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September 12, 2005
:: Sirens of Perspective
Minneapolis radar 9/12/05 at 10:52pm
Well, the civil defense sirens just sounded here in Dakota County, MN. Many people have often wondered why they go off if there is not a tornado warning, or if it is "just" a severe thunderstorm warning. Well, Dakota County is one of those old-fashioned counties in MN, that although they very much are urban (with such upscale bustling communities as Eagan, Lakeville, Burnsville, and Apple Valley), they remain primailly rural with the majority of Dakota Cty's land area comprised of rolling farmland and river valleys.
Moreover, Dakota County has good reason to sound the sirens for a T-Storm Warning, even if for five minutes: a severe thunderstorm warning means that the storm has winds or is capable of producing winds in excess of 58 mph! Now, keep in mind (and in perspecitive) HURRICANE force winds are 75 mph or greater.
The storms rolling across the Twin Cities metro area right now are producing hurricane force winds, with gusts recorded at 80 mph in the NW metro. Sustained winds at the MSP International Airport when the radar snapshot above was taken was 40 MPH. Here is a quick rundown of local storm reports from MPX National Weather Service office...more to come off the wire I am sure as the night wears on:
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..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0820 PM HAIL 4 S DASSEL 45.02N 94.31W
09/12/2005 1.00 INCH MEEKER MN PUBLIC
0823 PM HAIL COKATO 45.08N 94.19W
09/12/2005 2.75 INCH WRIGHT MN LAW ENFORCEMENT
0823 PM HAIL COKATO 45.08N 94.19W
09/12/2005 2.50 INCH WRIGHT MN TRAINED SPOTTER
0825 PM HAIL RAYMOND 45.02N 95.24W
09/12/2005 1.75 INCH KANDIYOHI MN AMATEUR RADIO
ON WEST SIDE OF RAYMOND.
0830 PM HAIL 1 SE COKATO 45.07N 94.17W
09/12/2005 2.00 INCH WRIGHT MN TRAINED SPOTTER
0838 PM TSTM WND DMG RAYMOND 45.02N 95.24W
09/12/2005 KANDIYOHI MN LAW ENFORCEMENT
POWER LINES DOWN IN TOWN.
0905 PM TSTM WND DMG DELANO 45.04N 93.79W
09/12/2005 WRIGHT MN PUBLIC
SHED BLOWN APART IN FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP OUTSIDE OF DELANO
0915 PM TSTM WND DMG BUFFALO 45.18N 93.87W
09/12/2005 WRIGHT MN TRAINED SPOTTER
30 FOOT TREES 8 INCHES IN DIAMETER BLOWN DOWN
1010 PM FLASH FLOOD MONTICELLO 45.30N 93.80W
09/12/2005 WRIGHT MN FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
5 TO 6 FEET OF WATER OVER ROADWAYS
1010 PM FLASH FLOOD BUFFALO 45.18N 93.87W
09/12/2005 WRIGHT MN TRAINED SPOTTER
WATER 14 INCHES DEEP IN DOWNTOWN BUFFALO
1023 PM FLASH FLOOD 3 SE ST CLOUD 45.52N 94.13W
09/12/2005 SHERBURNE MN AMATEUR RADIO
STREET FLOODING EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER ON THE EAST
SIDE OF ST CLOUD
1034 PM TSTM WND DMG CORCORAN 45.12N 93.59W
09/12/2005 HENNEPIN MN PUBLIC
WINDOWS BLOWN OUT
1015 PM TSTM WND DMG GREENFIELD 45.10N 93.70W
09/12/2005 HENNEPIN MN TRAINED SPOTTER
DAMAGE TO HALF A HOUSE
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So, perspective? Hurricane Ophelia is churning currently off the coast of North Carolina, and is expected to make landfall by Wednesday evening. Although she is waffling between tropical storm and hurricane status (sustained winds have varied from 65 to 80 mph), she isn't packing much more of a punch than these thunderstorms. As evidenced above, although no tornadoes have emerged from this line of weather, flooding, wind damage, and large hail (2" hail...um, that's the size of an apple) have given MN residents a taste of severe weather usually seen in June...except it is September. The only difference between residents of MN and residents of NC is the absence of an ocean. Hurricanes (as evidenced by Katrina) cause storm surge, which brings much more destructive potential.
I am glad they sound the sirens. I would like some fair warning when there might be storms approaching that caused damage to half a house, uprooted more than 50 large trees, downed power lines, and dropped fruit-sized hail.
Posted by pierre at September 12, 2005 10:59 PM
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