Hurricane Katrina - 5 Years Ago

Five years goes by very fast even when one of the most devastating natural disasters is concerned.  It was on that Sunday back in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina made landfall over New Orleans. It took a similar track to Hurricane Camille took back in 1969 over New Orleans.  This time, the damage was far more significant; the cleanup and rebuilding continues to this day.

Katrina made landfall over the Florida Keys days before as a tropical storm.

It weakened over Florida and quickly redeveloped into a major hurricane mainly due to the Loop Current, a current of warm water between the Yukatan Peninsula and Cuba.  The same current that was responsible for the steering of the 2010 Oil Spill.  The red color shows the Loop Current with Katrina's track over the top.

Katrina as a major hurricane shortly after intensifying in The Loop Current

Katrina's track from the Florida Keys to its New Orleans landfall is shown in this satellite photo blending several images with the track superimposed.

Katrina was a Category 5 shortly before landfall.  It weakened to a strong Category 3 as it made landfall with at least 80% of the city experiencing Category 1 or 2 level sustained winds. New Orleans was hit with winds of 125 miles per hour.  Below is a closeup high resolution satellite photo of the eye before landfall.

The eye over New Orleans

This graphic shows the level of the city compared to the level of the Gulf of Mexico.  You can understand  why 80% of the city was under water.

It proceeded inland with winds rapidly decreasing as shown below.

Hurricane Katrina's track headed north through Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio as a depression with heavy rains.

The total rainfall from Katrina was incredible across the south. 8 to 10 inches of rain fell across the eastern half of the state with a local report of 15 inches near the Mississippi border.  Amounts of 1 to 2 inches for us in Cleveland were common several days later.

The rainfall swath was similar to the rainfall areas created by the track of Hurricane Camille in 1969.

High winds were reported as far north as Detroit and Cleveland  of over 50 miles per hour.

This Summer vs. Last Summer

At this point in the summer, we are all ready for a break from the consistent heat and humidity.  The summer of 2009 was comsidered very cool whereas this summer has been one of the most consistently warm summers in decades.  Let's take a look why the sudden change in the pattern from summer 2009 to 2010.

We need to head to the steering current at 18,000 feet (the winds aloft) to see the large scale changes.

Notice the trough in the east last summer.  That kept cooler air over the Great Lakes and the heat south.

This year, the trough shifted west allowing heat to build in Northeastern Ohio.

The July temperatures in 2009 were WELL BELOW normal across the northern half of the country to include Cleveland.

This year, notice the temperature upswing across the Deep South and New England

Since APRIL 1st, last summer featured 56 days above 80 degrees through August.

This year, since April 1st, we've had 83 days above 80 degrees through August 17th.

What will this mean for this fall and early winter?  Remember this:  In late 2004, temperature in November and December through the middle of the month were WELL ABOVE NORMAL.  I cut my lawn on December 3rd.  What happened after that?  The pattern did a complete 180 degree turn producing more than 30 inches of snow over the last 15 days of December 2005.  So stay tuned.

The History of Searching for Stuff on the Web

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Hurricane Season's Cranking Up

The official hurricane season forecast back in late May and early June was hinting at a VERY active season for tropical storms and hurricanes.  So far, only 3 named storms and one hurricane.  Will this change?  Will the tropics get more active in the month of August?  All indications are that they will. 

Click here for the National Hurricane Center

Let's head out into the open Atlantic Ocean where the tropical storms often occur.  This year, the amount of dust coming off of the African continent has been above normal.  This has suppressed tropical storm development.  Notice that the organized cloud cover is south of the dust area? Thunderstorms have develops south and are heading west and northwest into warmer ocean waters.

Warm pockets of ocean water are forming in the central atlantic which coincides with the newest tropical depression.  We can expect the ocean to continue warm into August.

Closer to home, the tropics have been very quiet.  No organized storms in the last several weeks.

What is the forecast track on this new tropical system?  Check out the following map.  It looks eerily consistent bringing it closer to home.

Even the National Hurricane Center concurs on this forecast.

If you are vacationing along the east coast, this year and in the next several years could be very active with tropical systems and/or hurricanes impacting the east coast.

