Nov 17, 2013 Toledo area weather notes

#weather - #storm - #toledo

11:54 a.m. - Airport run today. Left home at 9:25 a.m. Shopped at The Andersons on way home. Arrived home at 11:40 a.m. This morning has been partly to mostly sunny, breezy, occasional light rain. All cloud types at all heights. Temps around 60 degrees.

11:56 a.m. - Currently, the only issues up for Lucas County are a Wind Advisory. A High Wind Warning exists for Fulton and Henry counties from 1:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. A High Wind Warning exists for Lenawee and Monroe counties from 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A Tornado Watch exists for Lenawee, Monroe, Fulton, and Henry counties until 8:00 p.m.

12:03 p.m. - JustaSooner comment at TT made at 9:38 a.m. today: "First wave of storms will be in the I-75 Corridor by 4PM. Main squall line will be moving through 7-8PM."

12:04 p.m. - The Tornado Watch for areas west and north of Toledo is a PDS watch - Particularly Dangerous Situation. It's a rare type of tornado watch issued by the SPC. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/watch/ww0562.html

12:11 p.m. Another JustaSooner comment from earlier today: "Storm motions today are looking to be as expected. Moving generally NE at 55 mph." posted by JustaSooner on Nov 17, 2013 at 09:52:46 am

12:12 p.m. Culling more comments from the TT thread: "First tornado warning of the day to the east of Rockford, IL." - posted by JustaSooner on Nov 17, 2013 at 10:37:29 am

12:14 p.m. - For the severe storms in Illinois this morning, it's possible that the winds aloft are so strong that the winds are shearing the storms and preventing the storms from getting stronger.

12:16 p.m. - I want to clean the first story gutters of the oak leaves that have recently fallen. It's dry out right now. The Noon-time radar shows the closest strong storms in northeast Illinois.

1:34 p.m. - Ravens at Bears game has just now been suspended because of severe weather approaching Chicago. For some moronic reason, the CBS channel is not broadcasting the Browns-Bengals game. I'm guessing it's an asinine NFL rule about a team within the Lions division playing on the AFC channel. But I thought that the local CBS channel was the Browns station.

1:37 p.m. - Players leaving the field in Chicago. Fans instructed to seek shelter. Really dark there for 12:37 p.m. CST. TV crew is showing the sky. Very fast moving clouds. Low, ugly-looking clouds. Maybe they should switch to the Browns game.

1:40 p.m. - so the game switched back to studio. And now they switched to the Jets-Bills game!??? WTF??

1:48 p.m. - The 1:00 p.m. Toledo area airport temps were in the mid 60s. Winds were South at 18 to 28 mph with gusts to 31 to 39 mph. Sky is variable. The sun pops out once in a while, but it's mostly cloudy. Feels like a late March or early April spring day.

1:51 p.m. - Tornado warning for Chicago area.

1:56 p.m. - Tornado warning now for a portion of northwest Indiana. Storms are rapidly moving. Numerous tornado warnings stretch the entire north-south length of Illinois. At least 16 Illinois counties are completely or partially under a tornado warning. And another 16 Illinois counties are completely or partially under a severe thunderstorm warning. Wow. It's definitely a tornado outbreak in Illinois. If the storms are supercells, then Indiana will get walloped too.

2:00 p.m. The wind gusts around our home are howling through the leafless oak trees. Sky is cloudy. A small, isolated cell exists in extreme northwest Ohio. Otherwise, the main line of severe weather is in eastern Illinois near the the border with Indiana.

2:08 p.m. I'm listening to Browns game on AM 850. Occasional static can be heard on the radio. Static began a short while ago.

2:28 p.m. South Bend area under a severe thunderstorm warning. Tornado warnings exist along central part of the border of IL-IN. The northern cells are producing severe thunderstorm warnings now and not tornado warnings like in northern IL.

2:30 p.m. Cells are moving hard to the northeast. The small cell that was in Williams County, Ohio is now located in the Adrian, Michigan area.

2:32 p.m. It appears that southern Michigan and northern Indiana will get hit hard by severe thunderstorms later this afternoon.

2:38 p.m. Sky is cloudy with low clouds and low light in the Toledo area. More like an overcast. Nothing ominous. Storms are well west of Ohio still. The wind does not seem as strong as around 2:00 p.m.