WEATHER SNAP SHOTS: July 2009 Archives

Tim Williams sent us these pictures from Oakwood Hills, Ill., just east of Crystal Lake. He tells us:

"I am a trained weather spotter and these had considerable rotation. I was on the southwest corner of the storm. The photo with the tree line looks to have a small funnel located just above the tree line in the middle. I didn't notice until I saw the photo."

Thanks Tim for sharing these great pictures with us!







Photos courtesy of Tim Williams, McHenry County

Rich Raddatz sends us these photos and a video of the tornado that briefly touched down in McHenry and Lake counties on Thursday (July 30). Rich notes how rapidly conditions changed in about a minute, as winds grew strong enough to knock down his flag! Thanks Rich!









Photos and video link courtesy of Rich Raddatz

Eric Myers of Plainfield shares this dramatic photo of Thursday's storm bearing down on him.  He tells us:

"I watched this funnel develop and eventually die right over our house in the Kendall County side of Plainfield/Joliet yesterday. There was not a lot of rotation, and the updraft was very strong, which eventually killed it.  There was much more rotation in smaller sections after the main funnel went back up as several small funnels tried to form. It sure did make for an interesting picture that I thought you would enjoy."

It's an amazing shot, Eric---and you're great to share it with us!  Many thanks!
-- Tom Skilling

 
 
Photo courtesy of Eric Myers, Plainfield, Illinois

We thank Bret Renaud for sending us this wonderful picture of a rainbow over Lake Michigan on Thursday. This picture was taken from Rogers Park in Chicago.

Thanks for the great shot Bret!

Lori Spindler from Wonder Lake sent us this shot of Thursday's ominous looking storm clouds.
Thanks Lori!

I received the most interesting e-mail from Dr. Keith Heidorn and wanted to share it with you along with these spectacular shots he's been so kind to send along. Keith writes:
 
"I know where Chicago's heat is. We have it here in British Columbia. At my home in the eastern Rocky Mountain region, temperatures have hit low 30s C (90-95F). On my porch the last few days the temperature has been peaking at 40C (104F). But we don't have the humidity part, someone else must have stolen that. Remembering my Windy City imprint from my birth (late August 1947 at the end of a record hot spell), I am one of the few here in Valemount who is loving the heat. A far cry from our -40 just before Christmas last year. Kidding aside, we did get some humidity, enough to pop up these Cbs just before sunset (9:15 pm) Saturday. I took these intensely colored photos looking north (toward Swift Creek ridge), east (Mt McKirdy is the small peak on the ridge) and south (Canoe Mt is the big massif)"
 
A great report and these are spectacular photos, Keith!  Thanks so much for sharing them with us and stay cool in all the warm weather!  By the way, check out Keith's website: The Weather Doctor
 
 
--Tom Skilling

Canoe Mountain south of home

David Skrzyniarz sends us this great shot of building cumulonimbus clouds (thunderheads) he took from Chicago's north side at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday evening (7/28).  THANKS David!. 

-Tom Skilling

Photo courtesy of David Skrzyniarz

Joey Pudlik of Streamwood sends us these incredible wind damage photos -- the result of a damaging "wake low" that developed late Monday night into early Tuesday morning. Joey estimated winds to be in the 40-55 m.p.h. range. Thanks Joey!

John Hazzard sends us this photo he took at 6:30 p.m. this evening of storm clouds moving in from the west, as well as tassels emerging from the corn in preparation for pollination.

As a farmer who keeps us updated on the state of crop growth in Illinois, he added the following:

"Last Friday night 1.4 inches of rain fell here; before that the top soil was getting a little dry. The crops in our area are doing fine, still behind average for this time of year but only ten days or so. If we can have a normal August and stay away from an early frost the corn and soybeans may beat earlier expectations. With the late spring start and way above average rainfall I think the farmers here are happy the way things look as of now."

Thanks John for your timely update!