Stay tuned for more hurricane updates in the days and weeks ahead.

Its Official: New Hailstone Record

Imagine this mammoth hailstone falling in Cleveland?  Here is the official story.  Credit:  The Weather Channel and the Associated Press
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A hailstone found at Vivian, SD Friday night has now been determined to be the record largest U.S. hailstone by weight and diameter.  This 8-inch diameter stone, pictured above, weighed in at an incredible 1.9375 pounds.

The old record heaviest U.S. hailstone was a 1.67-pound monster in Coffeyville, KS on Sep. 3, 1970.  The old official largest diameter hailstone, measuring 7 inches in diameter, was recovered in Aurora, NE on June 22, 2003.

The Aurora, NE hailstone still holds the U.S. record for circumference, however, with a circumference of 18.75 inches.  The Vivian, SD hailstone fell a quarter-inch short (18.5") of that standard.

Leslie Scott, who found the record hailstone, said it lost about 3 inches because he was without electricity for several hours after the storm. NWS meteorologists told him to put it in a sealed plastic bag and stop opening the freezer door to show it to people.


"If I knew it might be a record, I would have looked for a bigger one, " he said. "There was lots of bigger ones than the one I got. My mother seen one as big as a football, she claims."

Hail from the storm led to at least five reports of injuries on Interstate 90, when hailstones crashed through vehicle windshields.  All 55 homes in the town of Vivian were damaged.  One mobile home's roof was punctured 25 times!

"I've got 19 holes in my roof.  Three of them go all the way through my ceiling," said Lisa Patrick, who lives in Vivian.

SOME HAIL FACTS

Large hail is a fact of life in America's heartland. Each spring and summer, we marvel at reports of hailstones the size of baseballs, softballs, or even grapefruit from intense supercell thunderstorms roaming the Plains. Some storm chasers wear helmets when documenting supercell thunderstorms.

TWC Severe Weather Expert, Dr. Greg Forbes (Find him on Facebook ), notes that there have been six other instances of 8-inch-diameter hail in the U.S. since 1950, including a stone shaped like a cigar-box in Izard County, AR on June 19, 1970.


Hailstones this large falling at speeds up to around 100 mph, surprisingly, don't often result in fatalities. This may be due to the relative infrequency of very large hailstones (say, baseball-size or larger) over densely-populated areas.

According to Dr. Forbes, there have been only six U.S. fatalities due to hail alone, dating back to the 1700s. The most recent death was a pizza deliveryman in Ft. Worth, TX on Mar. 28, 2000.

The world's hail capital may, in fact, be in northern India and Bangladesh. A single hailstorm killed 246 people in India on April 30, 1888. More recently, 92 were killed in Bangladesh by an April, 1986 hailstorm.  According to "Extreme Weather", by Christopher Burt, India and Bangladesh witness 10-15 days with hail each year, on average.

The world's heaviest authenticated hailstone, according to Burt, weighing in a 2.25 pounds, pelted Bangladesh in the aforementioned April, 1986 deadly hailstorm.  Its diameter was not recorded.

Unofficially, a hailstone weighing an incredible 4.18 pounds was said to have fallen in Kazakhstan in 1959.  In August, 1958, a 2.14 pound hailstone was documented in Strasbourg, France. 

LeBron James: Questions We Need to Ask

Lebron James announced he was heading to the Miami Heat for greener pastures.  The decision wasn't that surprising.  It was the way the announcement was made that has irked most fans.

Yet there are so many points to consider when reacting to the news.  Here are a few that I've considered since I found out where he was going:

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Point #1:  The whole 5 day period leading up to his announcement was handled poorly to say the least.  LBJ could have made a statement about his future without calling ESPN, creating a one-hour special to do so.  There is a difference between being confident and blatant arrogance.  If he would have announced his departure without fanfare--sure, it would have been tough to digest as a lifelong Cleveland fan--yet it would've been the classy way out.  Cleveland is a blue collar town.  Fans deserve better after supporting him.


