Finally we got some rain around here! The past two nights it has rained to the point of flood watches and warnings. I like the cooler temps as well, and the grass is getting some much needed water as well.
It’s been 90+ since the 4th of July. Before all this recent rain we were on a streak of 16 days without rain.
Hey Dan, there’s a huge thunderstorm out near Albany, just crossing into MA now. The incredible thing is, I can see it here all the way in central Mass. The lighning is incredible! It looks a little hairy though, part of it was starting to “anvil” just before the sun went down, and even at this distance it looks massive.
Yes, at the last minute the bulk of the storm went to my south, but we got the tail end of it and lightning hit something only a couple of blocks away from me. From there the storm REALLY intensified into Rensselaer county. There’s more on the way too. Hopefully those’ll die down before they hit.
I noticed the ones out closer to Syracuse, those seem a bit scarier simply because they are more widespread than the first. I still cannot believe that first one though. I am still amzed at how a strom affecting you was as visible to me as it was. I could see it from my front yard.
I first noticed it at sunset. I went out to eat at a nice restaurant that had a sun room that overlooked the hills in the west. On the horizon I could see the massive cumulous clouds and constant lightning in them. As it got darker I noticed the southern end of the cell start to anvil and that’s when it really got my attention. Of course, that storm has weakened and it still hasn’t made it here yet, but that second batch looks like something I should keep an eye on.
We just got hit a second time, surprisingly (I was expecting it to go to our south, but at the end it veered northward) and we might be in for a third coming up in a little bit.
I’ve been watching that storm on radar very frequently, it looks pretty nasty. I’ve also been looking at the lightning strike map and it seems to show tons of strikes with this storm. Since you have the advantage of getting the storm before I do, what exactly is going on with it? Has there been any straight line wind or hail reports yet?
We had a storm blow through yesterday that was fairly interesting. I could see black clouds as the storm approached, and I mean BLACK. As it got closer, I noticed a small shelf cloud at the leading edge. It wasn’t like the huge shelf clouds that you would see in the midwest or anything, but it was obvious that the wind would pick up. Sure enough, in about 5 minutes it got really gusty and there were actually some reports of some destructive winds just to the east of me.
The weather report says there’s been more than 40 reports of damage (wind and hail) and that the lightning tracker is detecting 104 flashes per MINUTE. Apparently there was also the spottage of a funnel cloud in Bennington County, VT. Numerous power outages around the area too. Our lights have flickered, but we haven’t lost power yet.
We’re getting hit with the third round as we speak. A little bit more rain but again, mostly thunder and lightning. This may be it for the rest of the night, thank god.
Thanks for the info. Dan, its good to hear what’s going on from someone who is actually experiencing it. I can view radar and weather maps all I want, but getting the latest updates from someone experiencing it first hand is a great help. We have a friend from CT staying with us this weekend and I’m keeping an eye to this storm to try and make sure my family and guest is safe.
BTW, with that storm overhead, shouldn’t you be somewhere safe and off the computer? 
I really appreciate the updates, but I’d feel better knowing you were safe.
Well, feel better - I’m on a laptop w/ wireless internet. 
Ah, that’s good to hear. Now I play the waiting game… hopefully that damn funnel cloud will not descend, and better yet, go away all together. I have a grandmother who lives in southern VT, so hopefully nothing bad wil happen there.
Man, a 4th one. How many more could we possible get tonight?
I watched the storms out my window until about 1:00 and then I drifted off to sleep. I woke up at about 5:00 A.M. and checked the radar and it turns out the storms split into seperate parts and faded out before getting here.
Tornado warning issued for my area, possibly on the ground as we speak, I think I’ll log off now!..
Thank god that’s over! That was way to close for comfort! The tornado in question and its center of rotation passed within 5 miles of my house. They think a tornado may have touched down, but that will be revealed after research is done. I actually lucked out even more in the fact that I was right on the very edge of the super cell itself. I’ll have to upload some of my pics and vids later, but I captured some pretty neat (and scary) stuff.
Glad you’re okay. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been under a tornado warning like that. And of course, there was the one big one…
We’ve had some tornado warnings before, but this one was the only recent one that I can think of that actually had a possible tornado to back it up, usually its just that someone spotted a funnel cloud. This time there was a very obvious hook-echo on radar in addition to some reporters and storm watchers reporting damage right in the path of the storm.
I’ll work on getting my camera set up on the computer, I some some really scary stuff. I saw a shelf cloud, some really turbulent ragged looking clouds that looked like they may have been desending in a downdraft, and even what I thought may have been a few weak funnels trying to get started, but not quite making the cut.
Here are some of the pics, I didn’t include the video, apparently the recording caught my dad and I wispering about the storm and some “less than classy” things were said. Jut when I thought my camera couldn’t pick up quite sounds… :roll:
This first pic is the super cell just as it was to our north. At this point, reports of 1 inch hail and wind damage were reported in Fitchburg and Leominster.
This next pic is of some of those ragged, tubulent clouds that were showing some signs of rotation.
This last one is looking to the south. You can see just how black the sky was compared to the blue sky on the horizon.
Another severe outbreak today. This time we had a tornado warning for a cell just to my south and west. Nothing was ever made of it though. It sounds like Maine and Connecticut got it bad today though.
Yeah, we got hit a couple of times, but like the past few times, nothing really developed until after it hit us.