WEATHER SNAP SHOTS: May 2006 Archives

Powerful thunderstorms erupted in downstate Indiana and Illinois Wednesday unleashing half a dozen twisters—five of which touched down in the area surrounding Monticello, Indiana. It's fortunate most of these touchdowns occurred in fields, reports WGN-TV weather observer Mary Anne Best of Remington, Indiana, because they did little damage. Our thanks to Mary Anne for forwarding these pictures to us of one twister—the photos provided to Mary Ann by Mike Prangley, Chief Meteorologist at WLVI in West Lafayette, IN. Mary Anne notes that Monticello was one of the communities severely damaged in the infamous "Super Outbreak" of 1974--the country's biggest single outbreak of tornadoes.
- Tom Skilling

Powerful thunderstorms erupted in downstate Indiana and Illinois Wednesday unleashing half a dozen twisters—five of which touched down in the area surrounding Monticello, Indiana. It's fortunate most of the touchdowns occurred in fields, reports WGN-TV weather observer Mary Anne Best of Remington, Indiana who forwarded these pictures of one twister taken by a friend. Mary Anne notes that Monticello was one of the communities severely damaged in the infamous "Super Outbreak" of 1974—the country's biggest single outbreak of tornadoes.
-Tom Skilling

The powerful thunderstorms which swept sections of the Chicago area
Tuesday are captured blowing into the heart of the city in these images
relayed to us by Nick Liveris.
-Tom Skilling

Monday's powerful Memorial Day storms were captured as they bore down on the west suburban Naperville area in these shots from Scott Sanborn. The storms generated 1" diameter hail near Elgin and produced rainfalls approaching 0.80" in under an hour's time near St. Charles and Arlington Heights. Kankakee County was drenched by rains estimated by Doppler Radar at a few locations to have topped 4" Monday.

This week certainly had its share of active weather moments—especially on Wednesday when storms raked the area. Here are a few pictures that highlight the events of the past few days:

Here's a close up of some hail stones—the dime shown gives you an idea of their size (photo courtesy of J. Crocker, Uptown-Chicago)

Here are a few snapshots of some heavy hail that fell in Norwood Park (photo courtesy of Thomas Nava)

Here's a look at the late-afternoon cumulus clouds near Algonquin on Wednesday (photo courtesy of Matt Hoelter of Cary, Ill.)