Thursday afternoon's atmospheric setup was hardly one to produce a major severe-weather outbreak. But a bit of sun peeked through the day's clouds allowing temperatures to rise and winds did vary in speed and direction with height---a situation which caught the eye of forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center. They issued a late-day advisory cautioning that thunderstorms under development across sections of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin might become capable of producing a few weak funnels. When Doppler radar scans of air movement within an eastbound cluster of thunderstorms over Boone County exhibited strong rotation, a tornado warning was issued around 4:20 p.m. for eastern Boone into McHenry Counties. Within moments of the appearance of circulation on radar, trained ground-based storm observers spotted a funnel cloud above far northwest suburban Capron. It soon extended to the surface where it produced 72 m.p.h. wind gusts that tossed dirt and tree debris into the air. Gusts strengthened to 83 m.p.h. by 4:30 p.m. as the parent thunderstorm, with cloud tops extending to 31,000 feet, continued east into McHenry County at nearly 30 m.p.h. The twister remained small and weak and went on to produce no damage before dissipating.
Pacific Northwest Temperatures
Cool breezes developed in some coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest, lowering temperatures late Thursday. But another record occurred in Seattle (95-degrees) and blazing heat is predicted to continue in interior sections of Oregon and Washington into the weekend.
July 2009 closes as Chicago's coolest in 118 years
The month closes at midnight Friday night and appears likely to finish as Chicago's coolest July in 118 years.The average temperature of 69.4-degrees over the first 30 days is more than 4-degrees below the long term average. It becomes the first July in 139 years of records here which has failed to produce a temperature greater than 86 degrees. An 86 degree high occurred earlier this month on July 6--a reading never exceeded.
Pacific Northwest Temperatures
Cool breezes developed in some coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest, lowering temperatures late Thursday. But another record occurred in Seattle (95-degrees) and blazing heat is predicted to continue in interior sections of Oregon and Washington into the weekend.
July 2009 closes as Chicago's coolest in 118 years
The month closes at midnight Friday night and appears likely to finish as Chicago's coolest July in 118 years.The average temperature of 69.4-degrees over the first 30 days is more than 4-degrees below the long term average. It becomes the first July in 139 years of records here which has failed to produce a temperature greater than 86 degrees. An 86 degree high occurred earlier this month on July 6--a reading never exceeded.
