Monthly Archives: June 2015

Disasters

Flood forces home evacuations, sand-baggers requested

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Firefighters rescued 38 people and eight pets from flood waters at Stoney Creek Estates in Zanesville, Ind. early this morning. WANE-TV photo.
Firefighters rescued 38 people and eight pets from flood waters at Stoney Creek Estates in Zanesville, Ind. early this morning. WANE-TV photo.

Flooding forced 38 people to evacuate their mobile homes in Zanesville, Ind. early this morning, according to a report by Fort Wayne television station WANE.

The Southwest (Allen County) Fire District and the Ossian Fire Department responded to Stoney Creek Estates at around 1 a.m.

Emergency workers transported the residents to a shelter at Zanesville United Methodist Church.

Flood water submerged transformers in the mobile home park, so utility workers had to shut off power.

At about the same time, emergency crews evacuated about 10 homes in the Huntington County town of Andrews and the Huntington County Emergency Management Agency called for volunteers to help fill sandbags:

As of 9:27 a.m. today, the agency indicated it could still use volunteers at the Street Department on Webster Street in Huntington this morning.

High water has closed many roads and highways in northern Indiana and northwestern Ohio.

The sun came out this morning, but it will take a while for flood waters to receded, according to an inforgraphic published by the northern Indiana office of the National Weather Service:

The office issued a “Hazardous Weather Outlook” this morning that indicated more heavy rain could bring additional flooding Wednesday:

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
703 AM EDT TUE JUN 16 2015

INZ004>009-012>018-020-022>027-032>034-MIZ078>081-OHZ001-002-004-005-
015-016-024-025-171115-
ST. JOSEPH IN-ELKHART-LAGRANGE-STEUBEN-NOBLE-DE KALB-STARKE-PULASKI-
MARSHALL-FULTON IN-KOSCIUSKO-WHITLEY-ALLEN IN-WHITE-CASS IN-MIAMI-
WABASH-HUNTINGTON-WELLS-ADAMS-GRANT-BLACKFORD-JAY-CASS MI-
ST. JOSEPH MI-BRANCH-HILLSDALE-WILLIAMS-FULTON OH-DEFIANCE-HENRY-
PAULDING-PUTNAM-VAN WERT-ALLEN OH-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SOUTH BEND...MISHAWAKA...ELKHART...
GOSHEN...LAGRANGE...TOPEKA...ANGOLA...KENDALLVILLE...LIGONIER...
AUBURN...GARRETT...KNOX...NORTH JUDSON...WINAMAC...FRANCESVILLE...
PLYMOUTH...BREMEN...ROCHESTER...WARSAW...WINONA LAKE...
COLUMBIA CITY...SOUTH WHITLEY...FORT WAYNE...MONTICELLO...
BROOKSTON...LOGANSPORT...PERU...WABASH...NORTH MANCHESTER...
HUNTINGTON...BLUFFTON...OSSIAN...DECATUR...BERNE...MARION...
HARTFORD CITY...MONTPELIER...PORTLAND...DOWAGIAC...CASSOPOLIS...
STURGIS...THREE RIVERS...COLDWATER...HILLSDALE...BRYAN...WAUSEON...
ARCHBOLD...DEFIANCE...NAPOLEON...PAULDING...ANTWERP...OTTAWA...
PANDORA...VAN WERT...DELPHOS...LIMA
703 AM EDT TUE JUN 16 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST OHIO...
NORTHERN INDIANA AND SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

