Yesterday I had a rare opportunity to intercept a severe thunderstorm -
In my own front yard! At 4:49 PM CDT the National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for davidson county. Here is the text…
* AT 445 PM CDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THESE STORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 15 MILES WEST OF ASHLAND CITY TO BURNS…MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.
So, I decided that since I would be unable to go mobile with the storm, I would make the best of things. I grabbed a tripod, my anemometer, and a zip tie and marched across the street to Julia Green Elementary to set up the anemometer in the best position to measure windspeed. After I got it set up, I grabbed some rocks to anchor the tripod, and then ran back to the house to grab the camera. I had decided that I would stay and observe the updraft side until the core was near hitting and then I would run back home. May I say that that was the most photogenic storm I have seen to date.
The updraft created a weird coronal phenomenon, and you can see it in the gallery below. The other incredible thing, I experience a true and genuine updraft and it scared me pretty bad… warm and almost hot air started rushing towards the thunderstorm, and the clouds above were extremely turbulent. Some clouds began to weakly rotate, while there was some scud also lifting into the base. Just barely, but enough to keep me on edge and repeating, “I have GOT to get out of here…” It was quite the experience, and one of my favorite storms to date.
I was also able to collect some cool data with the anemometer. It recorded windspeed, barometric pressure, dewpoint, humidity, heat index… you name it, it measured it! There were some very cool things it observed… for example, the temperature rose as the thunderstorm drew near, and dropped 25 degrees once the downdraft hit. Max temperature was 101.8, and min was 75 Fahrenheit. The humidity also greatly increased after the downdraft passed over. Minimum Barometric pressure as the updraft passed was 29.89 inHg, with a max of 29.97. Enough of the data, you all just want the photos =) Have at it!
PLEASE leave your comments below!
