Storm Reports: 7/31/09

The following are storm reports from the National Weather Service Office in Cleveland & Pittsburgh for July 31, 2009:

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0745 AM     TORNADO          WOOSTER                 40.73N 81.92W
07/31/2009                   WAYNE              OH   NWS STORM SURVEY
            CONFIRMED TORNADO CAUSED MAJOR DAMAGE TO POLE BARN ROOF
            STRUCTURE. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON EYEWITNESS
            OBSERVATIONS.

July temps: Record cool?

By WKYC Meteorologist Betsy Kling

CLEVELAND -- Many northern Ohioans are saying they just can't remember a July quite this cool. Looking back over the records, most are right!

Here is how the temperatures break down for Cleveland:

July average (average of all highs and lows): 71.2

July 2009 average: 68.6

Coolest July average on record: 67.6 in 1960

((So far, Cleveland is sitting on the 4th coolest July on record))


Temperature break down for Akron-Canton:

July average: 71.7

July 2009 average: 67.3

Coolest July average on record: 67.6 in 1904

Akron is currently having the coolest July on record.


Temperature break down for Mansfield:

July average: 70.7

July 2009 average: 66.1

Coolest July on record: 66.6 in 1947



So, yes, for many northern Ohioans this is THE coolest July we've felt. Against the record books it is still pretty darn cool!

The jet stream has been in a persistent pattern this summer that allows for more cool air to come our way. That pattern won't be changing anytime soon, although there will be some temporary fluctuations that will give us a few chances to at least get back toward average highs in the lower 80s.

Photo: Heavy Rain in Downtown Cleveland on 7/21/09

WKYC Producer Jon snapped a look at the heavy rain outside the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center shortly before 6 PM on Tuesday evening July 21, 2009.



Got a cool weather photo? Upload it now: CLICK HERE

Storm Reports: 7/21/09

The following are storm reports from the National Weather Service Office in Cleveland & Pittsburgh for July 21, 2009:

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0730 PM     HAIL             NORWALK                 41.24N 82.61W
07/21/2009  E0.75 INCH       HURON              OH   LAW ENFORCEMENT
            PENNY SIZED HAIL

0350 PM     HAIL             BOARDMAN                41.03N 80.67W
07/21/2009  M1.00 INCH       MAHONING           OH   TRAINED SPOTTER

0348 PM     HAIL             YOUNGSTOWN              41.10N 80.65W
07/21/2009  E1.25 INCH       MAHONING           OH   PUBLIC

0322 PM     HAIL             YOUNGSTOWN              41.10N 80.65W
07/21/2009  M0.88 INCH       MAHONING           OH   PUBLIC

0305 PM     HAIL             SALEM                   40.90N 80.85W
07/21/2009  E0.88 INCH       COLUMBIANA         OH   PUBLIC

0302 PM     HAIL             ALLIANCE                40.91N 81.12W
07/21/2009  M0.88 INCH       STARK              OH   PUBLIC

0234 PM     HAIL             HANOVERTON              40.76N 80.94W
07/21/2009  U1.00 INCH       COLUMBIANA         OH   PUBLIC

0221 PM     HAIL             SALINEVILLE             40.62N 80.83W
07/21/2009  E0.75 INCH       COLUMBIANA         OH   PUBLIC

News: Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds Hit Ohio

BUCHANAN, Ohio -- The National Weather Service has confirmed that two tornadoes touched down Saturday in south-central Ohio and damaged several homes, uprooted trees and knocked down power lines.

But investigators say it was straight-line winds that destroyed three mobile homes near Buchanan, about 90 miles east of Cincinnati. Pike County Emergency Management Agency Director Donald Simonton said five people living in one of the homes were injured.

The other two mobile homes were unoccupied.

More than 7,000 customers were without power for a while in Ross, Pike and Scioto counties. About 80 residents of a nursing home in Scioto County were taken to other facilities when the building flooded.





Source: The Associated Press

Earth Gauge: Heaviest Rainstorms Now Even Heavier

CLEVELAND -- Here is today's Earth Gauge look at how our local weather impacts the environment for Thursday, July 9th.

In Brief: Extreme rainfall events became more extreme over the second-half of the 20th century.

