WEATHER SNAP SHOTS: June 2009 Archives

With Arizona's monsoon season underway (it runs from June 15 through Sept. 15), Gary Wojton, who taught in the Chicago Public School system for years moved to Arizona from Des Plaines 13 years ago, sends us these spectacular photos of towering cumulonimbus. He tells us,
 
"I live in Fountain Hills and am privy to seeing the monsoon clouds form---but barely get rain here in the desert region."
 
Fantastic shots, Gary!! Thanks so much for sharing them---and stay cool in that Arizona heat!
 
Tom Skilling


 
Photos courtesy of Gary Wojton, Arizona

This Sunday thunderstorm in Wasilla,about 40 miles north of Anchorage,covered the ground with hail.Thunderstorms of this intensity aren't everyday occurrences in south-central Alaska--and hail isn't common either. But that's just what happened yesterday and these pictures, taken by Mark Chryson from his front yard, allow us to see just what happened. Mark's pictures were relayed to us by Carolyn Szepanski---and we want to thank both Mark and Carolyn for sharing them with us. They are GREAT shots!  By the way, it's worth noting that there were patches of fog which formed over some of the hail-covered surface.
 
Tom Skilling





Pictures courtesy of Mark Chryson, Wasilla, Alaska
 

Dramatic views from west suburban Elgin of the towering cumulonimbus clouds (thunderheads) which produced Wednesday Cook County downpours, wind and flooding
 
 
Matthew Cumberland of Plano photographed Wednesday's 53,000 ft. tall cumulonimbus clouds from Elgin as thunderstorms pounded sections of Cook County and northwest Indiana, producing flooding deluges, lightning, locally damaging winds and even hail.  Great shot, Matthew--MANY THANKS!!
 
-Tom Skilling

 Photo courtesy of Matthew Cumberland

Thanks to Heriberto Quiroz for this view of Wednesday's powerhouse thunderstorms from Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. Great shot--THANKS Heriberto!
 
Tom Skilling
 

Photos courtesy of Heriberto Quiroz, Pilsen-Chicago
 

The Chicago area wasn't alone with thunderstorms Wednesday. Our friend
Mary Anne Best, who regularly keeps us posted on weather conditions 90
miles south of Chicago near Remington, Indiana, shares this dramatic
Wednesday evening shot of a towering complex of thunderstorms which
were occurring 50 to 60 miles southeast of her. Doppler radar scans put
the tops of these storms at 37,000 ft.  Beautiful shot, Mary Ann!!

Tom Skilling

Photos courtesy of Mary Ann Best, Remington, Indiana

Still another view of Wednesday's bank of towering 50,000+ ft. tall lake breeze-induced thunderheads (cumulonimbus clouds) hovering over Cook County as photographed between 1 and 2:30 p.m. from the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora--some 40 miles west of Chicago--by Matt Piechota who works there.  Spectacular shots, Matt!  Thanks for sharing them with us.

Tom Skilling



 
Photos courtesy of Matt Piechota

Jen Ingram's 10-year old son Sam---an avid weather enthusiast with the dream of becoming a weather forecaster or tornado chaser----snapped these shots of thunderstorms forming east of Donovan, Illinois in downstate Iroquois County.  What a terrific job Sam!  Thanks to both Jen and Sam for sending these along!
 
Tom Skilling

 
 
Photos courtesy of Jen and Sam Ingram, Donovan, Illinois

As viewed from the Geneva Commons on Randall Rd, courtesy of Rob Cannon:

Photo courtesy of Rob Cannon

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The same storms as viewed from Cary, Illinois:

Photos courtesy of Jason Janczak

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As viewed from Wilmington, Illinois:



Photos courtesy of Jenn and Bill in Custer Park, Illinois (south of Wilmington)

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Check out these close-up shots of the thunderstorm towers as taken from suburban Lisle




 Photos courtesy of Mary King, Lisle, Illinois

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Wide view as seen from Sugar Grove
CLICK ON IMAGE FOR FULL SIZE:

Photo courtesy of Roland Muts, Sugar Grove, Illinois

Wednesday's storms banked between 1 and 2 p.m. over Cook County as viewed from west suburban Aurora






 
Photos courtesy of Heather Brinkmann, Aurora, Illinois

Wednesday afternoon's violent lakebreeze-induced  thunderstorms, responsible for 63 mph gusts at Midway Airport, flooding and downed trees and power lines in Cicero and ripping part of a roof off Burbank's St. Lawrence High School while overturning a baseball dugout, producing slight injuries to a coach and player, are shown here from a distance in this spectacular photo taken by Jim Hancock far west suburban Sycamore, Illinois. Sycamore is in DeKalb County approximately  68 miles west of Chicago.  Doppler radar scans put cloud tops at the height of these storms over Cook County (between 1 and 2 pm) at between 43,000 and 53,000 ft.

