June 17-23, 2006
Midwest Weekly Highlights - June 17-23, 2006
Cooler Weather, Thunderstorms Prevail
A frontal system lingering over the Midwest made for an active week. The front, which entered Minnesota at the beginning of the period, stalled out over the central Midwest on June 20 before oscillating back to the north and then south again. The result was cooler weather northwest, hot and humid south, and severe weather somewhere in the region every day.
Temperatures this week ranged from -1°F to +1°F across Minnesota and northwestern Iowa to 4°F to 5°F above normal across northeastern Wisconsin, the Michigan UP, and northern lower Michigan (Figure 1). The axis of above normal temperatures extend south through Illinois, where temperatures averaged 3°F to 4°F above normal in the southern third of the state. Slightly cooler weather occurred across eastern Kentucky and Ohio.
Despite the active weather pattern, there were still areas that were missed by much of the rain. Central and northern Wisconsin, northeastern Minnesota, and central Illinois continued to miss out on the significant rainfall. The June 20 U.S. Drought Monitor (Figure 2) extended the Abnormally Dry category into central Illinois, although some rain did occur after the Drought Monitor was issued. Above normal rainfall for the week also occurred in some of the drought area in northern Wisconsin. The rainfall pattern for the week was highly variable (Figure 3), with very little rain in northwestern Minnesota and north central Wisconsin. In contrast rainfall was above normal in a narrow band from southeastern Wisconsin to northern Missouri, and much above normal from western Kentucky through much of Indiana and Ohio. For the month to date rainfall has been well below normal across the western two-thirds of Iowa, northwestern Minnesota, and the northern half of Wisconsin (Figure 4).
Severe Weather Peppers Midwest
Severe weather was reported somewhere in the Midwest every day this period, with Indiana and Ohio reporting the majority of the severe weather events especially between June 19 and June 22. The most significant severe weather was a tornado in Wisconsin on June 18 and the widespread severe weather on June 22.
On June 18 the severe weather was scattered about the region,
and
while not widespread it did produce at least three tornadoes. Two
tornadoes touched down in Wisconsin during the afternoon, the first
approximately two miles south of Stoughton in Dane County. At about the
same time a second tornado descended over Rubicon in Dodge County (west
of Milwaukee). This tornado traveled through Hartford, WI, causing
about $4 million in damage. Authorities reported significant damage to
an elementary school, about 10 businesses, and 50 homes. Many trees
were uprooted or snapped
off. The roof of the elementary school was damaged
and a wall of a motel collapsed.
A survey team from the National Weather Service Office in
Sullivan, WI (Milwaukee) rated the tornado as an F1. Two waterspouts were also reported during the afternoon, one on Lake
Winnebago and another on Sister Bay in Lake Michigan. Storms
in
eastern Indiana spun up a tornado that briefly touched
touched down just before midnight in Hendricks
County.
Swath of Severe Weather on June 22
The frontal boundary that had been oscillating north and south through the region all week extended from southern Iowa across northern Illinois and southern Michigan on the morning of June 22(Figure 5). This front was the focus for numerous thunderstorms as it dropped slowly south during the day. Before the day was over, severe weather occurred from western Missouri through Ohio, and from northern Illinois south through Kentucky. Tornadoes were reported in Missouri, Illinois, and Ohio. Wind-driven hail in Audrain and Pike Counties in Missouri caused extensive damage to corn and soybeans north of Mexico, MO. It is estimated that several hundred acres of crops were damaged by hail ranging in size from .50 to 1.00 inch in diameter.
Golf ball to baseball size hail fell in Calhoun and Jersey Counties in Illinois. Storms also interrupted the AT&T U.S. Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis and the stadium was temporarily evacuated. Six Indiana firefighters were struck by lightning as they were storing a water hose on a truck at the end of a training session in Warren County. None of the injuries were life-threatening.
The greatest impacts of the June 22 severe weather were across Ohio. Slow-moving thunderstorms produced large amounts of rain in northern Ohio which resulted in widespread flash flooding (Figure 6). In Wellington, OH (Lorain County), a rescue diver drowned as he tried to reach two teenagers who were trapped by floodwaters. They were later rescued by boat. The Black River in Lorain County crested at 16.6 feet on June 23, more than seven feet above flood stage. In the Toledo area five inches of rain fell in a five-hour period, flooding streets and underpasses. Firefighters used rubber boats to rescue motorists stranded in flooded underpasses. Nearly seven inches of rain fell in Norwalk, OH (Huron County), 60 miles southeast of Toledo, causing the local reservoir to overflow splitting the town in two. It was estimated that by late on June 22 more than 155,000 Ohio residents were without power across northern Ohio.
Further south, a tornado touched down in Holmes County causing extensive damage to silos, barns, homes, and trees. A tornado rated F1 touched down in Van Wert County damaging a grain elevator, concrete block garage, and damaging a number of other buildings. A severe thunderstorm knocked out power to 24,000 homes in the Cinncinatti area. In Logan, OH (Hocking County) nine people were struck by lightning during a charity run with one person in intensive care with critical injuries. When the day was over, more than 500 reports of severe weather had been filed in the U.S., the vast majority of them in the Midwest.
The week ended on a much quieter note as the cold front pushed south of the Ohio River on June 23. A few severe storms developed in southeastern Kentucky, and ahead of another cold front in western Minnesota. A thunderstorm spun up an F0 tornado in far western Ohio, causing damage to some trees and small buildings.
SDH