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November weather in the Great Lakes Region

(My Nov 14, 2013 comment in a ToledoTalk.com thread about possible severe weather on Nov 17, 2013.)

Thanks for the heads up. I don't include the 4-plus day convective outlook in my weather web app.

"I don't think it bears reminding of how violent storms can be in November, considering what happened just a few years ago."


November weather in the Great Lakes ...

# - ... when it comes to volatile weather for the Great Lakes region, I believe November is second after the March-April period. Floods, strong winds, heavy lake-effect snow storms, bitter cold, and warm temps are somewhat common occurrences in November. As one weather dude said, it's winter and summer fighting it out.

# - A few Novembers ago, the northeast Ohio snowbelt got hammered with a multi-day lake effect snowstorm that dumped snow amounts that were measured in feet not inches. And we're only a few days away from the four-year anniversary of the deadly tornados that hit western Ohio. In the Great Lakes region, I don't think any other month produces the weather extremes like November. To a meteorologist, November is a fascinating time.


Nov 10, 2002

The Veterans Day Weekend tornado outbreak that impacted parts of northwest Ohio occurred on November 10, 2002.

An F4 tornado hit Van Wert, Ohio, killing two people. November 2012 Toledo Blade story about the 10-year anniversary of the Van Wert tornado.

20 tornado touchdowns were recorded in Ohio on Nov 10, 2002. Here are the ones reported closer to Toledo.

IntensityLocationCountyTimePath LengthDamage
F1E of CygnetWood4:54 pm4.5 miles
F2N of FostoriaHancock, Seneca4:57 pm9 miles
F0SE of PerrysburgWood5:10 pm0.1 mile
F3SE of TiffinSeneca5:15 pm21 miles1 death
F1NW of MillburyWood5:19 pm0.5 mile
F1FremontSandusky5:20 pm3.5 miles
F2Port ClintonOttawa5:30 pm10 miles
F1W of NorwalkHuron5:42 pm7.5 miles

(Prior to 2007, the National Weather Service used the Fujita scale to rate tornadoes. Now they use the Enhanced Fujita scale. )


Nov 17, 2013

"Things to keep in mind with these systems. They don't require the same level of heating and instability as Spring/Summer events require because storms this time of the year tend to have better upper air dynamics."

On Nov 10, 2002, Toledo Express Airport recorded a high temperature of 66 degrees.

The current Toledo forecast calls for high temps on Sun, Nov 17, 2013 to be in the low to mid 60s.

While this Sunday may feel relatively nice, the lack of hot weather may be deceiving if all of the other dynamics exist for severe weather. It may not "feel" like a thunderstorm day.

I assume that in 2013, more people have the ability to be alerted to bad weather than in 2002. The Van Wert tornado destroyed a movie theater that was mostly evacuated shortly before the tornado hit.

Tablets, cell phones, apps, social media. Should be no excuse to be somewhat aware today. And being aware does not mean being hysterical. No need to build bunkers nor cancel anything.

Nov 17-18, 2013 forecast

A slight diff in the forecasts between Sun and Mon:

Sunday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Cloudy, with a high near 68. Windy, with a south wind 20 to 28 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Monday: A chance of rain showers before 4pm, then a chance of rain and snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 43. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Since temps are expected to fall all day Monday, temps will probably be in the 30s on Monday afternoon, which will be about 30 degrees cooler than 24 hours earlier.

Tuesday's high temp is forecast to be in the mid 30s.

Toledo's record high temp for Nov 17 is 71 degrees set in 1931.

Current forecast discussion from the Cleveland NWS:

a big change is coming through this period as a november gale develops across the great lakes region over the weekend.
potential still exists at this time that we will likely see at least wind advisories posted for sunday into monday. potential does exist that we will need to go higher with high wind warnings.

cold front sweeps through the area sunday night and the overnight lows could possibly be the high for the day on monday. we should see nearly steady or falling temperatures during the day monday and into monday night.

The SPC's day 3 (Sunday) convective outlook includes all of Ohio and southeast Michigan in the Slight risk for severe thunderstorms.

SPC Day 3 Convective Outlook

Issued on Fri, Nov 15, 2013 for Sun, Nov 17.

spc ac 150830

day 3 convective outlook
nws storm prediction center norman ok
0230 am cst fri nov 15 2013

valid 171200z - 181200z

...there is a slgt risk of svr tstms over a portion of the tn and oh
valleys and great lakes areas...

...synopsis...

a shortwave trough with attendant strong upper jet embedded within
base of the synoptic trough will eject negatively tilted through the
mid ms and oh valleys sunday...reaching a portion of the nern u.s.
toward the end of the period. this feature will induce a sfc cyclone
that is forecast to undergo significant deepening as it moves newd
from the upper ms valley into the great lakes sunday afternoon. cold
front trailing from the low will sweep through the mid ms...oh and
tn valleys...while a warm front lifts nwd through the oh valley and
great lakes.

...oh and tn valley regions...

a strong 50+ kt swly llj will advect partially modified gulf air
with dewpoints in the upper 50s to low 60s into the oh valley and
great lakes region with mid 60s likely farther south across the tn
valley area. the moisture return will be accompanied by widespread
clouds that will limit diabatic heating of the boundary layer in
much of pre-frontal warm sector. moreover...areas of showers and a
few thunderstorms will probably be ongoing over a portion of the oh
valley warm sector. thus the primary destabilization mechanism will
probably be moisture advection...but sfc based instability will
likely remain somewhat marginal /mlcape aob 500 j/kg/...especially
with nwd and ewd extent into the oh valley and great lakes.

nevertheless...the deepening cyclone will be accompanied by an
increase in frontogenetic forcing along the cold front sweeping ewd
through the oh valley. storms may increase during the day along
pre-frontal warm conveyor belt beneath diffluent upper jet exit
region. other storms will initiate along strengthening cold front.
potential will exist for pre-frontal storms to develop supercell
structures given strength of vertical shear and size of hodographs
along llj...but extent of any tornado threat will depend on degree
of boundary layer destabilization. otherwise...storms will likely
evolve into lines along the cold front with a threat for widespread
damaging wind as the activity develops ewd through the oh and tn
valley regions.

...ny and pa...
storms will eventually outpace the moist axis sunday night and
encounter much weaker instability as they approach the nern states.
however...at least a modest threat for isolated damaging wind with
remaining low topped convection cannot be ruled out late this
period.

..dial.. 11/15/2013

click to get wuus03 ptsdy3 product

note: the next day 3 outlook is scheduled by 0830z

#weather - #blog_jr

By JR - 1205 words
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