Point #2: LBJ should have called Dan Gilbert before making his decision.  It would have brought class to a very touchy situation.  Instead, he announced his decision to leave Cleveland in Connecticut of all places.  Stand on a podium at the "Q".  Thanks the fans, the team, the owners and calmly address the local media, answers questions about your decision.  Handle the situation in a way that doesn't slap the fans of Cleveland in the face.

Point #3: I don't think that this is as bad as Art Modell leaving Cleveland.  Lebron didn't sneak out in the middle of the night....although it seems close only a few hours from hearing the news.

Point #4:   LBJ had the right to leave.  He earned it as a player who's been in the league  for 7 years.

Point #5:   Dan Gilbert, incredibly upset as he might be, should have waited to comment and let the dust settle.


Point #6:  Ever notice that the players who have rings/championships don't care about their branding?  Say what you want about Kobe Bryant.  He could care less about his brand or about how many shoes he sells.  He cares about winning championships and nothing else.

Point #7:  I firmly believe that LBJ controlled more of the Cleveland franchise than what was originally said over the last several years.

Point #8:  All of these NBA players re referring to themselves in the third person.  I thought only Rickey Henderson did this.  I don't remember Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson handling questions self-glossing themselves as if they are the center of the universe.

Now the questions:

Question #1: The big question we all have to ask ourselves:  Would LBJ have a better chance to win her in Cleveland given the player we have?

Question #2:  Prior to his leaving, did the Cavaliers have the players necessary to make a blockbuster trade to take the team to the next level capable of contending for a title with the likes of the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics?

Question #3:  Even with LBJ here in Cleveland, would that have been enough to attract top-tier free agents now and in the years to come?

Question #4:  What Cleveland team has the best chance of winning a championship now?

Tropical Storms in Ohio in July?

It doesn't happen very often but tropical systems have made it into Ohio. The most recent was the remains of Hurricane Ike back in September of 2008. Does it happen in July? Here is a map of Ohio and the tracks of all tropical systems since the 1860s that have crossed over Ohio. Remember that these tropical systems have weakened considerably by the time they reach Ohio.

So far, hurricane season has been quiet...for now.  It will heat up very soon.  For the latest tropical forecast, click on this link above the forecast picture.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo_atl.shtml

We are in an upward trend for hurricanes. This began in 1995 and will continue for quite sometime.  Hurricanes that make landfall along the east coast in these upward trends also increases.  Take a look at this map with the circles representing Ohio vacation hotspots.  Although this doesn't mean that the east coast will encounter a hurricane directly, it just means that the chances are much higher.

How about the months ahead?  The peak month for hurricanes is September, usually the first week and a half.  So if you are planning a vacation in late August or early September, stay up to date on the latest hurricane outlook because your chances of being affected by a hurricane or tropical storm increases greatly.

Cleveland Earthquake History - F.A.Q.

Just last Thursday, we received calls in the newsroom about an earthquake out in Lake County.  Each time an earthquake happens, it never ceases to amaze me how many people are shocked that they actually occur here in Northeastern Ohio.  The prevailing thought is that earthquakes in the Cleveland area are a relatively new phenomena.  In reality, quakes have been a regular occurrence in northeastern Ohio since the last glacial period 15,000 years with the root, quake-driving structures beneath the surface present for undoubtedly millions of years or longer.

In order to better document and understand the small quakes throughout the state, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has a great website with tons of information.  25 stations are distributed across the state, more in earthquake prone areas, to accurately detect and measure the quakes.

Rather than continue siting trivia about earthquakes, I've compiled a list of frequently asked questions from the Ohio Seismic Website that mirrors the requests we receive via email and phone calls each time an earthquake occurs.

Q:  What is the largest earthquake recorded in the Cleveland area?

The largest earthquake since 1700 was in 1986, January 31st pictured below.  This was the first earthquake where injuries were reported.  Prior to this quake, most people in Northeastern Ohio were unaware of how strong earthquakes can get in this area of the state.  It ranks third all-time in the state behind the 1937 quake in Shelby county.  

Q:  How many quakes have caused minor to moderate damage?

Only 15 quakes have caused this level of damage--a very low number.  Below is a map of the earthquakes across the state.  Notice the higher concentrations in our area (Cleveland) and in western Ohio.

