WEATHER SNAP SHOTS: June 2008 Archives

They don't get much more spectacular than this. Check out these awesome shots of
towering cumulonimbus clouds photographed by John Vale. John lives in Wheeling but
was in Marshalltown, Iowa--northeast of Des Moines. This photo set shows the storm
"anviling out"---a process in which the top of the clouds begins fanning out
horizontally once the storm's updrafts break through the "tropopause"--the boundary
between the troposphere and the stratosphere. Steady or rising temperatures in the
stratosphere make the updrafts heavier than their surroundings and encouraging this
rising air to begins surging horizontally rather than vertically, lending the cloud top an
"anviled" appearance in time. Thanks for great shots John!

Tom Skilling

Photos courtesy of John Vale of Wheeling, Illinois

These are photos taken this past weekend of what was once Lake Delton, Wisconsin.
Until thee weeks ago, the lake spread across 267 acres and held an estimated 600
million gallons of water. During a “normal” late June weekend, Lake Delton would have
been home to frolicking swimmers and folks fishing, boating and taking in the quiet
splendor of one of Wisconsin’s incredibly beautiful locations. Instead, it sits in this
state---emptied in a furious nearly two hour, house-destroying torrent following the
rupture of one of the lake’s rain shores, weakend by this springs record rains which
came on the heel of a winter of record breaking snows.

The water rushed into the Wisconsin River—only 40 feet below. The photos here were
taken by Andrew Bauman, who’s wife Kim works in our Creative Service department here
at WGN and relayed them to us. What is seen here can only be described as surreal, even
eerie—revealing the lake’s muddy bottom---acre after acre of it-----once hidden by
lake waters. Kim tells us one of the shots shows George Mesi and his daughter Hannah
taking in the unbelievable scene before them. It’s worth noting that while Lake Delton is
closed, the Wisconsin Dells are open for business and that’s always plenty to do there.
Our thanks to Kim and Andrew for sharing these photos with us!

Tom Skilling

Photos courtesy of Andrew Bauman

Severe thunderstorm swept the Chicago area Saturday afternoon bringnig strong winds and hail to many areas. Our thanks to Thomas Nava for these great shots of the thunderstorms as they approached Chicago's northwest side.

Photos by Thomas Nava

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

Complexes (groups) of thunderstorms have erupted with stunning regularity in the
Plains and Midwest, rotating around blistering heat which sent readings from Texas
north to Kansas into triple digits. These so-called “MCS’s” (Mesoscale Convective
Systems) are among nature’s most prolific rain and lightning producers and often
nocturnal (nighttime) in nature.

These beautiful shots of Scotland in the UK come to us from our friend Mark Vogan who
photographed these astride a canal outside Kirkintilloch. Summer is in full bloom in that
beautiful part of our world as you can see here. And the days are long. Scotland on the
other side of the Atlantic is a far north as Hudson Bay on the North American continent.
Mark tells us:

“We have daylight's first glimmers from as early as 3.15am to as late as 11.15pm (20
hours +). On clear night's we can have a glimmer of daylight on our northern horizon all
night, making for failure of complete darkness on some of our clearest midsummer
nights.”

Many thanks to Mark and his wife Karen for sharing these magnificent glimpses of
Scotland with us!

-Tom Skilling

Photos courtesy of Mark Vogan, Glasgow, Scotland

Some other shots Mark shared with us recently from Scotland in a cloudier weather
regime at the summit of Campsie Hills away from the city of Glasgow:

Northern Missouri and central Illinois were lambasted again overnight by torrential rainfall
accompanied by spectacular lightning—the by-product of a cluster of powerful
thunderstorms referred to by meteorologists as a Mesoscale Convective Complex—or
“MCS”. Most often nocturnal (nighttime) in nature, MCS’s have a history of generating
incredible lightning displays which can go on for hours. Paul Hadfield stepped out of
work around midnight last night in central Illinois and took these remarkable lightning
photographs which he is sharing with us. Thanks Paul!

