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Midwest Weather Roundup
A Look Back At a "Whirling" September That Brought Waterspouts, Tornadoes, And Hurricane Remnants To The Region!
TDS Weather
October 01, 2024
Welcome to the October 2024 edition of the Midwest Weather Roundup! It’s hard to believe that summer is over and we will soon be in the heart of autumn. However, before we take a sip of apple cider, carve our first Jack-O-Lantern, or rake the leaves, let’s take a moment to reflect on some of September's most notable weather events across the region.
September 7, 2024: Great Lakes “Spoutbreak”
On September 6th, 2024, a deep upper-level trough moved into the Midwest from Canada. This trough brought many locations their first taste of fall weather, with temperatures averaging 10 to 20°F below normal on the 6th and 7th!
The cold temperatures of approximately 32°F at 850 mb spread over the warm waters of Lake Huron, Michigan, and Lake Erie, which ranged from 64°F to 75°F. This dramatic temperature difference between the surface and the 850 mb level created an environment conducive to the development of waterspouts.
As showers moved across Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie during the morning hours of September 7th, multiple National Weather Service (NWS) offices began issuing Special Marine Warnings for portions of the Great Lakes due to showers capable of producing waterspouts. Throughout the day, numerous waterspouts were reported by storm chasers and the public, prompting additional warnings from local NWS offices.
RADAR & MARINE WARNING POLYGONS
September 22, 2024: Indiana Tornadoes
A cold front was moving across Indiana during the late afternoon and into the evening on Sunday, September 22. Ahead of the front, rain showers and weak thunderstorms developed in a minimally unstable and weakly sheared environment.
EFFECTIVE SHEAR AT 7 PM EDT ON SEPT. 22
As the showers and storms moved across the state, there were few indications that they could produce tornadoes. There was no hail, minimal lightning, and only moderate to briefly heavy downpours. However, after 7 PM EDT, reports of tornadoes began to emerge from the Yorktown and Muncie, IN areas. In Yorktown, the walls of a pole barn sustained damage. As the storm progressed from Delaware County, Indiana, into Jay County, another tornado was reported. Roof and tree damage occurred at Jay County Jr-Sr High School in Portland, IN. The tornado in Yorktown, IN, was rated an EF0, with wind speeds of 60-65 mph.
RADAR SHOWS CC DROPOUT NEAR PORTLAND, IN INDICATIVE OF DEBRIS IN THE AIR
September 27, 2024: Wind and Rain from the Remnants of Hurricane Helene
Hurricane Helene made landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast in the Big Bend region late Thursday evening as a Category 4 major hurricane. The effects of the hurricane, including strong winds, heavy rainfall, and tornadoes, were felt from the Gulf Coast through the Carolinas and into the Tennessee and Ohio Valley regions. The areas most severely impacted were along the Florida Gulf Coast, where extreme winds, flooding rain, devastating storm surges, and tornadoes occurred. Additionally, locations in the southern Appalachians experienced catastrophic flooding due to the heavy rainfall associated with this system.
As the remnants of Hurricane Helene moved onshore and across the Deep South, they were drawn into the upper-level trough situated over the Mississippi River Valley on Friday. As the tropical low and the upper-level low phased, winds began to intensify across the southern portions of the Ohio Valley and Midwest region. This led to the issuance of High Wind Warnings across much of central and southern Indiana, extending into southwestern Ohio, where gusts of up to 60 mph were anticipated.
Winds were strongest across this region from mid-afternoon into the late evening on Friday, September 27, 2024. During this time, multiple reports of wind gusts exceeding 60 mph were recorded. These powerful winds caused numerous power outages and tree damage throughout the southern Ohio Valley region.
Ohio Wind Reports:
Wilmington Air Park: 67 MPH
Cincinnati Lunken Field: 64 MPH
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky: 62 MPH
Dayton Wright Brothers Airport: 62 mph
Indiana Wind Reports:
Indianapolis International Airport: 68 MPH
Columbus Municipal Airport: 58 MPH
This system delivered a much-needed round of rainfall to parts of the central and southern Ohio Valley that were facing drought conditions. The heaviest precipitation fell across the boot of Missouri, extending into southern Illinois, southern Indiana, and southwestern Ohio. These regions received widespread rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches from Friday through Sunday, with localized areas experiencing even higher totals.
Upcoming at TDS Weather
October marks the final month of warm weather consulting at TDS Weather, with winter consulting commencing on November 1st! If you are a business or corporation located in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, southern Michigan, southern Wisconsin, or the St. Louis, MO area and depend on precise winter weather forecasts for your operations, please reach out to us at [email protected] to discover how we can assist you this winter season. When you contact us, be sure to mention the newsletter!
