Severe Derecho Struck the Midwest/Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic Yesterday...

The above radar loop (courtesy of the College of DuPage Nexlab), shows the progression of a severe "derecho" from the Midwest to the Ohio Valley, and all the way to the Mid-Atlantic Coast yesterday afternoon and evening.A derecho is a severe windstorm that, by definition, produces damaging winds in excess of 60 mph along a swath of at least 240 miles in length.  Radar signatures associated with a derecho often take on an arc or bow configuration,...

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Debby Finally Departing Florida; Watching a Wave in the Atlantic

The center of Tropical Depression Debby has finally moved back out over water in the southwest Atlantic this morning, and will continue to pull the rains out to sea and away from Florida (aside from the daily sea breeze type activity, etc.).   I'm sure the water logged folks in the sunshine state are glad to see that finally happen...Meanwhile, out in the far reaches of the tropical Atlantic, a tropical wave is being monitored for gradual development...

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Tropical Storm Debby Still Dumping Rain on Florida...

Tropical Storm Debby continues to dump heavy rain on Florida...a trend that is likely to continue today. At 7am CDT, the center of Debby was located about 90 miles South/Southwest of Apalachicola, Florida.  The "official" National Hurricane Center advisory states that Debby is stationary, but satellite imagery indicates that it is drifting East/Northeastward very slowly, a trend that has continued since yesterday.Quite a bit of dry air has been...

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Update on Tropical Storm Debby

As of 1pm CDT, the center of Tropical Storm Debby was located about 175 miles East/Southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and moving Northeast at 6 mph.Debby has been moving toward the Northeast for the last 4-5 hours, and there seems little doubt in my mind that it will continue to be drawn into the influence of the trough of low pressure developing over the Eastern U.S. and continue in this general direction over the next few days.  I...

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Tropical Storm Debby Forms in the Gulf... Now What?

Above is a recent visible satellite image showing the center of Tropical Storm Debby (circled in yellow). At 4pm CDT, the center of the storm was located about 220 miles South of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and was drifting slowly Northward.An Air Force Hurricane Hunter aircraft found a maximum surface wind of 50 mph in the Northeast quadrant of the storm this afternoon, prompting the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to declare the system...

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Disturbance in the Gulf About to Become "Debby"...

The tropical disturbance that we've been talking about for the past few days continues to organize over the Gulf of Mexico, and recent trends indicate that it is likely already a Tropical Depression, and very close to becoming Tropical Storm Debby.The center of the disturbance is currently estimated (by satellite) to be located about 350 miles South of Pensacola, FL.  The last few observations from a data buoy located about 130 miles East/Northeast...

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Update on Tropical Disturbance in Southeast Gulf of Mexico...

Above is the latest visible satellite image showing a broad area of disturbed weather in the southeast Gulf of Mexico. The actual surface circulation center appears to be just to the Northwest of the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, and is forecast to be located near the red "L" in the following image at 7pm CDT this evening:Little has changed since yesterday, insofar as the possible eventual tracks of this system.  It was very disappointing to...

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Tropical Disturbance Forming in SE Gulf of Mexico...

In a post last week I mentioned that we would need to keep an eye on the Gulf of Mexico for possible tropical development late this week or this weekend.  Indeed, an area of disturbed weather is beginning to show up on visible satellite imagery, as indicated on the image above.The National Hurricane Center has said that an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft will fly into this disturbance tomorrow afternoon to get a better reading on...

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Severe Weather Threat Northern Plains / Great Lakes Region Later Today, Into Tonight...

Severe thunderstorms are forecast across an area from the northern Plains into the Western and Central Great Lakes region this afternoon and into tonight.  Specifically, severe storms are forecast within the yellow shaded areas on the above image, with an elevated risk of large hail and damaging winds within the red shaded area on the same image.  Strong to locally severe storms are possible within the larger, brown shaded area.Thunderstorms...

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Widespread (Regional) Severe Weather Threat Across the Northern Plains Today...

A localized severe weather outbreak is forecast later today into early tonight across portions of the northern Plains and northern Mississippi Valley region.  Severe thunderstorms are forecast within the yellow shaded area on the above image, with the highest risk within the red shaded area.All modes of severe weather will be possible across this region this afternoon and evening, including tornadoes, large to very large hail, and damaging wind...

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Severe Storms Possible Southern Plains to Midwest Later Today...

Above is the latest severe weather outlook for today from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) in Norman, OK.  Severe thunderstorms are forecast within the yellow shaded area on the image.A complex of thunderstorm activity in Kansas overnight produced an outflow boundary that is moving Southward into northern Oklahoma this morning.  This boundary will focus scattered thunderstorm re-development later this afternoon and into this evening.  Some...

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