Tom Skilling



Photos courtesy of Paul Hadfield, Central Illinois

Few meteorological phenomena are capable of crop damage or devastation more than
hail. As illustrated in these telling images sent to us by Michael A. Moore, a hailstorm
can literally decimate a corn field as happened this past weekend in northwest Indiana’s
Medaryville—located roughly halfway between Rensselaer and Winamac. Michael tells us
these shots were taken this past Saturday and Sunday, June 21 & 22. Thunderstorms in
coming days threaten to be hail producers over portions of the metro area, including
area farms, a development which will have to be monitored closely. My thanks to
Michael for sharing his pictures with us. They are very telling.

Tom Skilling

Photos courtesy of Michael A. Moore of the Medaryville, Indiana area

Our thanks to Dennis Erikson for sharing this photo of Sunday’s rainbow with us!

-Tom Skilling


Photo courtesy of Dennis Erickson

Brett Smith of Naperville was busy Sunday photographing the day’s thunderstorms and we
thank him for sharing his photos of the storms with us. Brett tells us the shots include a
supercell in Indiana and another rapidly developing supercell north of Naperville. Many
thanks Brett! Great shots!

-Tom Skilling

Photos courtesy of Brett Smith, Naperville, Illinois

What a sight! Kasey Ignarski of Orland Park photographed this rainbow over Wrigley Field
Sunday.

"Anviling" thunderstorm Sunday afternoon as viewed from Lake Forest around 4 pm

Adam Polinski was at his son’s baseball game Sunday when this thunderstorm caught his
eye. He pointed the storm out to Les Ashton, also at the game, who snapped this photo of
the towering thunderhead (cumulonimbus cloud). Rain, thunder and lightning followed
shortly after, Adam reports. The “anvil” appearance of this cloud’s top—because it is
unobscured by surrounding surrounding clouds—makes this a fascinating sight. Thanks
for calling this terrific photo to our attention Les and Adam and we hope your son’s team
won!

-Tom Skilling

Photo courtesy of Les Ashton, Mt. Prospect, Illinois

Sheela Prasad photographed Sunday's thunderstorms--including the concentrated shafts of rainfall often obvious as well defined streaks of gray extending from the base of the cloud--in northern Lake County, Illinois during a drive to Wisconsin. Man thanks for sharing these shots with us, Sheela!

-Tom Skilling

Photos courtesy of Sheela Prasad of Vernon Hills

One of our regular and always wonderful picture contributors, Tracey Surface, has
checked in with us. Tracey was out in the Quincy, Illinois, area and shares with us shots
of the ongoing and tragic flooding still in progress. She arrived home in time to
photograph several of Sunday's storms as they swept the Montrose Harbor area of
Chicago. As always, terrific shots Tracey! Many thanks, as always, for sending them
along!

Photos courtesy of Tracey Surface, Chicago

--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune

Here's a look at some of the spectacular snapshots viewers sent us of the rainbows
seen Sunday afternoon in the wake of the day's storms. Thanks to all for your
wonderful pictures!

A view of a double rainbow from Old Town. (Photo courtesy of Jeanne Kruss)

Two photos taken near Belmont Harbor. (Photos courtesy of John Picken)

A view of the rainbow near Navy Pier. (Photo courtesy of Janet Pearson)

A double rainbow in Ravenswood. (Photo courtesy of Dan Rowley)

--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune

Christina Cooper of Wheaton was kind enough to show us some of the hail that fell in
Wheaton around 5:55 p.m. Sunday evening. Thanks, Christina!

Photo courtesy of Christina Cooper

--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune

Grant and Jennifer Bauler of Sycamore, Ill., snapped this remarkable photo a week ago
on Fathers Day 2008 and ask what causes a formation like this to form.
What we see here is a "shelf cloud." It forms as rain-cooled air gushes out of a
thunderstorm or line of thunderstorms. This cooling leads to condensation of moisture
in the air ahead of the squall and produces a bank of rolling clouds ahead of the
storm's leading edge. Winds usually increase at ground level dramatically beneath or
just ahead of shelf clouds. I think Grant and Jennifer put it best in their e-mail to us
when they wrote:

“We have seen a lot of storm fronts, but this one was pretty spooky!”

