Belski's Blog

Tuesday early evening 7/22

Is this story the result of global cooling?

An Austrian man is demanding substantial damages after he was blasted off the toilet when huge hailstones started shooting out of it.

Martin Bierbauer said: "I heard the pipes rumbling a bit, and suddenly hailstones the size of golf balls started exploding out of the toilet like it was a popcorn machine.

"There was an avalanche of ice that quickly filled the toilet, then the entire flat, and eventually the entire building.

"I ran down the stairs with the hailstones following me, and other residents did the same."

Another resident, Silvia Streit, said: "I grabbed a board and put it over the toilet, but the pressure was so great, I ended up sitting on the board as the hail flowed through the flat and down the stairs."

Freak weather has led to temperatures of over 95 degrees in Austria which a few days later plunged as freak hail storms battered the country.

The incident near the capital of Vienna was caused by hailstones flooding into a local drain during a torrential downpour, which became blocked.

Local council spokesman Wolfgang Leinner said: "The pressure was too great, the hailstones had to go somewhere and they came out through the toilets it seems."

Tuesday late afternoon 7/22

SPC has pushed the severe threat to our south. Thunderstorms that have been in progress all day in Missouri have sent some clouds overhead this afternoon keeping things from destablelizing here. A front over central Indiana will move through tonight so a scattered storm chance will continue. Not everybody will get rain. The heaviest rain total last night was from northern Jennings county in Indiana to near Columbus where 3 to 6 inches fell. No major problems in Columbus. Earlier in the summer a flash flood in Columbus resulted in over 200 million dollars damage.

Tuesday mid-morning 7/22

Another disappointment for storms overnight. Not that I want severe weather but we need the rain. 3 inches in Jennings County where they really don't need it. The storms just fell apart as they approached the river.

The new severe numbers for today are unchanged from the previous post as we remain in 30% for wind...15% for hail and 2% for tornadoes. Here is the latest from the SPC.... EMBEDDED BOWING SEGMENTS COULD YIELD A FEW SWATHS OF DMGG WIND AND HAIL...WITH THE HAIL THREAT LIKELY GREATEST FROM MO INTO IL/IND/KY.

There were a number of house fires in the Indianapolis area from the storms. Not a whole lot of wind damage......click  here

For an update on the storm damage in the Terre haute area.....click  here

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  Tropical Storm Dolly with winds of 65 mph continues as planned toward the southern Texas coast. The map on the left shows the highest probability of hurricane force winds. The forecast from the NHC has been right on. I do have one criticism of the NHC. On their public advisories on all hurricanes and tropical storms, you have to read forever to find out the latest winds which is the most important thing about the storm. In this morning's summary, you don't find out what Dolly's winds are until the 7th paragraph.

   

Tuesday 3:40 AM 7/22

Although we still have severe weather in the area I wanted to pass along the outlook for Tuesday from the SPC. We are in the 30% for wind....SLIGHT RISK... here's what SPC says... ADDITIONAL TSTMS SEEM LIKELY TO INCREASE BY AFTERNOON ALONG THE PARTIALLY CONVECTIVELY-DISRUPTED FRONTAL ZONE /AND RESIDUAL OUTFLOWS/ FROM PORTIONS OF MO INTO PA/NY. WITH THE REGION ON THE SOUTHERN PERIPHERY OF MODERATELY STRONG MID LEVEL WESTERLIES...LARGELY UNDIRECTIONAL WIND PROFILES WILL FAVOR WELL-ORGANIZED MULTICELLS/BOW POTENTIAL WITH CORRIDORS OF WIND DAMAGE...WITH SEVERE HAIL A POSSIBILITY

Overnight storm damage has been spotty. Just heard of a tree down near Madison. There have been several TVS's on the radar indicating strong rotation. No tornado warnings have been issued.

Tuesday 2:40 AM 7/21

Here is an update from the SPC.... MODERATELY TO STRONGLY UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT WHERE MLCAPE VALUES ARE ESTIMATED BY THE RUC BETWEEN 2000 TO 4000 J/KG. THIS WILL FUEL THE CONVECTION CURRENTLY OVER SRN IL
ESEWD ACROSS SRN IND INTO NRN KY OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. THE STORMS ACROSS SRN IND AND FAR NRN KY WILL MOVE EWD INTO WEAKER INSTABILITY BUT MLCAPE VALUES ARE STILL AROUND 1000 J/KG ACROSS PARTS OF SRN OH AND WV ACCORDING TO RUC ANALYSIS. THE ACTIVITY SHOULD BECOME INCREASINGLY ELEVATED DUE TO A CAPPING INVERSION. HOWEVER...UNIDIRECTIONAL LOW-LEVEL WINDS EVIDENT ON FORECAST SOUNDINGS AND ENHANCED MID-LEVEL FLOW DUE TO A 50 KT JET NEAR 500 MB
OVER THE NRN OH VALLEY SHOULD BE SUPPORTIVE FOR DAMAGING WIND GUSTS.

Tuesday 2:15 AM 7/22

Some unfinished business from Sunday evening's storms....
This photo is from Sarah in Sanders, KY which is in Carroll County. You can see the siding that was blown off the house. It landed 100 feet away.

This is from Gretchen in Campbellsburg, KY. You have to click on the photo to see the larger view to get the full effect.

Tuesday 1:45 AM 7/21

It looks like the main thrust of these storms is going toward Cincinnati. There has been some weakening over Illinois in the past hour.

We better get some rain out of this.

Trees down near North Vernon.
A lot of trees down in Terre Haute.
Clinton, IN reported 85 mph winds.

Monday 11:45 PM 7/21

SPC will be issuing a watch for our area by 1:00 AM

Monday late evening 7/21

SPC has placed central Indiana for a MODERATE RISK overnight. We are in the 30% (slight risk). There is potential for a widespread wind damage event and a heavy rain event from the storms moving out of Illinois.

Watches cover much of Indiana and one has now been issued from Evansville to Columbia, MO.

There is a warning for the Nashville, IN area right now. That's out ahead of the main line.

In central Illinois we have heard reports of up to baseball size hail and several cities with 70-75 mph winds including Decatur, IL. I will have more later tonight.

Monday early evening 7/21

Click on the map for a larger view. SPC has put southern Iowa all the way to the Illinois-Indiana border in a MODERATE RISK for a derecho potential.
Here's what SPC says... APPROACHING UPPER TROUGH OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS WILL LIKELY HELP TO INITIATE
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS OVER EASTERN NEB/WESTERN IA.  THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO TRACK IN VICINITY OF BOUNDARY ACROSS IA/MO/IL.  INITIAL STORMS MAY BE SUPERCELLULAR OVER
NEB/IA WHERE BACKED LOW LEVEL WINDS WILL ENHANCE EFFECTIVE SHEAR.  VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY TO BE THE MAIN THREATS...ALTHOUGH AN ISOLATED TORNADO IS ALSO POSSIBLE.  AN ORGANIZED BOW ECHO MAY DEVELOP AND THREATEN PARTS OF IA/MO/IL WITH A DERECHO EVENT LATER THIS EVENING.  THIS IS THE ZONE THAT HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO MODERATE RISK.

Our high today was 93 before the storms hit. Memphis and St. Louis reached 99...Hopkinsville 97. If the storms had not developed we certainly would have made the upper 90s.

I have only 3 days in the 90s in the next 14 days.