Photo courtesy of John Hazzard

Madison, Wis., resident Tim Wilson sent us these beautiful photos of mammatus clouds near his home. Wilson noted that as severe weather and t-storms moved off to "our south and west, we were left with these beautiful cloud formations." Thanks for sharing Tim!









Photos courtesy of Tim Wilson, Madison, Wis.

Matt Piechota sent us these pictures from his storm chase last Friday afternoon and evening. He describes the pics in further detail below. Thanks Matt!





The pictures above are of an HP supercell in northeast Iowa.





The pictures above show merging supercells in southern Wisconsin, just northwest of the town of Monroe in Lafayette County.



Taken in southwest Wisconsin, this picture was very neat to Matt as there was "a bright light blueish tint above the shelf cloud."

Photos courtesy of Matt Piechota

Former WGN-TV intern Marty Eisses alerted us to this picture taken by Joe Kolock at the St. Petersburg Air Traffic Control Tower, looking northeast over Tampa Bay around 11 a.m. this morning. Another waterspout was reported a couple of miles off of Belleair Beach, just south of Clearwater Beach. Thanks to Marty and Joe for letting us share this image with our blog readers!



Photo courtesy of Joe Kolock

Another view of Monday's waterspouts was captured by Kristin Critelli of Tampa. Thanks Kristin!



Photo courtesy of Kristin Critelli, Tampa, Florida

Thank to Jim Miller from west suburban Oswego who was able to capture this excellent lightning shot during last night's thunderstorms. Jim considers it his best-ever lightning photo and we couldn't agree more. l

Photo by Jim Miller

National Weather Service Coop Observer Fred Demeter sent us these pictures of a violent storm that hit near Stockton in Jo Daviess Couny in far northwest Illinois Friday evening around 6:10 p.m. Hail was up to 2 inches in diameter and dented the top of a trailer and a truck. High winds downed a large willow tree that smashed a fence as it fell.

 

 

 

 

Photos by Fred Demeter

Rich Hedges shares these terrific photos of Friday's storms as they swept into the Apple Canyon Lake area near Apple River in northwest Illinois. He reports some of the hail which accompanied these storms was golf-ball size. Thanks Rich!
--Tom Skilling









Photos courtesy of Rich Hedges, Apple River, Illinois

Lisa Crews tells us she was on the way home from Mark Buehrle's perfect game Thursday evening when she encountered this double rainbow. I'd say you had quite a day, Lisa!  THANKS for sharing this great photo with us!
-- Tom Skilling




Photo courtesy of Lisa Crews, Momence, Illinois

Nancy Schneider shares these dramatic images of storm clouds sweeping into Galena. She added that the storms were followed by very strong winds, light hail and "1.3 inches of rain in about 45 minutes." Thanks Nancy for the pictures and weather report!





Photos courtesy of Nancy Schneider, Galena, Illinois

Mike Callan shares this photo while traveling eastbound on U.S. Interstate 88 around 4:30 p.m.  of approaching storm clouds. Thanks Mike!



Photo courtesy of Mike Callan, Indian Head Park

Michelle Mullhall took this photo of a rain shaft associated with weakening thunderstorms Thursday evening after her birthday dinner in Roscoe, Illinois -- north of Rockford -- we're told by her brother Robert Angell. Tell your sister for us that she's quite a photographer, Robert!  Michelle is visiting from Connecticut. THANKS for sharing with us!

Tom Skilling



Photo courtesy of Michelle Mullhall and Robert Angell, Roscoe, Illinois

Liza Blecher forwards us these amazing shots of thunderstorms sweeping O'Fallon, Illinois in the St. Louis area. The cloud to ground lightning shot is stunning. She tells us, "It came through really fast and had an amazing lightning show.  The winds picked up and we had some hail the size of a dime or just a bit smaller.  A few trees were knocked down, the farmer's corn field was damaged, a neighbor's fence was blown down and our grill was flipped over and the patio table was pushed to the side ... it was a scary one ... but it could've been much worse..."
 
