Memorable weather events / event studies

[Zander98al]

Thought I would make this. Because I always like looking back at rare weather phenomona and events. Thread guidelines I'd like to follow would to be strictly events that inspired your interests in weather or events that directly stand out in your mind and why. And event studies of severe weather events (parameters, radar, damage, etc..). or weather knowledge.

 

[Zander98al]

A event that always stood out and really got me into weather would have to be the January 23rd 2012 centerpoint tornado. Hit very close to home and lifted very close to hitting my house. A school girl from a neibhorhing school was killed by it. Heard the testimony not sure if it was entirely accurate. But the girls father said he was running up the stairs as the tornado ripped off the roof and took her away. It was really chilling learning the next morning of the tornado hitting. Walking outside and finding debris.



https://www.weather.gov/bmx/event_01232012centerpoint

 

[jackendrickwx]

Easy one for me that I’ll always regret not chasing was the Upstate SC LP supercell event of 4/25/2020. Mainly because it’s just so very rare to see this here. Dropped an EF2 tornado near Wade Hampton and there were some wild pics of storm structure. https://www.foxcarolina.com/news/nw...cle_cd632d78-87b0-11ea-8fe6-df5cac1c9c75.html
I don’t have any sounding or model data from that day, but the environment was certainly a rare one.

 

[Zander98al]

Easy one for me that I’ll always regret not chasing was the Upstate SC LP supercell event of 4/25/2020. Mainly because it’s just so very rare to see this here. Dropped an EF2 tornado near Wade Hampton and there were some wild pics of storm structure. https://www.foxcarolina.com/news/nw...cle_cd632d78-87b0-11ea-8fe6-df5cac1c9c75.html
I don’t have any sounding or model data from that day, but the environment was certainly a rare one.
View attachment 83492View attachment 83493View attachment 83494

Amazing pictures. Looks like something you'd see over the plains

 

[Zander98al]

From the centerpoint tornado, the enviroment was your classic higher shear/lower cape winter event. The thing that really hammers home the value of a strong LLJ. was this day pulling in a 1000 cape on a January night with the surface low, if I'm correct all the way in Illinois. 1000 cape on a winter day is technically a lot. Not so much for spring though.

 

[Chazwin]

I would have to say that for it was 3 events major events that occurred in a relatively short amount of time that started me as a weather hobbyist...
1. January 1988 Southeast Winter Storm... one of 3 times that I’ve gotten to experience a 12” plus snowstorm.
2. May 5, 1989 NC Tornado Outbreak... the first severe weather outbreak that I have vivid memories of.
3. Hurricane Hugo in September 1989...obviously for anyone who experienced that night and early morning will never forget the sound of the wind and the constant sound of power transformers blowing out. This is still the only time that I’ve experienced hurricane conditions even though I was 200 miles inland at the time.

 

[Zander98al]

I would have to say that for it was 3 events major events that occurred in a relatively short amount of time that started me as a weather hobbyist...
1. January 1988 Southeast Winter Storm... one of 3 times that I’ve gotten to experience a 12” plus snowstorm.
2. May 5, 1989 NC Tornado Outbreak... the first severe weather outbreak that I have vivid memories of.
3. Hurricane Hugo in September 1989...obviously for anyone who experienced that night and early morning will never forget the sound of the wind and the constant sound of power transformers blowing out. This is still the only time that I’ve experienced hurricane conditions even though I was 200 miles inland at the time.

I've heard a lot about Hugo don't remember what category it was rated though. I remember my parents talking about hurricane opal here in alabama it knocked a few trees down in there yard living all the way in Birmingham. Similar situation like Hugo. I think opal was in 1993...?

 

[Tarheel1]

Hugo and Jan 88 snow! Wil remember those 2 forever! I was in Gastonia for both! And they were less than 2 years apart! Crazy!

 

[jackendrickwx]

I would have to say that for it was 3 events major events that occurred in a relatively short amount of time that started me as a weather hobbyist...
1. January 1988 Southeast Winter Storm... one of 3 times that I’ve gotten to experience a 12” plus snowstorm.
2. May 5, 1989 NC Tornado Outbreak... the first severe weather outbreak that I have vivid memories of.
3. Hurricane Hugo in September 1989...obviously for anyone who experienced that night and early morning will never forget the sound of the wind and the constant sound of power transformers blowing out. This is still the only time that I’ve experienced hurricane conditions even though I was 200 miles inland at the time.