Photo courtesy of Grant and Jennfier Bauler, Sycamore, Illinois

Well put! Many thanks Grant and Jennifer.

--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune

Thunderstorms grow vertically through a region of declining temperatures which
dominate the lowest layer of the atmosphere -- the troposphere -- then flatten out
into what's referred to as an "anvil" (because of the similarity to the old blacksmith's
anvil) as the storm's updrafts reach into the lower stratosphere.
There, temperatures no longer fall with height -- in fact, readings begin rising. Air
parcels remain buoyant and continue rising as long as the air around them cools. This
cooling keeps the upward moving parcels lighter than their surroundings. But, once
readings steady or begin to rise with height, the upward moving air becomes heavier
than its surroundings and the ascension ceases, leading to the formation of
thunderstorm "anvils".
These wonderful photos from Michelle and Pat Slove and Aimee of Mundelein, Illinois,
depict this process beautifully and were taken Sunday afternoon around 3 p.m. looking
toward Vernon Hills. Thanks to Michelle, Pat and Aimee for sharing these with us!

Photo courtesy of Michelle and Pat Slove

--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune

Our friend Matt Hoelter sends us these terrific shots of Sunday's towering cumulonimbus
clouds (thunderheads) over McHenry County's Prairie Grove, Illinois. Dopper radar scans
revealed some cloud tops as high a 43,000 feet at times over northeast Illinois, northwest
Indiana and southern Wisconsin. Thanks for the great photos, Matt!

Photographs courtesy of Matt Hoelter

--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune

Many Chicago area residents woke up to the sound of thunder this morning. While the storms were not severe some of them did produce small hail; most of the hailstones were in the 1/4-1/2 inch diameter range. Thanks to Rob Omori of Chicago who took these storm shots from his deck near Loyola University.

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

Photos by Rob Omori

Tyler Christiansen shows us these ominous-looking and clearly wind-tossed clouds
which accompanied Friday's storms into Elgin. Great shots, thanks Tyler!

Photos courtesy of Tyler Christiansen of Elgin

--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune

Matt Seegmiller of Algonquin says while a majority of the hail which hit with Friday
morning's 20-minute hail storm, several larger hailstones -- like the one pictured
below -- hit as well. He tells us:

"I watched the storm roll through as I was standing in my garage, and I heard a loud
noise hit what sounded like my neighbor's adjacent roofline to our townhouse. I went
out and looked around and noticed this large softball-sized hail ball that had landed in
our yard!"

"I measured it at four and 1/2 inches wide by three and 1/2 inches high. This was
probably only 1 or 2 hail pieces of this size to fall out of millions of pieces that fell in
the area this morning. I was glad it hit the grass in the yard and not my car!"

Photo courtesy of Matt Seegmiller, Algonquin, Illinois

You are so right, Matt! Thanks for the great photo!
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune

Hail, ranging from pea to quarter size in size, pelted Chicago's northwest suburbs
Friday morning, prompting severe thunderstorm warnings for a time. A second batch of
storms is erupting at the time of this posting (3:20 p.m. Friday afternoon) and has led
to additional severe thunderstorm warnings over Chicago's west and northwest
counties.
The southeastbound morning storms emanated from cloud tops radar scanned at up to
38,000 feet in height.

In these terrific photos, Scott Withycombe captured the hail which was bounding off the
ground at times around 11 a.m. in the Algonquin and Lake In the Hills area. Many
thanks to Scott for sharing these shots with us!

Photos courtesy of Scott Withycombe in Algonquin

A note: The storms which produced the hail pictured here arrived in the city just before
midday and, though in a weakening phase, produced downpours which delayed the
Crosstown Classic baseball game between the Cubs and White Sox for a time early
Friday afternoon.
--Tom Skilling, Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune

Our thanks go out to Judy Wiggins and Katie Connolly of Palos Park, Illinois for sending us this "post-card" picture of a Chicago sunset taken aboard the Tall Ship Windy off Navy Pier last month.