Great pictures, Liza!  THANKS for sharing them!

Tom Skilling





Photos courtesy of Liza Blecher, O'Fallon, Illinois

Photo courtesy of John Genhr, Holland, M

Thanks to Jack Davidson who cpatured this shot of a tree struck by lightning in Oak Park around 4:15 p.m. this afternoon.

Photo by Jack Davidson

Here's a picture taken by Lt. Kevin Williams of the Elkhorn Sheriff's Department of the flooding resulting from one of today's inland thunderstorms which affected parts of Walworth County. Click here for the full story from the NWS Milwaukee/Sullivan forecast office.

Thanks to Tom Powers for sharing these spectacular shots taken downtown last Saturday morning July 18. The first shot taken facing west near Buckingham Fountain shows the chaotic sky that covered the city that morning and the second is a beautiful view of the start of the Mac race.

Photos by Tom Powers

Matt Piechota sent us these pictures taken on June 7 during a College of Du Page storm chase. Thanks for the great shots Matt!

Below is a montage of some great weather photos as storm clouds approached Northwest Indiana. Thanks to all who sent these in!

Mary Stevens sends us these beautiful pictures of sunset as seen near her home in Algonquin. Thanks Mary!

Walt Stagner sends us this backside view of one of the cumulonimbus clouds which produced Thursday evening's storms. He took this from Yorkville in Chicago's southwest suburbs 30 minutes after the storm have passed by. Thanks Walt!

Tom Skilling


Photo courtesy of Walt Stagner, Yorkville, Illinois

Thanks to my WGN colleague Terry Bates who sends us this shot from Burnham Harbor.  It was taken at 6:15 pm--about the time radar scans placed cloud tops over southern sections of the metro area at 36,000 ft.

Tom Skilling


Photo courtesy of Terry Bates, taken from Burnham Harbor, Chicago 

Photo courtesy of William Melnyczenko

This interesting mix of puffy fair weather cumulus clouds amid wind-whipped wisps of cirrostratus decorated Wednesday afternoon skies above Wilmette as gusty westerly winds from ground level aloft into the jet stream gusted 30+ mph at times. Barbara and Sandy Collins share this beautiful photo with us.  It was taken by Sandy and is a shot which captures Wednesday afternoon's beautiful, haze-free skies. The Chicago area was situated within the windy southern sector of an expansive and unusually strong Ontario-based mid-summer storm system, visible on satellite images in the tell-tall comma-shaped cloud configuration. Wilmette and the entire Chicago area found itself beneath a windy, large-scale feature known as the "dry wedge"--- the cloud-free indentation in a storm's large-scale cloud pattern. The dry wedge--or slot--- coincides with the jet stream's strongest winds.  It is not at all unusually to be quite windy within dry wedges.!

Tom Skilling

 


Photos courtesy of Barbara Collins

Thanks to each of you who has sent us pictures of Sunday's rain-less "rainbows". It's amazing how many of you spotted them and e-mailed us telling us about them. They not visible in all parts of the Chicago area, showing up instead in areas over which clouds produced virga--streamers of rain out of the base of clouds which didn't reach the ground. A disturbance passing across the area Sunday was behind those precipitating clouds.  Rather than reaching the ground, the rain was light and falling into dry air below and evaporating.  Still, the rain drops were sufficient to refract the sunlight leading to the rainbows which are picture here. These are wonderful photos--thanks again to each of you who took the time to share these with us!
 
Tom Skilling
 



Photos courtesy of Theresa Corriere, Hammond, Indiana


Photo courtesy of Alex Micco


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Gary Wojton, a retired Chicago Public Schools teacher now living in Scottsdale, Ariz., sends us this image of the monsoon clouds over Four Peaks Mountains. He took the picture while he was hiking in 109-degree heat, and jokingly added that "[the clouds] actually dropped about 11 drops of rain on the desert." Thanks Gary!



