I've never witnessed anything like it and hope I never do again.
Posted on 10/25/2010 5:05:09 PM PDT by FromLori
The National Weather Service has upgraded the high wind watch to a high wind warning which runs from 7 a.m. Tuesday-7 p.m. Wednesday. It appears we could establish a new record for the lowest October barometric pressure in this storm. Models put Chicago's barometric pressure at 29.05" Tuesday morning. If true, this would break the old October record low of 29.11" set Oct. 19, 1937, Oct. 19, 1947 and Oct. 24, 1959.
The storm's minimum central pressure of 960 millibars (28.35") Tuesday in northern Minnesota is below the 980-millibar reading in the Edmund Fitzgerald storm on Lake Superior in Nov. 1975. It's the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane.
The curl visible off the West Coast on this CIMSS UW-Madison satellite time lapse in riding an extraordinary 220 mph speed maximum in the jet stream will become the storm expected to explode as it rides across the Dakotas and Minnesota Tuesday.
Wind gusts could reach mid-60s
Frank Wachowski of the National Weather Service reports Chicago's strongest October wind was 70 mph recorded Oct 28, 1892. Model wind profiles put sustained winds 2,000 feet above local terrain here at 63 mph by Tuesday afternoon. Subsidence in the region of the storm under which Chicago will be positioned after the passage of a squall line early in the day (6-9 a.m.) threatens to bring these winds down to the surface as damaging non-thunderstorm wind gusts.
Check out this animation of the spin-up of Tuesday's mega-low in the nation's mid-section. This is a time-lapse of the National Weather Service's high resolution GFS model. It puts the storm's minimum pressure at 957.5 millibars which translates to 28.28".
Just went through Durand a week ago going over to Pine View Park to fish. (Welch’s Point if you’ve been gone for a while they changed the name). That snow shoveling isn’t so bad if you dress for it and we don’t have sidewalks anyway lol we’re out in the country so the only real path we shovel is out the back door to the plow truck. I wouldn’t trade I like the season’s but I do like to leave once in a while during the worst cold.
>>>The only consolation for me is that it is occurring in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and not in Ohio. :)
It’s in N. Iowa too... my current barometer is 984.55
I’m just glad it isn’t 20 below.
Sounds good :)
Nor’easter on the east coast sometimes have readings
this low
March 1993 storm had 960 mb - was so big covered entire east coast
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Storm_of_the_Century
Your title High wind warning for Chicago area (MN & WI like a cat. 3 hurricane), reads as though you will be getting cat 3 winds, and that simply isn't the case. That was my only point.
Winds in the mid 60’s doesn’t begin to be a Cat 3 hurricane ... what am I missing?
He’s not talking wind speed; he’s referring to the barometric pressure.
bttt
Amen. :)
I was in school in January, 1978. My Dad was the superintendent at our County Highway Garage, and he was called into work for snowplowing as the Blizzard began; it was raining at the time. When I asked him if we would get the next day off of school, he said "You're not going to school for a long time." :) It turned out to be nearly three weeks.
I was in Cleveland. Stayed home from work, saw my across the street neighbor’s front picture window implode from the wind - he’d gone to work. Another neighbor and I managed to nail up some 4 by 8 plywood. Luckily my helper neighbor was a construction guy, about 225 lb and all muscle. I held the nails.
I guess people who’ve never seen a hurricane don’t know what 150mph winds are, just like I’ve seen tornadoes and hurricanes but have no idea what 960mb absent either would do to me. We just don’t get standalone lows that low here.
But I did see The Day After Tomorrow, so I get the gist.
Thought you were moving to Tennessee?
Hurricane force is directly proportional to wind speed by the square of the speed. Speed and storm surge are the measures of a hurricane's category. Chicago is not going to see the equivalent of a Category 3 storm.
Covers most of MO, eastern half of Iowa, SW Wisconsin, and about the western half of Illinois.
I sure didn’t mean to mislead anyone I was simply copying from the article and threw in MN and WI because they will be affected and I live in WI and the storm is expected to be bad.
I really don’t know or care about the scales I just care that it’s supposed to be bad. But that Weather report posted isn’t the only one talking about Hurricane Force conditions. Maybe they need new weather people at the site posted and at the weather channel.
This dangerous storm will be comparable to such legendary November gales as the Armistice Day storm of 1940, the Edmund Fitzgerald storm of 1975 and the November 10 1998 storm which downed widespread trees and power lines and caused a few deaths.
Behind the cold front high winds will continue to blow and may actually increase with frequent gusts to 50 mph through the Plains and Midwest. Winds gusting to hurricane force may kick up waves to 20 feet on Lakes Superior and Michigan.
http://www.weather.com/newscenter/nationalforecast/index.html
If it all works out, maybe your insurance company will be paying for the new siding.
We are in for a bumpy ride.
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