Dopper rain estimates--which, because of the presence of hail which can corrupt rainfall estimates off current generation Doppler radars---were put at more than 2.50 inches in sections of central Cook County. Veteran weather observer Frank Wachowski reports 0.78 inches fell at Midway Airport---but only 0.07 inches at his home in nearby Burbank. A caller from Cicero reported flooded streets and basements, confirming radar indications the storms' heaviest rains fell there and in a corridor from Oak Lawn to Elmwood Park. He is a 43-year resident of Cicero and says today's storm was among the worst he's seen. Converging low level winds along an inland-moving lake breeze front just after noon Wednesday, set the highly concentrated, flooding storms in motion and allow the thunderstorms to erupt, despite the presence of capping earlier today(comparatively warm air aloft which cuts into the rate at which temperatures fall with height). O'Hare topped out at 94-degrees for a second day.  Weather Bug sensors indicated unofficial highs of 98-degrees at Burr Ridge and  97-degrees as Lemont, Alsip and DeKalb.
 
-Tom Skilling


 
 
Photos courtesy of Jim Hancock, Sycamore, Illinois

Michael Frankowski forwards us this beautiful photo of a cloud to ground lightning stroke taken Monday morning near Oregon, Illinois. A wonderful shot, Mike--your photos are always spectacular!  MANY THANKS!!
 
Tom Skilling
 
Photo courtesy of Mike Frankowski, South Elgin, Illinois
 

Thanks to Sara Mickel from Park City, Illinois for sharing this picture of flooding on the Des Plaines River near Wadsworth. Sara comments that the river level has not changed much since Sunday.

The Des Plaines River swollen by this area's recent deluges
 
With the Des Plaines River--and others in the Chicago area---so high in the wake of recent downpours, this photo from Sara Mickel is especially striking. Sara took it where the Des Plaines River passes under the pedestrian bridge at Stirling Lake near Wadsworth. Importantly, she notes the clearance between the bridge and the river hasn't changed much since Sunday and that the new wetland restoration project on Rt. 41 has retained much of the water which would otherwise have flowed into flood zones south of Waukegan! Many thanks for the fantastic photo and for a very timely update, Sara!
-Tom Skilling
 

Photo courtesy of Sara Mickel, Park City, Illinois

Thanks to Jack Conarchy for passing on these photos of flooding on this street following the torrential rains Friday night. Jack reported 3 feet of water on his street and unfortunately 6 inches in his basement.

Photos by Jack Conarchy

Matt Hendricks took this neat picture near Riverside, Michigan of the thunderstorms approaching shoreline after crossing the lake.

Photo by Matt Hendricks

Thanks to our many viewers and readers who were kind enough to send us a multitude of pictures depicting many aspects of Friday's day-long bout with severe weather.

 

This shot was taken just west of Rochelle.

 

Photo by Frankie and Jeanne Armstrong

Storm shot taken near Sleepy Hollow

Photo by Ericka Carlson

 

Storms rolling in as seen from Children's Memorial Hospital

Photo by Kelly Conforti

 

Shot of storm approaching Baroda, Michigan

Photo by Jim Wolf

 

Storm approaching Chicago as seen from a site near Navy Pier

Photo by Elaine Karp

 

Storm shot from the west side of Elgin

Photo by David J. Noffs

Lightning shots taken near the lake at Claredon

Photos by Tracey Surface

Storm photo taken in downtown Zion

Photo by Jason Lewis

 

A calming and beautiful rainbow visible from Chicago Heights after a chaotic day of severe weather

Photo by Susan Drechney 

From Ben Odean in Chicago. Taken from a rooftop near Division and Western looking northwest and northeast around 10:25am.

 

Jim Wolf, a trained weather spotter in Stevensville, MI., sent us this great shot. Thanks, Jim!

Thanks, Bill!

Elaine Karp took this photo earlier today as the storm was approaching near Navy Pier.

Thanks, Elaine!

Photo by Bart

Thanks to Tim and Sue Ryan for these  storm pictures taken this morning in northwest suburban Marengo.

 

Photos by Tim and Sue Ryan

Thanks to Patrick McCarron for sending us this shot as storms approached Carpentersville around 9 a.m. this morning.

Photo by Patrick McCarron 

Thanks to David Mayhew, a regular contributor of spectacular photos to this blog for passing along these great shots taken on Wednesday in Kansas and Nebraska. More of David's great phots can be seen on his website at www.DavidMayhewPhotography.com

This first photo was taken near the town of Oketa in northeast Kansas. A tornado was reported with this storm, but this shot only shows a dust cloud.

The rest of the photos were taken near dusk in and around Grand Island, Nebraska. They show a nicely defined funnel. The main tornado with this storm traveled along State Highway 34, just north of I-80.   

 

All photos by David Mayhew www.DavidMayhewPhotography.com

 

Mary Beth Binek sent us this picture taken in Downers Grove with the sun shining through a hole in the clouds. Her husband remarked that it looks like an angel.

