliest 70°F reading by two weeks. Previously, the earliest 70°F reading came on March 30, 1967. Back on March 17, 1897, the temperature in International Falls hit -33°F!
Dexter, Michigan tornado rated an EF-3
NWS survey teams have confirmed that an EF-3 tornado with winds of 135 - 140 mph hit Dexter, Michigan on Thursday. It was the earliest EF-3 or stronger tornado in Michigan history, going back to 1950. The tornado skipped along a 7.2-mile path and had a width of up to 800 yards. It damaged or destroyed 128 buildings, but fortunately did not cause any deaths or injuries. The previous earliest appearance of an F-3 tornado in Michigan was on March 20, 1976. At least two other tornadoes touched down in Michigan Thursday, making it the second largest tornado outbreak in state history so early in the year. The record outbreak for so early in the year was the eight tornadoes that touched down on March 12, 1976.
Figure 2. Radar reflectivity image of the March 15, 2012 Dexter, Michigan tornado.
I'll be back Monday with a new post.
Jeff Masters
Another shot from yesterdays storm in Michigan
Reader Comments
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I have great hopes for the rainy season this year in Florida. Thunderstorms this year have already been forming along the seabreeze, I suspect we'll have severe thunderstorms daily in Florida by early May.
Like me for a little bit. What a mess it was.
WU, the blogs at least, have been around since April 2005.
Q. What does the atmospheric conditions in DC have in common with a top ranked boxer?
A. Both are May Weather!
This Afternoon: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 79. West wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 3am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. East wind between 3 and 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. East wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Monday: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 8am. Partly sunny, with a high near 78. East wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Monday Night: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 76.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 55.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 52.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 75.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 54.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 73.
LOL just playin with you HH XD
"So did you get a new Jersey?"
BOO!!!
Lol.
Like who?
Q: What do you call a bunch of tractors parked in front of a McDonald's on Friday night in Hillsborough County, Florida?
A: Prom.
It's not like folks come here to see the banter and BS between us.
;p
Its 100% electric, its fast, it looks great, its battery life is long, and it charges fast.
People need to be aware that unlike the internal combustion engine, technology improvement will allow the electric powered car to grow that much more powerful and efficient.
Now, all they need to do is start building powerful electric pickup-trucks as alternatives and I'll be really interested!
Check this out:Link
^_^
Or the many Jason handles.
The 00z CMC is developing a tropical cyclone just north of the Bahamas by 108 hrs. The CMC has been showing this quite persistently, but not so much on time it will happen as it showed it as early as Monday, now its showing it on Thursday.
The 00z ECMWF is showing something along the lines of this, but weaker and farther out, by 144 hours well to the west and north of the Bahamas.
You would think people would have better things to do besides mess with people all day everyday.
You mean everyone isn't here to see me post? What a horrible realization this is... :(
Who are we talking about here?
Also,what I notice not only on CMC but on GFS is the Azores high weaker,and that is important as less upwelling warm the MDR waters.
The announcement from researchers with WWF and Mexico’s National
Commission for Natural Protected Areas appears to confirm the fears of
some biologists, who said it was likely that scalding temperatures and
extreme droughts affecting Texas and other parts of the United States in
2011 would take a toll on the butterflies.
The migrating monarchs can survive for only so long without
nectar or water, and the leg of their journey through parched regions of
the U.S. was likely a difficult one.
“I call that a thousand miles of hell, from Oklahoma down to
Mexico,” Chip Taylor, a professor and insect ecologist at the University
of Kansas, and the director of Monarch Watch, a nonprofit outreach
organization, told OurAmazingPlanet in November.
http://www.livescience.com/19122-monarch-butterfl y-numbers-hit.html
The effects seem particularly pronounced at higher elevations, where
warmer temperatures have facilitated beetle attacks. In the last two
decades at the Mountain Research Station, mean annual temperatures were
2.7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they were in the previous two
decades.
Warmer temperatures gave the beetle larvae more spring days to grow
to adulthood. The number of spring days above freezing temperatures
increased by 15.1 in the last two decades, Mitton and Ferrenberg report.
Also, the number of days that were warm enough for the beetles to grow
increased by 44 percent since 1970.
The Mountain Research Station site is about 10,000 feet in elevation,
1,000 feet higher than the beetles have historically thrived. In their
study, Mitton and Ferrenberg emphasize this anomaly.
http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/03/16/globa l-warming-pine-beetles-thriving-at-higher-elevatio ns/
Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/double-tr ouble-from-colorado-pine-beetles/article_65191bf9- b5c7-5878-a1a9-78582a901e19.html#ixzz1pLS7Tcdd
never been seen before," said CU ecology and evolutionary biology
professor Jeff Mitton, describing the study conducted at CU's Mountain
Research Station, about 25 mile west of Boulder. "Adults that were newly
laid eggs two months before were going out and attacking trees."……….
The Mountain Research Station site is about 10,000 feet in elevation,
1,000 feet higher than the beetles have historically thrived. In their
study, Mitton and Ferrenberg emphasize this anomaly.
the number of days that were warm enough for the beetles to grow increased by 44 percent since 1970.
But
in 25 years, the beetles have expanded their range, 2,000 feet higher
in elevation and 240 miles north in latitude in Canada, Mitton said.
This
exponential increase in the beetle population might help to explain the
scope of the current beetle epidemic, which is the largest in history
and extends from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in New Mexico to the
Yukon Territory near Alaska.
http://summitcountyvoice.com/2012/03/16/global-wa rming-pine-beetles-thriving-at-higher-elevations/
Might as well change the "r" in MAR to a "y" for MAY.
Funny, but the warm equatorial waters that was there earlier seems to be cooling a bit
I know that... :P. I haven't seen any Jason or JFV handles in a while though. I thought someone was accusing someone of being a troll...
Look at the weather for Deadhorse, AK at 8 AM EDT. This town always surprises me,
Temperature -50F
Feels like -81F
Winds SW 17 mph
pic of the day
Ameritopia
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