1/04/05: NOW: Arizona

[Mike Johnson]

Any western chasers on this? Over a very populated area.
Have not looked at radar yet... just saw the warning on
the SPC site.

Mike

PS: Impressive cell with a good hook as of 5:05 PM. MST.

 

[Susan Strom]

Yes following...tornado warning Maricopa County - will likely stick to the west side Glendale/Sun City. Big cell - golf ball hail. just came in - c ya

 

[Dan Cook]

 

[Anonymous]

Lots of hail and lightening in some cells. Fast moving and more developing south of Phoenix Metro... Right over my home...

 

[Susan Strom]

It was one of the strongest storms we have seen in the last few years. Two areas in PHX metro got warned on for tornado, Glendale/Peoria and North Scottsdale. Both cases were low hanging rotating mesos with powerflashes and damage to rooftiles, trees, landscaping and small structures on the ground (it also decapitated somebody's Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer lawn ornament LOL). Golfball and marble sized hail rained down covering multiple areas all over Phoenix.

John Moore, a chaser who lives in Paradise Valley, once said to me years ago that winter storms in Maricopa County, AZ had the potential even moreso to generate supercell structure than thunderstorms of the summer monsoon. At the time I found that to be a surprising remark (?) but as time went on I realized that he was right about that.

Although the summer monsoon make no mistake can deliver quite the wicked blow, with intense lightning, high winds (100mph can even be dealt out in some desert areas - hundreds of powerpoles lost per summer), damaging microbursts, meso structure and torrential downpours, I understand that there is a piece of the puzzle usually missing during the summer months in Arizona that is required for rotation - the presence of a summer jet to help set things spinning. I'm kind of thankful for that actually, because most of my chasing is done 6pm-2am nightly during monsoon, so it's comforting to me that I don't have to deal with funnels dropping in the dark (that can be a disquieting feeling in the Plains). However, Arizona is not exempt from tornadoes, we can get a few each year.

In any event, things came together yesterday for quite a punch in Arizona, not to mention heavy snow pack in the high country, just 1 1/2 hrs up the road. More is expected, two more storms on deck from what I understand.

 

[Greg Stumpf]

Originally posted by Susan Strom
Both cases were low hanging rotating mesos with powerflashes and damage to rooftiles, trees, landscaping and small structures on the ground (it also decapitated somebody's Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer lawn ornament LOL).

I would call this tornado damage.

 

[Susan Strom]

Tornado damage that says "it's time to take the Christmas lights down" LOL

 

[David Wolfson]

I was watching the radar all yesterday afternoon as the short wave began to kick out. Very interesting. The trof line associated with the vortmax kicked off a string of initially non-rotating but highly sheared discrete Cbs moving northeastward in the upper flow. The low-level circulation over western AZ lagged behind, continuing to draw in a somewhat brisk southeast flow through Phoenix and against the uplands north and west of the city.

As I left work a little after 4:30 the cell most northwesterly in the string started to take on some supercell characteristics on radar to my eyeballs. Some of the updraft structure was visible from near downtown, thirty miles or so southeast. As I watched from the parking lot, it rapidly developed a backsheared anvil with some overshoot [think winter in Arizona -- everything 1/2 size or so, compared to spring plains storms].

For those who know Phoenix, chasing it was out of the question during the afternoon rush without a helicopter. Went to my fixer-upper house a few miles north and turned on TWC just in time for the tornado warning crawl. Traffic helicopter shots and ground reports from a OK chaser on winter break at his mother's home confirmed a small, low meso and occasional power flashes for awhile and sighted funnel clouds. Apparently missing was any suggestion of an RFD to get it really cranking -- thank goodness!

 

[Verne Carlson]

This must have happened on the Jan 4th not Jan 6 as the topic suggests - is that right?

 

[Susan Strom]

1/4/05 yes - evening rush hour metro PHX

 

[Larry J. Kosch]

Fix the Headline!!

For heaven's sake, fix the headline of this forum topic before another "too dumb to look at a calendar" person come along and ask about the wrong date on this forum. HUH?? Thanks. LJK.

 

[Verne Carlson]

Re: Fix the Headline!!

Originally posted by Larry J. Kosch
For heaven's sake, fix the headline of this forum topic before another \"too dumb to look at a calendar\" person come along and ask about the wrong date on this forum. HUH?? Thanks. LJK.

rhetorical question - "a rhetorical question is one asked solely to produce an effect (especially to make an assertion) rather than to elicit a reply"

 

[David Wolfson]

Looks like a possibly rotating storm sw of Kingman, right now.