WEATHER SNAP SHOTS: November 2006 Archives

These photos taken by Dale Clark in Piedmont, OK, a northwest suburb of Oklahoma City, offer a sign of what Chicagoans can expect to see during the day on Friday. Snow accumulations topped 7" there amid 40+m.p.h. wind gusts creating near blizzard conditions. The 7" tally which fell at Piedmont nearly equals the 8.1" which typically falls during an entire winter!!
--By Bill Snyder, WGN-TV Weather Producer

PHOTO COURTESY: Dale Clark, Piedmont, Okla.

The winter storm approaching Chicago is so large, even New Mexico has been impacted. Our thanks to Adam Ball, a meteorology major at Northern Illinois University for relaying these pictures shot by his fiance and former WGN-TV Weather Office intern Ashley Kruse, to us.

Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Weather

PHOTO COURTESY: Ashley Kruse

Temperatures dropped to an unseasonable 20° in Bellevue, Washington outside Seattle. That led to the ice accumulation pictured here and relayed to us by former Chicago area resident John Viknius. Air as cold reaches areas close to the Pacific Northwest when northeast winds blow out of British Columbia and Alberta Provinces carrying an arctic chill into the region with overrides the milder maritime air which more commonly occurs in the area with the prevailing westerlies off the Pacific Ocean.

November's all-too-frequent cloud cover led to this incredible Nov. 7, 2006, shot of Chicago's Skyline poking above the clouds. This fascinating shot comes to us from Janet S. Reed who took the photograph from the 29th floor of a Lakeshore Drive condominium. Many thanks Janet!

--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

PHOTO COURTESY: Janet S. Reed

A break in this morning's mid-level cloud deck reveals another cloud deck above. This makes for a very interesting photograph. The lower of the two cloud decks is composed of a layer of altocumulus clouds while altostratus clouds appear above. Darren Meyers took this photo while waiting with his son and daughter for his their school bus and was good enough to share it with us. He calls the phenomenon a "hole in the sky" which strikes me as an apt description. Many thanks, Darren, for sharing this with us.

--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

PHOTO COURTESY: Darren Meyers

Those among you who, like me, are afficianados of the upper Midwest—in particular northern Minnesota's incredibly beautiful Boundary Waters area—will be happy to know you can now access live webcam images of that region's fascinating weather. Betsy Vosburgh called us to let us know she has set up a live weather webcam on Mound Lake just 20 miles from Ely, Minnesota which can be accessed at: www.customcabins.com

Current weather information from that area is included with the image. We've posted this frame from the cam because ice is visible in the foreground in this shot taken Monday afternoon (11/20). Betsy informs us the camera is facing northeast in this shot but is adjusted to face other directions when weather conditions dictate. The Minnesota/Canadian border is in the upper part of the frame. Thanks for the heads up on your camera, Betsy! It will be interesting to watch the snows of the new snow season accumulate and get a look at the active cold season weather systems which are part of that region's climate.

--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist

These terrific sunrise shots taken by Paul Havlik of Mundelein Friday morning depict windblown cirrostratus clouds ahead of the day's incoming storm. Such formations are often referred to as "mare's tails" for obvious reasons. Thanks for the great shots, Paul!
--Tom Skilling

Here's a picture Friday morning (Nov. 10) of a clear November sunrise. The picture comes courtesy of Mark and Karen Vogan of Kirkintilloch, Scotland, who were visiting Chicago. Thanks for the great image!