A lightning strike at Wing Park Golf Course on Elgin’s west side, one of nearly 400 recorded within a 150-mile radius of Chicago during the 10-minute period centered on 2:45 p.m. Friday, sent two men to the hospital—one with serious injuries—and underscored the danger lightning poses to those who are unable or otherwise fail to seek shelter this time of year. The cloud-to-ground stroke flashed earthward beneath a 40,000-foot-tall southeast-bound thunderstorm. The channel of air through which lightning bolt arcs—in particular the innermost core—heats to 50,000° F for several millionths of a second.
Wind rushing out of a t-storm in Naperville sent an oak tree crashing onto a home.
Temperatures, which reached 80° at ground level but fell to -75° at the top of the 8-mile high storm clusters, contributed to the updrafts responsible for Friday’s storms. It’s the type of vertical temperature profile which can only be described as explosive. The towering t-storm clouds which result are composed of a electrical charge-separating mix of ice and water--with negative charges
attracted to raindrops while positive charges build on ice crystals. Lightning results when the varied charges come in contact.
Hail in one storm covered the ground to a depth of 2" in Nathan--30 miles north of Menomonee, Mich.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