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center

Check out these beautiful shots of Wednesday evening’s (June 18) full moon above
the fountains on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus! They were
photographed by Vincent Giovannone. Thanks for sharing these with us, Vincent!

Tom Skilling

Photos courtesy of Vincent Giovannone

Imagine this coming at you! These remarkable photos taken this past weekend in
Fargo, North Dakota, have been relayed to us by Michael Lawson, who interned
recently with us here in the WGN Weather Office. Michael had traveled from Grand
Forks where he is a meteorologist at Meridan Environmental Technology to Fargo,
North Dakota to attend a independent league baseball game. He reports this storm
spawned a twister before sending its ominous looking shelf cloud Fargo. Michael
includes a shot of a cold air funnel taken last week in North Dakota by a collague.

Thanks to Gary Loberg who sent us this pictures of the menacing clouds that accompanied the wave of thunderstorms that swept the Chicago Metropolitan area during the early morning hours.

All photos by Gary Loberg

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

Scenic Galena in northwest Illinois is always a treat for the eyes. But Don and Jan
Porter share this beautiful Monday, June 9 sunset with us. The photo was taken
around 8:45 p.m. that evening. Thanks Don and Jan!

-Tom Skilling

Photo courtesy Don and Jan Porter of Galena, Illinois

Bill Gratzl provided us with these breath-taking pictures taken at 41,000 feet over Wichita, Kansas last week. The thunderstorm tops were estimated to be around 55,000 feet and the photographed thunderstorml produced at least one funnel cloud report.

Thanks to Tom Wedin Sr. of Wonderlake, Illinois for this stunning picture of what used to be Lake Delton at the Wisconsin Dells. The lake drained after heavy rainfall eroded the river banks.

Mary Anne Best of Remington, Indiana forwards these photos taken on I-65 in Sunday afternoon by Jennifer Hupke of Griffith, Indiana. Jennifer’s photos, originally sent to my meteorological colleague Michael Prangley of WLFI-TV, appear to depict gustnadoes—tornado-like whirls of debris generated by the powerful outflow of air roaring out of Sunday’s severe thunderstorms. Her photos parallel those we’ve posted from Paul Hadfield in central Illinois. In her e-mail to Michael, Jennifer comments:

“I took pictures, and after the fourth shot I took we grabbed our bags (go figure) and ran from the car to take cover in a ditch because it was right on top of us- we did what we were supposed to but it was hard to leave the "safety" of the car to brave the elements outside.”

Many thanks to Jennifer Hupke, Michael Prangley and Mary Anne Best for sharing these photos with us!

Tom Skilling

Photos taken on I-65 Sunday by Jennifer Hupke, Griffith, Indiana

From east of Macon, Illinois come these remarkable shots from Paul Hadfield of
gustandoes—the low-level tornado look alikes--which spung up ahead of the gust
front produced by Sunday afternoon’s powerful eastbound thunderstorms. Many
thanks to Paul for the eye catching photos!

-Tom Skilling

Amanda Pickett, who has so frequently shared photos with us, sends along these
spectacular shots from northwest Indiana of Sunday afternoon’s (6/15) powerhouse
thunderstorms which swept areas mainly south of Chicago. They produced a number
of reports of severe weather and erupted after morning storms which hammered
sections of the Chicago area with downpours and wind gusts clocked to 55 m.p.h. at
some points on the city’s lakefront. Amanda’s shots clearly depict the rain shaft
produced by one of the thunderstorms and a cloud to ground lightning strike. She
reports one lightning bolt hit within 20 feet of her home. Thanks Amanda!!

-Tom Skilling

This dramatic cloud to ground stroke hit Navy Pier with Sunday's first wave of thunderstorms. Photographer Jim Bayne shares this photo with us. It was taken around 8 a.m. Sunday morning. Thanks Jim!