FLOOD WARNINGS CONTINUE FOR A LARGE PORTION OF NORTHERN INDIANA
INTO NORTHWEST OHIO...PRIMARILY ALONG AND SOUTH OF ROUTE 30.
ADDITIONALLY...MODERATE TO MAJOR FLOODING IS FORECAST ON
LARGER...MAIN STEM RIVERS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THERE WILL BE PERSISTENT CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY
THROUGH SUNDAY. THE HIGHEST CHANCES APPEAR TO BE IN THE WEDNESDAY
INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT TIMEFRAME...AND AGAIN SATURDAY NIGHT INTO
SUNDAY. HEAVY RAINFALL AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY WEDNESDAY INTO
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MAY LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING OR CONTRIBUTE TO
ADDITIONAL EXTENSIVE FLOODING IN AREAS ALREADY IMPACTED WITH
STANDING WATER. WHILE AN ISOLATED STRONG TO MARGINALLY SEVERE
STORM CANNOT BE RULED OUT ON WEDNESDAY...BY FAR THE PRIMARY THREAT
WILL BE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT FLOOD REPORTS AND HEAVY RAINFALL
TOTALS IN EXCESS OF TWO INCHES.

&&

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES...OR
CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WEATHER.GOV/IWX
SKYWARN

Huge Illinois hail stone provides incentive to heed NWS products

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Infographic from National Weather Service Chicago weather forecast office showing huge hail stone (4.75 inch) that fell in Minooka, Illinois, June 10, 2015
Infographic from National Weather Service Chicago weather forecast office.

Softball-size pieces of ice fell from the sky in northern Illinois June 10, at around 7:20 p.m. One resident provided the National Weather Service’s Chicago weather forecast office (WFO) with a photo of a hail stone that was 4.75 inches across its largest dimension. It’s the second-largest hail stone on record in the entire state of Illinois. I surely would not want to be caught outside when stuff like that starts dropping!

Yellow polygon surrounds the area covered by a severe thunderstorm warning that the Chicago National Weather Service issued for the Minooka, IL area at 7:05 p.m. CDT.
Yellow polygon surrounds the area covered by a severe thunderstorm warning that the Chicago National Weather Service issued for the Minooka, IL area at 7:05 p.m. CDT.

This demonstrates why there should be no such thing as “only” a severe thunderstorm warning (a phrase I often hear from people who are less weather-aware). At least 10 minutes before that ice rock fell on Minooka, the Chicago WFO issued a severe thunderstorm warning that covered that area.

It also shows why “large hail” is one of the three threats that the NWS Storm Prediction Center includes in its convective outlooks. The  SPC convective outlook that was in effect at the time this huge hail stone fell indicated that the area had a slight risk of hail of one inch or more in diameter.

Hail probability map from the SPC convective outlook that was in effect at the time the huge hail stone fell on Minooka, IL.
Hail probability map from the SPC convective outlook that was in effect at the time the huge hail stone fell on Minooka, IL.

Before you saw this huge hail stone, you might have thought a “slight” risk was nothing to worry about. After all, it technically means that there’s “only” a 15 percent probability of large hail within 25 miles of where you’re standing. That seems like a small probability in a large area.  No reason to be concerned, right?

But consider this: The “normal” probability of one-inch or larger hail falling within 25 miles of the center of Minooka (or anywhere in Illinois) at this time of year is one percent, according to climatology data from the National Severe Storms Laboratory. That means that the “slight risk” in the convective outlook for the evening of June 10 indicated a probability that was 15 times greater than normal!

Want to be more weather-aware now? Below are some helpful links:

  • Storm Prediction Center convective outlooks depict the severe weather risk levels everywhere in the continental U.S. for today and each of the next seven days.
  • Storm Prediction Center mesoscale discussions indicate when the SPC is thinking about issuing a severe thunderstorm watch or tornado watch.
  • Hazardous Weather Outlooks (HWOs) issued by your local weather forecast office indicate whether local meteorologists expect severe weather in your area and whether they think SKYWARN storm spotters will need to activate. To find the HWO for your area, go to weather.gov, type your ZIP code in the box near the upper left-hand corner, click the “Go” button, wait for a new page to load and then look for a link that reads, “Hazardous Weather Outlook” in a section near the top labeled, “Hazardous Weather Conditions.”
  • Watches and warnings. If either are in effect for your area, they’ll also be listed in the “Hazardous Weather Conditions” section of your local forecast page (see “Hazardous Weather Outlooks,” above). Remember, a watch means conditions are favorable for severe weather, making it likely. A warning means that severe weather is happening now.