April 24-29 Multi Day Central and Southern Plains Severe Weather Outbreak

[Black Hole]

2.41" at my place and still coming down although it's probably winding down. No severe weather in town, but there was a strong tornado not too far to the SSW of Tulsa. Some other weaker tornadoes in the general area as well. All in all an interesting event and I am glad storms didn't get any closer.

Models are showing another chance this afternoon with some decent instability and enough shear to potentially pop a supercell. 

[Timmy Supercell]

Hope everyone was ok in last night's storms. 

I haven't had a t'storm for most of April, but this should be changing tomorrow. It's been a warm Spring! 

[Clinton]

What a night 4.85 inches of rain has fallen with this round and steady rain is still falling.  Flash flood warnings are in effect and for the first time in almost 3 years all of our farm ponds are full.  ATM my 3 day storm total is at 7.65 inches and I wanna give a nod to the GFS and HRRR for being the only models to consistently show this much rain.  More rain is expected today and a slight risk for severe weather this afternoon.

[Clinton]

Seeing pictures of Sulphur Oklahoma and it's devastating.  Sadly at least 1 person has died and the town is just flattened.

[Andie]

The images of Elkhorn, Nebraska are jaw dropping.  Everything just torn apart as if a bull dozer driver through the neighborhoods.  
I don’t know how people get through something like this.  

[Tom]

I was just gonna say, I flipped on TWC and he was saying there were Zero fatalities in Elkhorn, NE.  It is amazing to hear that wonderful news after seeing that devastation.  Can you imagine being in a basement and your house blown off the foundation?  God Speed to all of those who were effected.

[Hawkeye]

We are actually getting some decent light to moderate rain this morning as the wave that clobbered Missouri is lifting far enough nw to get us under the rain shield.

[Hawkeye]

I got an ok 0.33" this morning.

[Hoosier]

Been rainy, but boring locally on the severe front.  

[Iceresistance]

I am alright, but my god

[Bryan1117]

Definitely a historic and unforgettable storm system for Eastern Nebraska… thankfully my neighborhood came away relatively unscathed from Friday’s severe weather outbreak. We did receive very beneficial rainfall of 1.30” as well… easily the most rainfall in my backyard from a storm system in over a year (if not longer than that).

[Clinton]

Yesterday's storm reports. 

[hawkstwelve]

A very wet, dreary day around here today. We added another 0.71 to bring the 3-day total to 1.84 inches and over four inches for the month so far. I just mowed the lawn about a week ago but it's looking like I'll need to mow it again soon. It's super green and lush.

Pretty dang boring on the storm front but the rain is nice regardless.

[OttumwaSnomow]

Well what a event! The 4 day, 2 system  total is 2.62" nothing extreme. But I had my wettest 24 hr period in 3 yrs. And most amazing I have 7.93" in April and still another chance Tuesday  evening. My wettest  month in Iowa since Sept 2020.. Kiss goodbye  to darn drought monitor!

[Black Hole]

We had some additional storms that brought my 24 hour total up to around 3". The airport did better than me at around 3.5" if I am remembering right. There were several tornadoes east and southeast of me, but Tulsa escaped unscathed. 

[Grizzcoat]

One of 10 tornadoes I saw on 4/26-- the Minden ( well on the ground before) to Harlan,IA may be rated an EF5.

[Grizzcoat]

My crew was 5 minutes behind this footage.

 

[Grizzcoat]

Minden,IA- 5 min after the tornado. (LONG STORY on how we even ended up here)

[Grizzcoat]

Sadly it's been confirmed one person was killed in Minden. From what I saw first hand, that is a miracle.

[Grizzcoat]

Minden,IA tornado close to EF-3 when it entered town but clearly intensified on NE side --- seen in both videos here below.

 

 

[westMJim]

The official H/L yesterday at Grand Rapids was 78/53 there was 0.12” of rainfall. The sun was out 18% of the possible time. The highest wind gust was 29 MPH out of the S. For today the average H/L is 64/43 the record high of 90 was set in 1899 (that is also the record for April and the earliest 90 days at GR) the record low of 28 was set in 1977,1979 and 2012. The wettest was 2.53” in 1909 and that day also had the most snowfall of 2.2” Last year the H/L was 64/40.

[jcwxguy]

A bit of rain alongside with the severe weather. About 3" here

[Stormy]

Last Friday I got 0.41" of rain with another 0.97" over the weekend amounting to a decent 1.38" total. I was expecting at least 2" from what the models were showing, but I'm happy with this. The heaviest rains this spring mostly end up just se. of here it seems, like this morning's event. 

The storm on Saturday evening was a dud for rainfall as it weakened at the last minute and passed just to the nw. But had plenty of lightning and wind with the max. gust to 55 mph.

[Hawkeye]

I got 0.38" yesterday.  My three-day total is 0.64", well below what models were spitting out for days.  As often happens, once the first round of convection misses south, everything goes south.

My April total is 3.26", below the 3.56" average.  There are still areas from sw through ne Iowa that have received less than 2" this month.

[Stormy]

Models still are showing some heavy rains in Iowa for this week, but we'll see how that pans out. Hopefully the driest areas see heavy amounts as some models are showing, but often it's better not being in the bullseye to far in advance. 

[Bryan1117]

2 hours ago, Hawkeye said:

I got 0.38" yesterday.  My three-day total is 0.64", well below what models were spitting out for days.  As often happens, once the first round of convection misses south, everything goes south.

My April total is 3.26", below the 3.56" average.  There are still areas from sw through ne Iowa that have received less than 2" this month.

Barely over 2” for the month here… however this past weekend’s rains really helped save us from a very dry April overall. You are right, it seems like once the first round of convection hits our area - everything after seems to end up to the south and east. Models showed a widespread 3+ inches of rain this time last week for Eastern Nebraska however that pesky drier punch from the southwest (from Central Kansas) reared its ugly head again.

[Hoosier]

5 hours ago, Grizzcoat said:

One of 10 tornadoes I saw on 4/26-- the Minden ( well on the ground before) to Harlan,IA may be rated an EF5.

Wonder if this will be the El Reno tornado controversy all over again.

[Iceresistance]

I don't think I will ever see someone THIS CRAZY in a long time
 

 

[Iceresistance]

4 hours ago, Hoosier said:

Wonder if this will be the El Reno tornado controversy all over again.

The radar beam was a bit elevated, and there is a good chance that either the winds didn't mix down to the surface or the peak winds were over rural countryside

[Hoosier]

22 minutes ago, Iceresistance said:

The radar beam was a bit elevated, and there is a good chance that either the winds didn't mix down to the surface or the peak winds were over rural countryside

I think I saw that the radar beam was about 700 feet above the ground... is that right?

[Stormy]

28 minutes ago, Iceresistance said:

I don't think I will ever see someone THIS CRAZY in a long time
 

 

Sounds like some so-called "newcomers" (I call them illegals) being crazy and not knowing what or how dangerous tornados are or can be!?

[Iceresistance]

3 minutes ago, Stormy said:

Sounds like some so-called "newcomers" (I call them illegals) being crazy and not knowing what or how dangerous tornados are or can be!?

I just got more information, turned out he was on the way to check his family when that showed up

[Stormy]

My April total rainfall is 5.50". Not sure if I'll add anything to that amount before midnight tomorrow night or not, but probably not as it appears less likely.

[OttumwaSnomow]

2 hours ago, Stormy said:

My April total rainfall is 5.50". Not sure if I'll add anything to that amount before midnight tomorrow night or not, but probably not as it appears less likely.

Im at 7.93" here for April.  I have 3 gages:  coop observer  large metal gage, a cocorahs gage and my Ambient electronic one.  The coop observer  and cocorahs  are usually  identical.. The coop observer  maybe a tic higher  less, maybe  0.5% than the  cocorahs  at times. The ambient is steadily 4 to 6% higher, so i dont document it. But its midnight to midnight and  saves me a trip out in the rain! The ambient is very reliable, except  for dead of winter ice or snow.  But perhaps most confusing  is OTM  7 miles  nw of me is  measured  at midnight  and i measure 7 am. On March 31st just before midnight we had  a torrential  downpour, which went into my April data. Had that went on March data  March would've  been closer  to normal precip. But I continue  to see this oddity that My 2 locations in Wapello  county steadily see much more precip than OTM, and 2 other  friends not far from OTM.   I've  come to strongly believe  that info isn't  accurate!  When I have 3 rain gages over years? Why is OTM  constantly  10 to 20% less?  Possibly  even more in winter  when precip needs melted.?????? Oh and fyi my ambient says 6.98" since April 1st at midnight. 

[Stormy]

17 hours ago, OttumwaSnomow said:

Im at 7.93" here for April.  I have 3 gages:  coop observer  large metal gage, a cocorahs gage and my Ambient electronic one.  The coop observer  and cocorahs  are usually  identical.. The coop observer  maybe a tic higher  less, maybe  0.5% than the  cocorahs  at times. The ambient is steadily 4 to 6% higher, so i dont document it. But its midnight to midnight and  saves me a trip out in the rain! The ambient is very reliable, except  for dead of winter ice or snow.  But perhaps most confusing  is OTM  7 miles  nw of me is  measured  at midnight  and i measure 7 am. On March 31st just before midnight we had  a torrential  downpour, which went into my April data. Had that went on March data  March would've  been closer  to normal precip. But I continue  to see this oddity that My 2 locations in Wapello  county steadily see much more precip than OTM, and 2 other  friends not far from OTM.   I've  come to strongly believe  that info isn't  accurate!  When I have 3 rain gages over years? Why is OTM  constantly  10 to 20% less?  Possibly  even more in winter  when precip needs melted.?????? Oh and fyi my ambient says 6.98" since April 1st at midnight. 

Yeah I was checking the monthly COCORAHS reports yesterday and noticed the Bloomfield area had even higher April rainfall totals, like up to 9"+! My sister in south central KS says they're drying up and I noticed they again missed the recent rains. They're not farmers, but already the other week she said the wheat may be toast er long. 

 

I'm glad to hear that the COCORAHS gauge is nearly identical to the official one because I have two of those and like them. I'm guessing the COOP gauge is more accurate beings it has a larger diameter. I actually have 5 gauges out. Two other small ones always show less unless it rains a lot, like over 1" as they tend to catch up. I like my digital Davis gauge, but it's not consistent and I never fully trust digital gauges. I have a spare older Davis station/gauge and both rain guages had to be adjusted up a bit (calibrated) to match my other gauges. The new Vantage Pro2 has a redesigned gauge so the wind affects the rain less that's entering it. I don't know if the new design helps much. Davis finally came out with a touch screen console last year but it needs to be plugged in an outlet as battery backup won't last long. I'd get one if they'd make it totally wireless like what I have.

Edited April 30 by Stormy

[Stormy]

Maybe this isn't the right thread to post this, but I like how the SPC has upped our storm chances this evening, but the HRRR and several other models want to split the storms north and especially south of eastern Iowa. Hopefully those models are wrong. The warm front has passed through here, but maybe there's a moisture gradient the storms might follow further south. I haven't taken time to read the NWS AFD yet. I see storms are beginning to pop in eastern Nebraska and they could easily dive se. eventually.

Edited April 30 by Stormy

[OttumwaSnomow]

6 hours ago, Stormy said:

Yeah I was checking the monthly COCORAHS reports yesterday and noticed the Bloomfield area had even higher April rainfall totals, like up to 9"+! My sister in south central KS says they're drying up and I noticed they again missed the recent rains. They're not farmers, but already the other week she said the wheat may be toast er long. 

 

I'm glad to hear that the COCORAHS gauge is nearly identical to the official one because I have two of those and like them. I'm guessing the COOP gauge is more accurate beings it has a larger diameter. I actually have 5 gauges out. Two other small ones always show less unless it rains a lot, like over 1" as they tend to catch up. I like my digital Davis gauge, but it's not consistent and I never fully trust digital gauges. I have a spare older Davis station/gauge and both rain guages had to be adjusted up a bit (calibrated) to match my other gauges. The new Vantage Pro2 has a redesigned gauge so the wind affects the rain less that's entering it. I don't know if the new design helps much. Davis finally came out with a touch screen console last year but it needs to be plugged in an outlet as battery backup won't last long. I'd get one if they'd make it totally wireless like what I have.

I had a davis pro for years. Gave it to my son when I sold  him that property.  The solar charger quit and I was constantly  putting batteries  in. I love the ambient console and easy  access of the data. Its been out since nov 2012 with zero issues. And its quite far from the house

[Stormy]

15 hours ago, OttumwaSnomow said:

I had a davis pro for years. Gave it to my son when I sold  him that property.  The solar charger quit and I was constantly  putting batteries  in. I love the ambient console and easy  access of the data. Its been out since nov 2012 with zero issues. And its quite far from the house

Now that you mentioned it, I remember my Davis station also did that, but it was the battery capacitor not holding any charge anymore if I remember correctly,  so I had to replace the whole ISS, or temp/hum. part of the station. Otherwise I had no issues except with the anemometer once in a while, which is to be expected since that thing is constantly going. My first Davis anemometer never quit going (10 plus years) but I could tell it didn't run as smooth anymore, and I retired it since it wasn't wireless. The wireless anemometer I now have is mounted 34'+ up on a windmill. Anemometers from cheaper stations never seem the last long at all. 

Did your anemometer never cause any problems on your ambient?