-Tom Skilling

Photo courtesy of Jim Bayne, Chicago

Thanks to Jeremy Gissel who sent us this great lightning shot taken in Yorkville around 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

Photo by Jeremy Gissel

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

When this picture was taken Thursday at the Quaker Oats plants in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
these trucks were partially submerged. Just 24 hours later they are totally under water.
Many homes have water up to their rooftops. Looking out at downtown Cedar Rapids all
that is visible is flowing water and the tops of light poles. Many businesses have been
closed.
--By Steve Kahn, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

Melissa Perino has sent us two photos of last Saturday evening's tornadoes. This twister touched down between Braceville and Essex. The pictures were taken on the family's farm in Braceville.

Photos by Melissa Perino

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

We thank our many readers and viewers for sending in pictures from last weekend's tornadoes. Pilot Anson Mount took these photos Saturday night during a test flight up to Green Bay, Wisconsin. While returning back to Chicago, he encountered a line of storms which had prompted a tornado warning near Rockford. The photos were taken roughly over the Waukesha area.

Thanks for sharing these with us Anson!


Bill Snyder--WGN weather producer

All photos by Anson Mount

Thanks to Amy Mckinney of Plainfield for this great tornado shot.

Photo by Amy Mckinney

Dan Heath of Dyer, Indiana sent along this great shot of the twister visible from this subdivision.

Photo by Dan Heath of Dyer Indiana

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

David Mayhew, a regular contributor to this blog, has provided some stunning photographs of the twisters that struck this area on Saturday evening June 7.

All photos by David Mayhew

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

SHELF CLOUD IN NORTHERN INDIANA ALONG I-65 SATURDAY

Photos by Shelby Pealer

These stunning photos of a shelf cloud were taken Saturday along Interstate-65 in northern Indiana. A shelf cloud is a low-level wedge-shaped cloud attached to the convective storm's cloud base. It forms at the leading edge of a thunderstorm along the gust front. Many thanks to Shelby and Anne Pealer of Naperville for sending us these outstanding shots.

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

SATURDAY NIGHT STORM DAMAGE NEAR RICHTON PARK

All photos by Barbara Gomoll

Saturday evening's tornado did major damage to George and Barbara Gomoll's yard near Richton Park. The storm struck there just before 6:25 p.m. Fortunately no one was hurt and there was no damage to their house or cars. At least 50 trees on the property were damaged including several that were completely uprooted.

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

WEEKEND SEVERE WEATHER-ROUND TWO SUNDAY AFTERNOON'S STORMS

All photos by Carolyn Szepanski

The Chicago area was raked by another round of violent weather Sunday afternoon as waves of severe thunderstorms moved across the region. The photos below were taken by Carolyn
Szepanski in Whiting, Indiana. Carolyn estimates that winds topped 80 m.p.h. and visiblity dropped to less than 100 yards in the torrential downpours. As the storm passed across Lake Michigan it formed a brief waterspout and there also appeared to be a brief tornado touchdown at the BP refinery.

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

THE LAST STAGES OF SATURDAY'S TORNADO

Photo by Steve H.

The picture was taken just before 7 p.m. Saturday evening June 7 in Lansing , Illinois near the intersection of I-80 and Burnham Avenue by Steve H. At this point the tornado was in its dissipating stage. Steve reported that the funnel's rotation was quite apparent and the storm was moving to the east at about 25-30 m.p.h. The area lost power when the storm hit and it was finally restored about 8:30 a.m. this Sunday morning.

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

During a period of nearly two and one half hours at least six tornadoes struck in areas south of Chicago. The first twister was first sighted near Odell in northeast Livingston County just after 4:30 p.m. and the last one was seen in Lansing in far southern Cook County shortly before 7 p.m. The tornadoes were widely photographed and here are some of the first pictures that we have received at the WGN Weather Center. Our thanks to Ken, Barb and Bob Garst and Ron Smierciak for sending us these dramatic pictures.

Steve Kahn WGN Weather Center Meteorologist

TORNADO NEAR MONEE

Photo by Bob Garst

TORNADO IN LANSING

Photo by Ron Smierciak

Photo by Ron Smierciak

Photo by Ron Smierciak