5/5/89 is fascinating to me, probably because of the intensity of the tornadoes being so rare for wrn Carolinas

 

[Chazwin]

I've heard a lot about Hugo don't remember what category it was rated though. I remember my parents talking about hurricane opal here in alabama it knocked a few trees down in there yard living all the way in Birmingham. Similar situation like Hugo. I think opal was in 1993...?

Hugo and Opal were very similar with how far inland the winds spread after landfall. However I think Opal’s significant wind damage inland was aided by the saturated ground from the heavy rains that preceded the storm...though it was still category 3, Opal had weakened significantly in the final few hours before landfall after making a run at category 5 earlier in the day. Hugo hit Charleston,SC dead on as a category 4 and was still strengthening up to landfall, much like we saw with Michael a couple years ago... also he was getting funneled in between an upper low to its west and a ridge to its east and that caused it to rapidly increase forward speed. By the time it was moving into the Charlotte area, it still had winds at category 1 strength and was moving at 40mph.

 

[Chazwin]

Hugo and Jan 88 snow! Wil remember those 2 forever! I was in Gastonia for both! And they were less than 2 years apart! Crazy!

The January 1988 storm is the last time that I’ve experienced heavy snow with temperatures down in the teens... outside of the mountains. The snow was so powdery as it was falling... of course we still managed to switch over to a couple hours of sleet at the end, but that along with the cold temperatures after the storm kept the snow on the ground for nearly two weeks. I would love to experience a storm like that just once more.

 

[jackendrickwx]

I honestly hadn’t realized how impactful 4/16/11 was in NC. This image is terrifying

any of y’all Raleigh folks have stories?

 

[SD]

I honestly hadn’t realized how impactful 4/16/11 was in NC. This image is terrifying

any of y’all Raleigh folks have stories?

I had my final infusion that week Saturday morning in Pinehurst so I was basically living at my parents in Sanford. When we got back my mom wanted to go to Lowes to look at plants since the weather was finally getting warm. I told her maybe we should wait given the potential for severe weather. This was the Lowes not too long after

 

[JHS]

Carolinas Tornado Outbreak: March 28, 1984

www.weather.gov

This is one of the events that got me into weather. This got started about 40 miles to my south and went on all the way though eastern NC.

 

[jackendrickwx]

One that’s been well documented on here (and is the reason I found this site actually) is the winter storm of December 8-10 2018. I will never get over how epic of a screwjob that was here. And yet it was what really got a latent weather interest kicked into overdrive for me. Went to bed on the 8th with GSP calling for 5”, woke up to 2.5” of mainly sleet after it had poured all rain the day before, and it was raining when I woke up. Drove to Hendersonville the 10th to see the ridiculous totals up there which was the most snow I’ve ever seen.

 

[Shaggy]

Carolinas Tornado Outbreak: March 28, 1984

www.weather.gov

This is one of the events that got me into weather. This got started about 40 miles to my south and went on all the way though eastern NC.

Same. The EF 4 with winds if 205mph missed my house by 2 to 3 miles. We found debris fall out as big as car hoods in my neighborhood. My house was where the red dot in the top left is and the eastern pines fire dept that got leveled is the dot on the bottom right dot

 

[Downeastnc]

Obviously Mar 1984 I was in the same house as Shaggy lol, rained shingles and pink insulation and occasional car parts...

Then in Mar 2009 my wife asked me what was falling past the window and I looked and saw 20 ft long strips of vinyl siding falling out of the sky and that is was well very windy....so I stepped out the front door looked to my right and about 150-200 yrds away there was a tornado tearing up trees and a few buildings, needless to say I was like wuuuuuttttttt.....luckily that was as close as it got.

March 27, 2009 Low Topped Tornadic Supercell Event

www.weather.gov

Cane wise, Diana, Fran, Bertha, Floyd, Irene, Matthew were the most memorable....


Finally this event as the parameters were as sick as nearly any other day I have ever seen here....6k plus cape wind destroyed a airport and killed several people from falling trees across the area.....video of it hitting

Derecho July 1 2012

www.weather.gov

 

[Shaggy]

Yeah that July 1st 2012 storm was top 3 worst storms for me. The dust and leaf debris that was flying around was something else.

 

[Tarheel1]

Carolinas Tornado Outbreak: March 28, 1984

www.weather.gov

This is one of the events that got me into weather. This got started about 40 miles to my south and went on all the way though eastern NC.

Suprised you didn’t mention the biblical drought from 2006-2019, Jonesville specific! ?

 

[Tarheel1]

In all seriousness, the tornado that hit my neighborhood in 2016, and missed my house by 75 yards or so, was the scariest weather experience of my life!