Joplin, MO Tornado...Another EF5

The latest storm survey from the local NWS office in Springfield, MO has rated the Joplin tornado an EF5 with winds in excess of 200 mph. The death toll continues to climb, and at last report Tuesday evening 122 lives were claimed by this tornado. The Joplin tornado is the deadliest since modern recordkeeping began in 1950 and is ranked 8th among the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history.

Radar Image at time of tornado:


Storm Relative Velocity a time of tornado:



For complete information on this tornado and the storm survey CLICK HERE.

Rain Stats

NASA satellite shows tornado tracks

NASA has released satellite pictures that clearly show the tracks of the Alabama tornadoes in late April.  The pictures show lines of scarred earth in the damage paths.

You can see the pictures here:  http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/harvest_tornado.html

Pollen Levels Dropping

One good thing about the frequent rain this weekend is that the pollen count is dropping.  After staying at high levels much of this past week, occasional showers will lower it into the moderate range today.  A cooler, wetter pattern for Sunday will allow the pollen levels to drop into the low category.

As things dry out a bit during the coming week, the pollen levels will begin to climb again.

Heavy Rain Potential

A slow-moving upper level storm system will inch across the area over the weekend into Monday.  This will keep occasional rain and thunderstorms around during that entire period.  Once the low moves south of the area on Saturday, the thunder chances will diminish and the temperatures will turn a lot cooler.  A persistent northeasterly wind flow off the lake will limit temperatures, and some areas will not even break 60° on Sunday.

This slow-moving storm has the potential to accumulate a general 1 to 2" of rain by midday Monday.  However, some isolated storms could produce an inch or more of rain per hour as they travel around 20 mph today.

Warmest Of 2011

The high at Toledo Express Airport hit 87°, making it the warmest day and only the second 80° day of the year.  It was the warmest day since 87° on October 10th.

Temperatures will max out in the low/mid 80s Friday before a much cooler pattern takes shape Saturday through the middle of next week.

T-storm Watch

Severe thunderstorm watch until 7 pm for the following counties: CRAWFORD, ERIE, HANCOCK, HURON, LUCAS, OTTAWA, SANDUSKY, SENECA, WOOD & WYANDOT. Main threat is that isolated storms could produce large hail. Slow-moving storms will drop heavy downpours.

Updates are being posted on www.wtol.com/weather and www.facebook.com/mikestonewtol