Photo by Mary Beth Binek

Thanks to Steve Rayman for passing along these amazing photos taken Monday at Emerson New  Jersey in Bergen County where a freak thunderstorm dropped tons of hail that piled up more then 4" deep. Residents of the area likened the landscape to that of a winter snowstorm. Heavy rainfall also produced flooding.

    

Photos by Ree

Thanks to John Franco for passing along this photo of a tree struck by lightning during some very "noisy" thunderstorms early Monday morning.

Photo by John Franco

Thanks to our long-time friend, pilot Anson Mount for sending us this shot taken this afternoon as the thunderstorms were passing east of the Waukegan airport.

Photo by Anson Mount

This thunderstorm prompted severe thunderstorm warnings in Kane County this afternoon
 
Mike Frankowski shares this photo with us of one of this afternoon's thunderstorm clusters in Kane County.  A severe thunderstorm warning was issued in response to it. Great photo--thanks Mike!
 
Tom Skilling
 


Photo courtesy of Mike Frankowski, South Elgin, Illinois

Thanks to Melissa McGuire for passing on this shot of a funnel cloud taken Sunday afternoon from a Denver suburb. The photo was taken by her brother Matthew Dupont who reported that everyone was OK and that it was "totally cool" to have some weather action here besides snow.

Photo by Matthew Dupont

Our thanks to Jimmy Silverstein a meteorology student at Northern Illinois University for sending us these great shots of a tornado that occurred on Friday about 10 miles north of La Grange, Wyoming. Luckily he was at the top of a ridge which provided a spectacular view of the storm.

Photos by Jimmy Silverstein

Matthew Cumberland of Plano captured these hail shafts associated with the powerful storms which swept the Chicago area Monday.  The storms were part of a complex which unleashed flooding rains on the Belvidere and Rockford areas producing standing water which stood 4 to 6" deep in parts of those cities. Matthew reports these dramatic photos were taken during a storm chase west of Crystal Lake.  Hail shafts, as you can see here, have a very distinct appearance--appearing here as white wisps extending earthward from dark cloud bases.  FANTASTIC shots and many thanks to Matthew for sharing these with us!
 
Tom Skilling



 
Photos courtesy of Matthew Cumberland, Plano Illinois
 

Thanks are in order to former WGN Weather Center intern Brian Wilkes, now Chief Meteorologist at WXIN-Fox 59 in Indianapolis, for calling our attention to these photos from his viewers of Tuesday's powerhouse, hail-producing storms which swept the Indianapolis area. These storms were an outgrowth of the cells which swept the Chicago area earlier in the day.The Ziraldo family photographed the windowless car in Fishers, Indiana. Its windows were broken when pelted by 2 to 2.75" diameter hailstones! Storm chaser JT Cooper captured the supercell as it swept the area and the hailstones you see in the other shot were collected by the Cutshaw Kids----Stacy Cutshaw is a Chicago native and WXIN's chief engineer!
THANKS Brian to you and your viewers for these shots!!
 
Tom Skilling



 
Photos courtesy of The Ziraldo family, Stacy Cutshaw and JT Cooper of the Indianapolis, IN area

Mike Frankowski was also near Bloomington in central Illinois Monday evening when the storms hit.  Take a look at these spectacular cloud to ground lightning discharges which Mike---who has shared truly amazing lightning photos with us over the years---photographed and has been kind enough to send along!  Awesome photography, Mike!  MANY THANKS and keep up the amazing work!
 
Tom Skilling

Always busy and wonderful about sharing his amazing photography with us, Chuck Hagen checks in from a storm chase Tuesday, sending us these remarkable lightning shots--one taken just east of Onarga in Iroquois County, two others in the vicinity of wind turbine a few miles west of Gibson City in Ford County---during Monday evening's powerful thunderstorms. Central Illinois was hard hit. Thousands lost power and 1 to 4" rains were reported. The storms there were associated with same system which led to thunderstorms over sections of the Chicago area Monday afternoon and evening before settling south.  You've outdone yourself on these, Chuck---not easy to do given the wonderful shots you've passed on to us in the past!  THANKS so much for sharing these with us and congratulations!
 
-Tom Skilling




 
Photos courtesy of Chuck Hagen, Oak Lawn, Illinois
 

Thanks to Michael Landelius and Ben Rock, storm spotters from Kane County who captured this shot of a shelf cloud near the intersection of routes 20 and 47.

Photo by Michael Landelius

This photo was taken as a cold front passed through the Mendota area in north central Illinois around 7 p.m. The temperature plunged from 75 to 67 in just two minutes.

Photo by D. Keefe

 

Mike Valandingham snapped this photo of a double rainbow that appeared after thunderstorms passed through the Fox River Grove area.

Photo by Mike Valandingham

Another double rainbow was photographed in the Crystal Lake area abour 6:40 p.m. last night by Missy Dabrowski

Photo by Missy Dabrowski

Anson Mount sent us this picture of a rainbow in Algonquin. He tells us:
It's pouring and the sun is shining here. 52 degrees! Convergence! Anson 

Thanks for the picture Anson!