The forecast called for Chicagos hottest day of the year [so far] as well as the hottest day in 4 years. Along with such a warm and steamy air mass there was a chance for some vigorous thunderstorms as well. The previous day saw a number of tornadoes in southern Wisconsin before a training line of storms along the WI/IL border brought on extensive flooding in Milwaukee.
These storms died as they began to sag south. As they died they sent their remnant outflow boundaries southward into the Chicago area and points westward. I knew that this are would be under the gun today as these boundaries would be the focal point for new development and with a very hot, juicy air mass in place I had a feeling these could be quite strong.
A severe thunderstorm watch was issued around 4pm as things quickly destabilized. I could see the building towers all around my house and knew the show was on its way.
Storms began firing and making there way in and knowing I wouldn't have to leave my house to document them I prepared myself to document.
Anvil from approaching storm:
Closer...
The storms never had anything great structure wise, but what they lacked in visual appearance they made up for in intensity. I shot some video during the storm, which did some pretty decent damage just a couple blocks west of me. A 54mph gust was measured at Midway Airport to my east, but it was obvious that winds a couple blocks to my west were much stronger than that.
One damaged tree...more damage can be seen in the video:
Video:
After the first assault there a brief lull in storm activity in the area however once night fell a different scenario began brewing. A line of training thunderstorms formed right over the heart of the city. From about 10pm all the way till 8am the next morning the city was dumped on. My area received a whopping 7.51" of rain during the entire 24hrs period. During the assault I was able to nab a few lightning shots.
Trees...not only do they get in the way of tornadoes, but good lightning shots as well!
The next morning the rain was still coming down hard as wave after wave of storms hit the area. Never up until now have I seen my street completely covered in water with water over the curbs and onto the lawns, but thats what was happening.
Compared to what happened in other areas I feel almost silly for posting these. The area I live in sits on a bit of a high spot and drains pretty well. Other areas didn't fare out as well. Just 1 mile north houses lost everything in their basements with up to 3 feet of water. Suburban Westchester declared a state of emergency needing air and water rescues. All the major interstates leading to Chicago were under water and closed down creating a nightmare-ish traffic situation. Luckily it was now Saturday morning or the morning commute would have turned into anarchy.
Here are some radar images:
The first assault:
Now severe warned with my wind damage report showing up.
A few hours later, as the training line of storms responsible for the flooding begins to develop. The initial blips on radar appeared just north of me providing an easy chance to get the above lightning shots.
A wider view...
Note the times on radar and how the storms are oriented, they just kept coming over the same area!
Even well into the following morning!
Finally, images showing doppler estimated rainfall totals, notice how sharp and narrow the axis of heaviest rain is, if you lived just 15 miles south of the city you probably no idea this was going on.
This type of weather pattern is more common in the summer than people may realize however it is not as common for it to setup over this area. Typically such a pattern sets up farther north and is known as "The ring of fire." The pattern consists of a very hot and humid air mass that covers most of the country. Around the edge of that air mass is where you find these training thunderstorms that can stretch from South Dakota all the way to New York. Perhaps I will write a more detailed explanation on how such a pattern works, but for now you can enjoy the results!
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072310 chicago severe weather
