As Chicagoans reveled in Thursday's picture-perfect weather, Michigan beachgoers not
more than 72 miles away were dazzled by a series of waterspouts spawned just before
noon by a southbound cluster of thunderstorms. Cool air above mid-70-degree waters
encouraged warmer, more buoyant air to rise and set the stage for the 20,000-foot-tall
thunderstorms from which as many as three waterspouts emerged just west of South
Haven, Mich., sending spray hundreds of feet into the air. The waterspouts never came
ashore, where they would have turned into tornadoes.
Chicago has lost 1 hour and 5 minutes of sunshine since June 20 -- the year's longest
day and astronomical start of summer. Seasonal loss of sunshine occurs fastest at
higher latitudes. Barrow, Alaska, will see 3.7 fewer hours of sun Friday.
ACTIVE SEASON TO DATE JUST A WARM-UP; HURRICANE FORECASTERS BOOST 2008 FORECASTS
NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, citing the active nature of the 2008 hurricane season
to date, has boosted odds of an above-normal season from 65 to 85 percent and now
predicts 14 to 18 named storms, including seven to 10 hurricanes -- three to six of
them potentially major (Category 3 with 111 m.p.h. winds or higher).
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune
