August 2024 Observations and Discussion

[Clinton]

Big bomb like outflow boundary, giving me a break from the heat.

[Hoosier]

2 hours ago, Tom said:

Lake breeze is showing up and is shifting the winds…dang!

99'd at both O'Hare and Midway.

fwiw, the last time both locations were 99'd on the same day was 7/17/2012.

[Tom]

17 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

99'd at both O'Hare and Midway.

fwiw, the last time both locations were 99'd on the same day was 7/17/2012.

The lake breeze boundary has ignited a lone severe cell right over my brothers house in Lake county.  
 

@Clintonthe group of cells in NE MO looks wild how it just blew up outta nowhere.  Pretty cool to see.  I’m sure those north of it in S IA are seeing som beautiful clouds.  @OttumwaSnomow @Stormy

[Tom]

25 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

99'd at both O'Hare and Midway.

fwiw, the last time both locations were 99'd on the same day was 7/17/2012.

Come to think of it, that brought back some memories of how dang hot that summer was.  Nothing compared to how it’s been out here this summer.  This summer will end up hotter than last year but I think it’s bc of the overnight lows being so much warmer due to increased humidity since June.  Last year was non stop 115F+ days in July and Aug.  June wasn’t at all that bad lag year. 

[Andie]

79*. Some thunder in the distance.   
We received a trace of rain but more chances this week.   
79* at 8pm.  
Tomorrow 96 with a 20% chance of rain.  
Best chance comes Sunday.  
At Last. 

[Tom]

My sister ended up losing power for a couple hours.  She lives right next to Rosemont/ORD.  Pretty strong line of storms sagged south and probably enhanced along the lake breeze boundary.

[OttumwaSnomow]

3 hours ago, Tom said:

The lake breeze boundary has ignited a lone severe cell right over my brothers house in Lake county.  
 

@Clintonthe group of cells in NE MO looks wild how it just blew up outta nowhere.  Pretty cool to see.  I’m sure those north of it in S IA are seeing som beautiful clouds.  @OttumwaSnomow @Stormy

True you are. Got .37" so far and still raining.

[Tom]

This radar loop really shows the lake breeze boundary across NE IL and the way those severe cells blossomed over Chicago...not only that, but how this line of storms developed all across the MW!  Pretty incredible event that manifested last night...N MO/S IA/IL/IN got a good drink from Ma Nature!

https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/current/mcview.phtml?prod=lotrad&java=script&mode=archive&frames=75&interval=10&year=2024&month=8&day=27&hour=15&minute=40

[Tom]

@Hoosier, did you do alright?  @Niko Detroit got hammered also...

[OttumwaSnomow]

9 hours ago, OttumwaSnomow said:

True you are. Got .37" so far and still raining.

Ended up getting .60" more in some other spots.  Absolutely save the 67 deer brassica plots my company planted!

[Black Hole]

73 F here this morning and clear. Still another two hot days before we cool off a bit. Models have backed down on the cool off and amount of rain but some improvement is still likely. Hopefully it won't be as hot as the next 2 days for the rest of the year but I kind of expect at least one more near 100 day. 

[Hawkeye]

Nothing here, as expected.  Thursday is looking a bit iffy.  Models are showing the storms weakening as they move into my area.  After that, the pattern looks extremely dry again well into September.

[Tom]

3 minutes ago, OttumwaSnomow said:

Ended up getting .60" more in some other spots.  Absolutely save the 67 deer brassica plots my company planted!

Well timed!  Those are the best moments when nature delivers the goods...congrats!  @Clinton, how did you do?

My old stomping grounds got hit pretty good with about 1.5" and some decent winds...
 

 

 

 

[Black Hole]

I may try for a new position within the NWS but in Kansas City. If it did work out I'd certainly be getting a climate upgrade with more snow and a little less summer heat. 

[chescowxman]

Today will be our last hot day for a while as many spots could touch the 90 degree mark which for some may be the last one of the season. The cold front will cross the region this evening but stall south of the area and creep back north as a warm front over the weekend. Best chance of rain and some could be heavy in any t-storms looks to be late tonight. Temps tomorrow will be sharply cooler with highs in the 70's...a few degrees warmer but not far from normal temps for the weekend before a turn to cooler again by Labor Day and the new work week.

Chester County Records for today: High 100 degrees at Phoenixville (1948) / Record Low 38 degrees at Coatesville (1982) / Rain 8.00" at Phoenixville (2011)

[Andie]

Our skies a the nearby lake yesterday when the rain moved in. 
Currently 86. 
High of 96. 

[Hoosier]

3 hours ago, Tom said:

@Hoosier, did you do alright?  @Niko Detroit got hammered also...

Did ok, but much better just to my south (1-2" there)

[Clinton]

3 hours ago, Tom said:

Well timed!  Those are the best moments when nature delivers the goods...congrats!  @Clinton, how did you do?

My old stomping grounds got hit pretty good with about 1.5" and some decent winds...
 

 

 

 

I got nothing but a cool breeze lol.  It did make a good lighting show though. 

[chescowxman]

Across all 13 NWS COOP/Airport and MADIS stations across Chester County PA..and also here in EN - all stations through yesterday are running between no less than 0.5 degrees below normal to as much as 2.7 degrees below normal. Below are the averages this month and the negative departure from normal for August.

Atglen 71.6 (1.3) / Chester Springs 71.2 (2.2) / Devault 72.1 (1.7) / Glenmoore 71.6 (1.2) / Kennett Square 71.5 (1.5) / Longwood Gardens 72.2 (1.3) / West Bradford Twp. 71.1 (1.8) / Nottingham 71.0 (2.0) / Warwick Twp 70.3 (2.7) / West Chester 72.0 (2.1) / West Grove 72.4 (1.4) East Nantmeal 71.1 (1.5) / KMQS (Coatesville) 72.4 (0.5) / KOQN (West Chester) 74.1 (2.1) Phoenixville 73.1 (1.8) and Spring City NWS Coop site at 73.4 (1.2)

[Iceresistance]

2 more days until relief arrives for me, maybe some teaser popcorn showers/storms before then

[Stormy]

On 8/20/2024 at 7:55 PM, OttumwaSnomow said:

Here in SE Iowa, Its one of the coolest summers of my life (while in usa). Only maybe 12 90 degree days and zero 100s. In the past 5 yrs very very few 100 days, 2 or 3!! By contrast I saw 30 100 days in 2012 here (unofficial).. We have had many many summer days in upper 70s or low 80s.  Have turned the ac off and opened widow for several  periods of days. Many nites in the 50s to low 60s. You wont see this reported much.

JW, did you live outside of the USA for awhile? I think 2009 summer was quite a bit cooler, but I can't remember when you moved to IA.  I've lived here all my life and most summers don't get to 100⁰, then in certain years it's not uncommon at all.

 

And while I'm posting, and before I forgot again, I had a decent rain of 0.48" last night. When I saw the storms firing in northeast Mo. I figured some of the models were right with everything staying south and thought there's no way that will move north enough to reach here. But lo and behold, it actually propagated up to my area and some heavier cells even passed just nw. of here. That's quite unusual especially with the weak front already having passed through, though it was stalling. So a north breeze shifted to Southwest once the outflow reached here before the storms. There was lots of lightning to the sw and w, but cells weakened till here. With the recent hot weather the lawns are already starting to turn brown. Hoping for more rain with the next system tomorrow night. It was interesting watching the storms spread out in all directions with areas that received storms not usually getting much more after stabilizing the atmosphere as it moved along.

[Clinton]

9 hours ago, Black Hole said:

I may try for a new position within the NWS but in Kansas City. If it did work out I'd certainly be getting a climate upgrade with more snow and a little less summer heat. 

It would be fantastic to have ya up this way.

[jaster220]

@Black Hole Want more snow? = apply for Gaylord

[Iceresistance]

2 hours ago, jaster220 said:

@Black Hole Want more snow? = apply for Gaylord

What about Marquette or Buffalo?

[Black Hole]

59 minutes ago, Iceresistance said:

What about Marquette or Buffalo?

 

3 hours ago, jaster220 said:

@Black Hole Want more snow? = apply for Gaylord

It's a balancing act. My wife wants to be somewhere warm and sunny and I want cold and snowy. Maybe Kansas City is a good middle ground

 

[OttumwaSnomow]

6 hours ago, Stormy said:

JW, did you live outside of the USA for awhile? I think 2009 summer was quite a bit cooler, but I can't remember when you moved to IA.  I've lived here all my life and most summers don't get to 100⁰, then in certain years it's not uncommon at all.

 

And while I'm posting, and before I forgot again, I had a decent rain of 0.48" last night. When I saw the storms firing in northeast Mo. I figured some of the models were right with everything staying south and thought there's no way that will move north enough to reach here. But low and behold, it actually propagated up to my area and some heavier cells even passed just nw. of here. That's quite unusual especially with the weak front already having passed through, though it was stalling. So a north breeze shifted to Southwest once the outflow reached here before the storms. There was lots of lightning to the sw and w, but cells weakened till here. With the recent hot weather the lawns are already starting to turn brown. Hoping for more rain with the next system tomorrow night. It was interesting watching the storms spread out in all directions with areas that received storms not usually getting much more after stabilizing the atmosphere as it moved along.

I began visiting Iowa in 2007. Moved permenantly July 1 2008. When some miss river crossings were closed and yhe des river  was flooding parts of the area bad.  Those wetter summers here 2008 to 2011 were cooler. But this one is "one" of the cooler ones. But this last heatwave now has me close to 20 90 degree days. Lawns in Ottumwa, bloomfield fairfield growing gang busters. Actually a top 5 yr for lawn care. Ive actually  mowed 25 times my big back lawn. This is the fastest I can remember lawns growing the entire month of Aug. We mow 300 acres mostly commercial accounts and with this heat our employees are wearing out!

[OttumwaSnomow]

6 hours ago, Stormy said:

JW, did you live outside of the USA for awhile? I think 2009 summer was quite a bit cooler, but I can't remember when you moved to IA.  I've lived here all my life and most summers don't get to 100⁰, then in certain years it's not uncommon at all.

 

And while I'm posting, and before I forgot again, I had a decent rain of 0.48" last night. When I saw the storms firing in northeast Mo. I figured some of the models were right with everything staying south and thought there's no way that will move north enough to reach here. But low and behold, it actually propagated up to my area and some heavier cells even passed just nw. of here. That's quite unusual especially with the weak front already having passed through, though it was stalling. So a north breeze shifted to Southwest once the outflow reached here before the storms. There was lots of lightning to the sw and w, but cells weakened till here. With the recent hot weather the lawns are already starting to turn brown. Hoping for more rain with the next system tomorrow night. It was interesting watching the storms spread out in all directions with areas that received storms not usually getting much more after stabilizing the atmosphere as it moved along.

@Stormy did you notice all the crazy outflow boundaries Tues eve? First one dropped in from des metro.  Then a boundary pushed north from huge cells to my se. Seemed like to me all the cells that fired up after dark were from those outflows colliding?

[Stormy]

4 hours ago, OttumwaSnomow said:

@Stormy did you notice all the crazy outflow boundaries Tues eve? First one dropped in from des metro.  Then a boundary pushed north from huge cells to my se. Seemed like to me all the cells that fired up after dark were from those outflows colliding?

Yes I was closely keeping tabs on the radar for hours. I thought the boundary advancing southward was the stalling or slowing cool front. We also had a wind shift to the north earlier that forenoon which seemed to be an outflow from storms to the nw. the previous night.

[Stormy]

7 hours ago, OttumwaSnomow said:

I began visiting Iowa in 2007. Moved permenantly July 1 2008. When some miss river crossings were closed and yhe des river  was flooding parts of the area bad.  Those wetter summers here 2008 to 2011 were cooler. But this one is "one" of the cooler ones. But this last heatwave now has me close to 20 90 degree days. Lawns in Ottumwa, bloomfield fairfield growing gang busters. Actually a top 5 yr for lawn care. Ive actually  mowed 25 times my big back lawn. This is the fastest I can remember lawns growing the entire month of Aug. We mow 300 acres mostly commercial accounts and with this heat our employees are wearing out!

Our grass was growing like crazy much of the summer too, but the heat and recent dryness changed that in just the last week. We may have record crop production in my area this year with nearly perfect rains and less heat!

[Tom]

8 hours ago, OttumwaSnomow said:

I began visiting Iowa in 2007. Moved permenantly July 1 2008. When some miss river crossings were closed and yhe des river  was flooding parts of the area bad.  Those wetter summers here 2008 to 2011 were cooler. But this one is "one" of the cooler ones. But this last heatwave now has me close to 20 90 degree days. Lawns in Ottumwa, bloomfield fairfield growing gang busters. Actually a top 5 yr for lawn care. Ive actually  mowed 25 times my big back lawn. This is the fastest I can remember lawns growing the entire month of Aug. We mow 300 acres mostly commercial accounts and with this heat our employees are wearing out!

This is great news and I'm happy to hear the biz is doing well this summer.  I recall reading many posts over the years how bad summer business has been for you.  Nice turnaround...make that CASH!

[Tom]

1 hour ago, Stormy said:

Our grass was growing like crazy much of the summer too, but the heat and recent dryness changed that in just the last week. We may have record crop production in my area this year with nearly perfect rains and less heat!

Great news in the agro world!

[Hawkeye]

We got so much rain in July, my yard was lush and growing like crazy.  August has been very dry, and now my backyard is turning brown and even dying in spots.  I'm going to have to reseed a few areas.

That said, we really hit the sweet spot tonight.  I was hoping the storms would hold together well enough to drop a half inch here.  Well, they not only held together, but they are also training.  I was well over an inch quite a while ago and we have a good shot at 2+" as it's still pouring and there is more moving in from the southwest.  We really needed this because this entire month we only had a bit over an inch.

[Hawkeye]

I finished with 2.41".  The east side of the city may have cracked 3".

[westMJim]

We are now back from our trip to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. We had a rather good time. The city is rather small and is mostly easy to get around in. (the main street is closed for construction) The train trip was nice but long and I can now say I was on a train trip we did get to see two of the 3 waterfalls at Agawa Canyon https://waterfallsofontario.com/black-beaver-falls.php and https://lakesuperiorcircletour.info/location/bridal-veil-falls/ The weather the day of the train trip was cloudy and cool with temperatures in the low 50’s at the canyon and in the upper 60’s at the Sault.

[Tom]

1 hour ago, Hawkeye said:

I finished with 2.41".  The east side of the city may have cracked 3".

That's what I like to hear!  Boom!  Ma Nature delivers timely rains...

 

56 minutes ago, westMJim said:

We are now back from our trip to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. We had a rather good time. The city is rather small and is mostly easy to get around in. (the main street is closed for construction) The train trip was nice but long and I can now say I was on a train trip we did get to see two of the 3 waterfalls at Agawa Canyon https://waterfallsofontario.com/black-beaver-falls.php and https://lakesuperiorcircletour.info/location/bridal-veil-falls/ The weather the day of the train trip was cloudy and cool with temperatures in the low 50’s at the canyon and in the upper 60’s at the Sault.

You must have had a good taste of Autumn up there!  50's and clouds certainly would put me in the mood.  Glad you enjoyed your trip.

[bud2380]

I had 2.75” in my gauge this morning. My brother in Marion said he had 3.1”. Gonna be a soggy morning in the golf course. 

[chescowxman]

Some spots picked up a little rain last night and overnight. Here in East Nantmeal we picked 0.17" since last evening. Some additional showers are possible this afternoon but our best chances of rain are tomorrow night with the cold frontal passage. Temperatures today will remain below normal in the low to mid-70's. We warm to near normal both Saturday and Sunday before a sharp turn to below normal temps by Labor Day. Many of the lower spots will see low temperatures again in the 40's by Tuesday AM. High Temps for the first week of September will remain in the low to mid 70's.

Chester County Records for today: High Temperature 102 degrees at Phoenixville (1953) of note both Coatesville and West Chester also both exceeded 100 degrees to close out the last 2 days of August 1953/ Low Temperature was a chilly 34 degrees at Phoenixville (1986) / Rain 5.04" at Kennett Square (1911)

[Niko]

Hope everyone had a great summer.

Came back from Greece yesterday. I was there for the entire summer season. I also have tons of pics that I want to share. Jet lag is definitely going on, which usually takes a week to ease. Weather in Greece was very hot and sunny everyday. At some point, temps in Athens went slightly over 110F during that intense heatwave back in July. Even the islands were hot. Andros island peaked at 103F, which is rare, but does happen. I went to couple of islands (Tinos, Chios, and mostly stayed in Andros). We had a couple of fires as well (and this one was not too far away from my house, but luckily the crew did a great job and put it out quickly.) There was also one in Athens, Rafina, just recently in mid August. Scary when you see them closeby.

Anyway, looking forward to this autumn and winter season. La Lina??? I think I like this. I have a lot of catching up to do here in this forum.

[Niko]

On 8/28/2024 at 8:15 AM, Tom said:

@Hoosier, did you do alright?  @Niko Detroit got hammered also...

I didnt find anything broken here at my house luckily but was told by my neighbors that winds were the main concern here and not a lot of rainfall. Sirens were going off too. LOL. 70+mph winds were reported. Thankfully, I had my garbage bins securely inside my garage.

[Tom]

53 minutes ago, Niko said:

Hope everyone had a great summer.

Came back from Greece yesterday. I was there for the entire summer season. I also have tons of pics that I want to share. Jet lag is definitely going on, which usually takes a week to ease. Weather in Greece was very hot and sunny everyday. At some point, temps in Athens went slightly over 110F during that intense heatwave back in July. Even the islands were hot. Andros island peaked at 103F, which is rare, but does happen. I went to couple of islands (Tinos, Chios, and mostly stayed in Andros). We had a couple of fires as well (and this one was not too far away from my house, but luckily the crew did a great job and put it out quickly.) There was also one in Athens, Rafina, just recently in mid August. Scary when you see them closeby.

Anyway, looking forward to this autumn and winter season. La Lina??? I think I like this. I have a lot of catching up to do here in this forum.

Nice to see ya back in biz...I thought of you once or twice this summer as I was scrolling through my apps & TV when saw those wild fires in Greece.  It was a pretty toasty one down in southern Europe.  Enjoy the well-timed cool down this weekend and into next week.  SEP is looking golden for comfy temps and not really any signs of late season heat.