In terms of total annual rainfall, most of the United States became "wetter" over the 20th century. Most of this increase, however, is being expressed in "extreme" rainfall events, which are now more frequent and even more extreme than they were in the 1950s.

In the upper-midwest, for example, the amount of rain that falls during the heaviest one percent of rainy days has grown by 31 percent over the last 50 years.

While more moisture is generally good for the region's agriculture and wildlife, the general trend of more rainfall happening during extreme events has corresponded to more frequent and longer periods when no rain falls. The longer soil goes without moisture, the less absorptive it is when the rains finally return.

Heavy rainfall also causes much greater amounts of soil erosion (soil loss to streams and ultimately the ocean) than moderate events do. In some locations, increases in rainfall severity can cause the amount of soil erosion to grow exponentially.

(Sources: Groisman, PY and Knight RW. "Prolonged Dry Episodes over the Conterminous United States: New Tendencies Emerging during the Last 40 Years." Journal of Climate 21 (2008): 1850-1862 and National Weather Service: Climate Prediction Center. U.S. Temperature and Precipitation Trends: Annual. Accessed Online 3 July 2007 and Trenberth, K et al. "The Changing Character of Precipitation." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, September 2003: 1205-1217 and Easterling, D et al. "Observed climate variability and change of relevance to the biosphere." Journal of Geophysical Research 105 (2000): 101-120 and Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, Thomas R. Karl, Jerry M. Melillo, and Thomas C. Peterson,(eds.). Cambridge University Press, 2009.)

News: El Nino Conditions Return To Affect Weather

WASHINGTON -- El Nino's back. Government scientists say the periodic warming of water in the tropical Pacific Ocean that can affect weather around the world has returned.

The Pacific had been in what is called a neutral state. But forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say the sea surface temperature climbed to 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit above normal along a narrow band in the eastern equatorial Pacific in June.

In addition, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center said temperatures in other tropical regions are also above normal.

In general, El Nino conditions are associated with increased rainfall across the east-central and eastern Pacific and with drier than normal conditions over northern Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

A summer El Nino can lead to wetter than normal conditions in the intermountain regions of the United States. In an El Nino year there tend to be more Eastern Pacific hurricanes and fewer Atlantic hurricanes.

Source: The Associated Press

Earth Gauge: Cooling Off

CLEVELAND -- Here is today's Earth Gauge look at how our local weather impacts the environment for Tuesday, July 7th.

Energy use often rises during the summer months while we're trying to stay cool.

The Midwest is the second least-populated area in the U.S., but has the second highest energy consumption per person - Ohio ranks 25th out of all states for total energy consumption per person!

Regardless of your energy use, there are easy ways to save energy - and money - this summer.

No Cost: Close shades and drapes during the day to keep warm sun rays out - especially on south-facing windows. If you use a window air-conditioner, place it in a north-facing or shaded window to increase efficiency.

Low Cost: Clean or replace air filters each month - dirty filters reduce air-conditioner efficiency. Lower A/C costs and cool more efficiently by running your ceiling fan counter-clockwise. Remember to turn fans off in empty rooms - fans cool people, not rooms.

(Sources: Center for Environment and Population. "U.S. Population, Energy & Climate Change." Available from: www.cepnet.org; Energy Information Administration. "Energy Consumption by Source and Total Consumption per Capita, Ranked by State, 2006." http://www.eia.doe.gov/; Flex Your Power. "Cooling Tips." http://www.fypower.org/res/tools/energy_tips_results.html?tips=cooling; Energy Star, http://www.energystar.gov/)

Hot July 4th Fireworks Tempered By Cooler Temperatures

By Frank Macek

CLEVELAND -- If you thought the 4th of July was cooler than normal this year, you weren't alone.

Temperatures on Saturday in Cleveland reached just 72 degrees at Hopkins Airport, making it one of the coolest holidays in the last 30 years.

Lingering clouds and a wind from the northwest helped to keep temperatures down. However those working in the yards and gardens had little to complain about.

This year was the second in a row to only have a 4th of July high of 72 degrees.

Weather buffs would have to go back to 1997 to find a cooler holiday. That year, the high was 68 degrees. Typically, temperatures average in the lower 80s for the first part of the month.

