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Your weather-related questions answered

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* Most ever…


The December 1, 2018 tornado outbreak ranks as the biggest December tornado outbreak in Illinois history! #ILwx pic.twitter.com/Zw4Zu1YJtl

— NWS Lincoln IL (@NWSLincolnIL) December 4, 2018


* What caused this?

Bryce Anderson, chief agriculture meteorologist for DTN, said influences from two different oceans came together to create the storm system.

“This latest event that we had featured a real strong surge of spring-type moisture and warmth out of the Gulf of Mexico,” he told the RFD Radio Network®.

An upper-air pattern led to energy coming out of the Pacific Ocean, which helped bring in moisture, warmth and, ultimately, 22 reported tornadoes throughout central Illinois on Saturday.

“The reason why we had the circumstances we had was because we had this kind of unseasonable round of warmth and the moisture flow with the seasonal chill that led to this kind of severe weather outbreaks,” Anderson said. […]

“There’s just been a lot of volatility, obviously, in our late-fall and early-winter trends,” Anderson said.

* Yikes!…


Falling ice outside Chicago’s Willis Tower smashed this rear windshield on Franklin, just east of the Tower. pic.twitter.com/VAGeDTxtkk

— Rob Elgas (@RobElgasABC7) November 29, 2018

AMAZING: Giant chunks of ice are falling from the top of our building. [sound on]#chicago #iceicebaby pic.twitter.com/AeLfA1zlTz

— 360 CHICAGO Observation Deck (@360chicago) November 29, 2018


* What caused this?

For several days after one of Chicago’s worst November snowstorms, downtown workers were on the lookout for melting snow and ice falling from buildings across the area, with what seemed like more ice than usual falling from skyscrapers and offices. […]

David Kristovich, a scientist with the Illinois State Water Survey at U of I’s Prairie Research Institute, said the Chicago area experienced a bit of a warm-up on Nov. 29 after several days of post-snowstorm coldness, low clouds and periods of precipitation. He said temperatures briefly rose above the melting point.

“The abundant moisture in the air and temperatures near and below freezing may have allowed ice to form and remain on the sides of buildings,” Kristovich said.

The temperatures recorded at O’Hare International Airport were a high of 25 degrees and a low of 19 degrees on Nov. 27, compared with a high of 38 degrees and a low of 27 degrees on Nov. 29, according to the Midwestern Regional Climate Center.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Dec 4, 18 @ 3:18 pm

Comments

  1. The freeze-thaw cycle often results in ice falling from the buildings, most of which have signs on the sidewalk to warn people. It’s one of those things about working in the Loop that you get used to. But one thing I haven’t gotten used to are all of the pedestrians who see the signs or see ice falling and they look up.

    Pro-tip: don’t look up. Lol.

    The tornado damage looks terrifying. Thank God no one was killed.

    Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Dec 4, 18 @ 3:45 pm

  2. So much ice during that blizzard, combined with just the wrong outdoor parking spot, left me with my car doors frozen shut for three days. Couldn’t get in it until it got to 34 on Thursday and melted enough that I could wrench the doors free!

    Comment by Suburban Mom Tuesday, Dec 4, 18 @ 4:08 pm

  3. Q) “What caused this?”…….

    A) Gravity appears to be heavily involved.

    Comment by MortonPunkinChuckin Tuesday, Dec 4, 18 @ 4:14 pm

  4. First came that really heavy wet snow, then temps falling to the 20s turning it into ice. Recipe for disaster.

    My kid was walking past Sears Tower a couple of days after the storm and he said desperate cops were screaming at people to get off the sidewalks, the ice was falling like bombs.

    On two occasions in the last couple of years, I was within inches of getting clobbered by chunks of ice the size of footballs that came off the sloped glass roof of the Stone Container Building.

    A step this way, a step that way, a few seconds before, and I would have been dead.

    Life is often a game of inches and luck — good or bad. Walk to the far side of the sidewalk.

    Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Dec 4, 18 @ 4:29 pm

  5. Remember all of the Guv’s warnings about it being the end of Illinois if we had JB as Governor and MJM with a super majority? Well this is just the beginning . . .

    Comment by Henry Francis Tuesday, Dec 4, 18 @ 5:38 pm

  6. Downstate we call that hail.

    Comment by lost in the weeds Tuesday, Dec 4, 18 @ 8:26 pm

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