Q:  Can we be affected by distant quakes like the ones in California and Alaska?

Absolutely.  Seismographs around the world can detect the waves from these massive earthquakes.  The 7.9-magnitude Denali, Alaska earthquake on November 3, 2002 caused water-level changes in some Ohio wells.

Q:  What causes the Ohio earthquakes?

In our area, extremely small fault lines--compared to the ones in California--are the focus of our seismic activity.  Studies have suggested that these fault lines might be remnants of an ancient fault line from a billion years ago.  Yes, BILLION.  See the known faults below followed by a map of faults around Cleveland, Ohio.

Q:  Since our ground in northern Ohio is more sediment, gravel and sand in nature, an earthquake is more apt to be weakened and absorbed causing less damage than if we lived on more rocky ground.  True or False?

The answer is false.

Q:  How many fault lines are there in the Cleveland area?  Can we see them?

There are many fault lines across the region.  A large number exist that are not mapped.  The map above
shows the mapped fault lines and other deep structures that cause earthquakes.

There are studies currently underway that aim to map the deep structures that cause the earthquakes
around the state. Since we do not have large earthquakes (magnitude 5 or greater) the data needed from earthquakes to map these small fault lines is incomplete.

Q:  Do earthquakes occur more often now than in the past?

Examining this list, you could easily conclude that this is the case.  But the list is misleading.  Most
earthquakes less than a 3 on the scale were not reported as they are today.  So the list is more detailed
now with better instruments to detect them.

Since 1776,  more than 160 earthquakes have been documented with more than 70 quakes since 2000. Only 3 quakes greater than 3 on the Richter Scale and one quake greater than a 4.  That was in 2001 east of Edgewood in Ashtabula county.  Contrast that with more than 138 earthquakes reported in Alaska from June 12th through early June 15th.

Another GREAT document highlighting OHIO earthquake history

Q:  Since the tsunami in the Pacific back in 2004, people have wondered if such an event could occur over Lake Erie.  Is this possible?

According to the Ohio Seismic Network, the chances are almost zero.  Why?, an earthquake of at least a 7.0 or greater would be needed over the lake.  The fault line would need to move vertically displacing the rock and sediment.  All of the faults in Ohio are horizontal.  Many scientists believe that the vertical displacement would need to occur in very deep water.  Lake Erie is very shallow--average depth of 62 feet and relatively flat on the bottom.  The depth of the ocean near the location of the tsunami in 2004 is more than 12,000 feet!

Q:  How do I report an earthquake?

Call this number:  1-855-QUAKEOH (1-855-782-5364)

Newspaper Scans After The Cleveland Tornado

1953 Ohio Tornado Photos

It was back in 1953, June 8th to be exact, that another tornado outbreak occurred in Ohio and Michigan which killed many people.  Here are two photos of the tornado from different locations.  The first was taken at Hopkins Airport.  The second was taken in Wood county; the same county where last weekend's tornado resulted in many fatalities.

Tornado warnings didn't exist in 1953.  In fact, it was illegal to mention the word "tornado" prior to World War II.  The tornado pictured below was an F4 with winds of over 260 miles per hour.   The tornado touched down in Birmingham, Ohio around 8:30PM and continued east.

It approached Hopkins Airport and continued into the western suburbs.  Damage was reported from West 130th to West 117th and Bellaire where 100 homes were leveled.  The tornado was around a 1/2 mile wide as it approached West 45th street around 10PM.  Damage from West 28th to West 25th and Detroit was incredibly severe.  Five people were killed in one home at Franklin Circle.  The tornado, now retreating back into the cloud, passed directly over Terminal Tower in downtown Cleveland.  The funnel cloud moved out over Lake Erie at East 40th street and fell apart.  A total of 18 deaths were reported across Ohio on June 8th.

An interesting footnote on the tornado outbreak:  Many thought that the tornado outbreak resulted from the atomic testing in Nevada.  A congressional investigation was pushed but never materialized.  Photos and material credit:  Dick Goddard

The tornado track from tornadohistoryproject.com