Meteorologists have suggested our cooler weather may be due in part to the eruption of a volcano in Russia in June. This, combined with a northern jetstream that has lingered over the lower Great Lakes this summer, has also contributed.

Since 1900, the hottest 4th of July in Cleveland was 98 degrees in 1990, while the coolest was just 65 degrees in 1909.

July 4th, 2009, also marked the 40th anniversary of damaging storms that blew in off Lake Erie on July 4, 1969. Those storms caught many Clevelanders off guard.

The National Weather Service office in Detroit, who had superior weather radar at the time, was reprimanded for failing to alert the Cleveland weather service office of the impending storms.

Several people died across the area, especially along the Lake Erie shoreline.

June 2009 In Review: Drier Than Normal

By Frank Macek

CLEVELAND - June 2009 will go down in the books as a rather stormy start to summer.

Despite a northern jetstream that was further south than normal during part of June, the final look at the month showed our temperatures ranged from an average high of 77.2 degrees to an average low of 58.9 degrees

This was a half degree above the 30 year normal for the Greater Cleveland area.

Our highest temperature occurred on June 25th when the mercury sizzled to 92 degrees at Cleveland Hopkins. The morning of June 4th started the chilliest at 42 degrees.

In the rain gauge, the area wound up drier than normal this year as some drought warning signs begin to emerge. Abnormally dry conditions stretched from just southeast of Cleveland, through the center of the state to near Cincinnati.

We finished the month at 2.68 inches of rain, or 1.21 inches below normal. Since January, we are about 1.67 inches of rain drier than usual.

Severe weather occured mainly south of Cleveland on June 17th where a tornado touched down near Smithville in Wayne County, though Cleveland saw almost an inch of rain. And storms revisited the same areas on June 19th, again with heavy rainfall of .44 inches on the date.

The Cleveland area itself saw severe weather on June 25th with winds gusting to 62 m.p.h. at the airport. These storms brought down many branches, some trees and power lines across the area.

June ended with flash flooding mainly east of the city of Cleveland where some areas away from the city reporting two to as much as 3.5 inches of rainfall over a 24 hour period on June 30th.

To view the complete climate summary for the Cleveland area for June: CLICK HERE

Rainfall Reports: 6/30 to 7/1/09

The following are 2 day rainfall reports from the National Weather Service Office in Cleveland for June 30th thru July 1st, 2009:


********************STORM TOTAL RAINFALL*******************

LOCATION              RAINFALL    COMMENTS
                      (INCHES)  

PENNSYLVANIA

...ERIE COUNTY...
   ERIE 6 SE              5.63    COCORAHS OBSERVER
   ERIE 5 SW              5.59    COCORAHS OBSERVER 
   GREENFIELD TWP         3.18    SPOTTER
   ERIE AIRPORT           2.31    NWS ASOS
   
OHIO

...ASHTABULA COUNTY...
   CONNEAUT               2.19    OHIO STORMS GAGE
   NEW LYME               1.43    OHIO STORMS GAGE

...CUYAHOGA COUNTY...
   RICHMOND HEIGHTS       3.41    COCORAHS OBSERVER
   MAYFIELD               2.56    OHIO STORMS GAGE
   EUCLID 3 NE            2.04    COCORAHS OBSERVER
   FAIRVIEW PARK          1.23    COCORAHS OBSERVER
   
...GEAUGA COUNTY...
   NOVELTY                3.70    SPOTTER

   CHESTERLAND            3.36    OHIO STORMS GAGE
   GEAUGA EMA OFFICE      2.60    OHIO STORMS GAGE
   CHARDON                2.48    COOP OBSERVER
   MONTVILLE              2.32    COCORAHS OBSERVER
   SOUTH RUSSELL 2 W      1.69    COCORAHS OBSERVER

...LAKE COUNTY...
   WILLOUGHBY HILLS       2.62    COCORAHS OBSERVER
   KIRTLAND 1 SW          2.00    COCORAHS OBSERVER
   WILLOUGHBY HILLS 1NNE  1.67    COCORAHS OBSERVER
   PAINESVILLE            1.00    COCORAHS OBSERVER

Our special thanks to the National Weather Service, their cooperative observers and spotters, COCORAHS volunteers and automated gages operated by the Ohio State Emergency Management Agency.