Photo courtesy of Gary Wojton

Brian Borgardt of DeKalb took these photos last Sunday (July 5) of a funnel cloud about 15 miles west of U.S. Interstate 39 on U.S. Highway 30. Thanks Brian for sharing these pics with us!





Pictures courtesy of Brian Borgardt

David Skrzyniarz shares this rainbow shot with us which he snapped looking east at Cermak and Western here in Chicago.  THANKS David!
 
Tom Skilling
 

Photo courtesy of David W. Skrzyniarz, Chicago
 

Joe McCullough and his wife photographed this lightning Tuesday morning (July 7) from their balcony at the Westin Resort in the Grand Cayman Islands and share these photos with us. This is a first for our blog, Joe.  I think this is the first time we've posted photos from the Grand Cayman Islands---and they are something else!  THANKS for sending them to us!
 
Tom Skilling
 



Photos courtesy of Joe McCullough, Champaign, Illinois

Our thanks to Tony Augsburg who sends us these photos of the wave pattern noted in these altocumulus clouds Wednesday morning over Oswego. Shifting wind direction with height--what's referred to as directional wind shear----drives the waviness you see here.  Great shots, Tony!  MANY THANKS for sharing these with us.
 
Tom Skilling
 


Photos courtesy of Tony Augsburg, Oswego, Illinois
 

Jamie Walter of DeKalb sent us this photo of a funnel cloud he spotted at 6:45 p.m. Sunday evening (July 5). Jamie reports that he "never saw it touch down, and it soon seemed to dissipate." Thanks Jamie for the photo!



Photo courtesy of Jamie Walter, DeKalb, Ill.

Kimberly Tippetts of Belvidere shares these pictures she took Sunday afternoon near her home of a funnel cloud. She reported that "no sirens went off as it was sunny all around this 'small' supercell."

The brief but widely scattered showers developed along a weak wind shift line moving southeast out of Wisconsin. Most of the Chicago metro area remained dry.

Thanks Kimberly for your great photos!






Photos courtesy of Kimberly Tippetts, Belvidere, Ill.

Our friend John Hazzard, who farms in western Will County, sends us this telling shot which features his nephew Mark Hazzard and his son Porter illustrating that corn has made it to "knee high by the 4th of July" benchmark this year--despite the late start to the planting season because of the incredible rains. As john points out in his report to us:
 
"Although the corn does look good, this time last year the corn would have been up to Marks shoulder so were a good 3 weeks behind a year ago.  We will need ideal conditions the rest of the growing season to bring this crop in on schedule."
 
How true, John!  MANY THANKS for the update and hope you and your family have a Great 4th!!
 
Tom Skilling
 

Photo courtesy of John Hazzard, Wilmington, Illinois
 

Mike Kellems share this beautiful Monday evening 6/29 Indiana sunset with us. It was taken south of the town of Union Mills in south-central La Porte County! THANKS Mike--a great photo!
 
Tom Skilling

 Photo courtesy of Mike Kellems, La Porte, Indiana

Architect and mariner James Papoutsis sends us these photos of the storm which swept Chicago last summer on July 20. They were taken from his boat Renegade. THANKS for sharing them with us James!
 
Tom Skilling



Check this montage of shots out! Architect James Papoutsis shares this with us.  The photos were taken from his boat the Renegade----James brother Tom is the boat's Captain.  THANKS James!  We love the photo!
 
Tom Skilling
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

 
Photos courtesy of James Papoutsis Copyright 2009 

Gary and Isabelle Kovarik send us these photos of storms which swept the area near Branson, Missouri early Tuesday morning, June 30, 2009. The Kovariks are there on vacation. They write:
 
"Photos were taken from the Peninsula Overlook at the State Park, facing north (Chateau on the right) and west."
 
These are amazing shots. Thanks Gary and Isabelle!
 
Tom Skilling