Powerful thunderstorms unleashed nearly half a dozen small twisters and punishing barrages of damaging hail, ranging from dime to golf-ball size, for a second day Friday across the Plains. The storms acted to moderate blistering triple-digit heat so prevalent in that region earlier this week. Hail fell with such intensity in eastern Colorado, it stripped leaves off trees 14 miles north of Arapahoe, while drifts of hail accumulated to a depth of 5” nearby. Storms elsewhere in the state shattered car and home windows. To the east in Kansas, a semi-trailer truck was blown off the road by a twister-like circulation spawned at the leading edge of an approaching squall. This phenomenon, less intense and well-developed than a tornado, but damaging nonetheless, has been dubbed a gustnado by many of this country’s storm chasers.
Thundery downpours in Minnesota late Friday, part of the same storm complex, sent 3-6” of water across roads.
--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.
