12/1/06: DISC: Northeast

[HAltschule]

What a strange weather day for December 1, let alone any other day of the year. Here in Albany we were stuck to the north of a stubborn warm front all day and had temperatues in the low to mid 40's at KALB while reading just 60 miles south were 68/61. You do the math...a 28 degree spread over a short distance. Accordingly, we were socked in with the clouds and light rain all day and cold air damming did its tricks here in the Northeast courtesy of a backdoor cold front.

Interestingly, we had the severe squall line approach our area but it seemed like it was not 100% rooted at the surface. Occasional LTGCG and LTGCC raced into KALB with the line and as the first burst of winds developed with the downdraft of the thunderstorm, temperatures shot up from 41 to 61 in a matter of minutes as the "gust front" and precipitation started. Wow...how strange!! Several loud and close CG's and CC's occurred for about 1 hour afterward that were reminiscent of a summertime squall line. Too bad we couldn't get into the warm sector earlier. Nevertheless, many areas nearby got wind damage as a result of the 70kt winds that were at 1500 feet that got transported to the ground. But 100% of the true jetstream winds never mixed down.

Unfortunately, other areas of the warm sector were primed for severe given the incredible kinematic and dynamic setup and they got smacked with bow echoes and supercells within broken LEWPS...including some that had long lived low and mid level rotation. Here are some of the more impressive reports that stand out. The rotating supercell within the LEWP in Luzerne County, PA was particularly nasty.
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0424 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG ELLENVILLE (ULSTER) NY EMERGENCY MNGR *** 1 FATAL *** TREE BLOWN ONTO HOUSE KILLING INDIVIDUAL.

0452 PM DORRANCE (LUZERNE) PA AMATEUR RADIO ROOF BLOWN OFF FIRE DEPT. POSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGE.

0454 PM TSTM WND DMG 5 S GLEN SUMMIT (LUZERNE) PA AMATEUR RADIO *** 5 INJ *** SUPERMARKET WINDOWS BLOWN IN. HEAVY
BUILDING DAMAGE TREES AND WIRES DOWN. POSSIBLE TORNADO. 5 INJURIES ARE SERIOUS.

0450 PM TSTM WND GST NUANGOLA (LUZERNE) PA BROADCAST MEDIA 76 MPH WIND GUST MEASURED ON PENOBSCOT MOUNTAIN AT ABOUT 2200 FEET ELEVATION.

0455 PM TSTM WND GST AVOCA (LUZERNE) PA BROADCAST MEDIA 66 MPH WIND GUST MEASURED BY WNEP TV 16.

0455 PM TSTM WND DMG MOUNTAIN TOP (LUZERNE) PA BROADCAST MEDIA DAMAGE TO THE ROOF OF CRESTWOOD HIGH SCHOOL. MEASURED WIND GUST TO 65 MPH.

 

[HAltschule]

NWS just confirmed an F1 tornado in Westrmoreland County, PA with a path length of 100 yards. Surveys are continuing for other adjacent areas.

 

[HAltschule]

FYI...

WOW. The NWS has confirmed an F2 tornado with a RARE 15 mile long track in the vicinty of Wilkes Barre, PA (Luzerne County). This tornado was on the ground continuously for 15 miles. While impressive, we must consider that the forward speed of tornado was around 55-65mph. Check out the mention of the 9000 pound rooftop air conditioners being tipped over with the other rooftop units still not found after being blown off the roof. A very impressive event for the Pocono Mountains of PA especially on December 1!!!
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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
540 PM EST SAT DEC 2 2006

...STORM SURVEY TEAM FINDS TORNADO TRACK IN LUZERNE COUNTY...

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM SURVEY TEAM FOUND A 15-MILE
TORNADO TRACK ACROSS LUZERNE COUNTY. PRELIMINARY INDICATIONS ARE THAT THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR HOBBIE IN HOLLENBACK TOWNSHIP LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON DECEMBER 1ST AROUND 5 PM. IT THEN TRACKED EAST-NORTHEAST INTO DORRANCE, BEFORE CONTINUING INTO WRIGHT TOWNSHIP AND FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS.

PRELIMINARY FINDINGS SHOW A CONTINUOUS 15-MILE TRACK LENGTH WITH AN AVERAGE WIDTH OF 150 YARDS. THE PRELIMINARY TORNADO RATING IS AN F2 ON THE FUJITA SCALE OF TORNADO INTENSITY. WIND SPEEDS IN AN F2 TORNADO RANGE FROM 113 TO 157 MPH AND CAUSE CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE.

THE MAJORITY OF DAMAGE ALONG THE PATH HAS BEEN PRELIMINARILY RATED AT F1 INTENSITY. NUMEROUS TREES WERE UPROOTED AND SNAPPED ALONG THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE PATH. IN DORRANCE, THE ROOF OF A FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS PARTIALLY PEELED OFF. SHINGLE AND MINOR ROOF DAMAGE WAS COMMON ALL ALONG THE PATH. MOST OF THE MAJOR DAMAGE WAS CAUSED BY TREES FALLING THROUGH HOMES. TWO TRAILER HOMES, ALONG WITH A CONSTRUCTION TRAILER, WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED BY FALLEN TREES.OVER 100 HOMES SUSTAINED MINOR DAMAGE.

AS THE TORNADO CROSSED ROUTE 309 IN FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, THE INTENSITYBRIEFLY STRENGTHENED TO F2. A ROOF WAS COMPLETELY TORN OFF OF A WELL-CONSTRUCTED HOME AND THROWN 150 FEET INTO A NEIGHBORING YARD. ALSO NEAR FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, CRESTWOOD HIGH SCHOOL SUFFERED MINOR DAMAGE. THE SURFACE OF THE ROOF WAS LIFTED OFF, A LARGE DUMPSTER WAS TOSSED, AND SEVERAL AIR-CONDITIONING UNITS WERE BLOWN OFF OF THE ROOF AND HAVE NOT BEEN FOUND.

THE TORNADO TRACKED FURTHER NORTHEAST AND CAUSED F1 DAMAGE. AT MR. Z'S SUPERMARKET, A 9000 POUND AIR-CONDITIONING UNIT WAS LIFTED FROM ITS BASE AND TIPPED. AT THE SAME LOCATION, A 2500 POUND AIR-CONDITIONER WAS BLOWN OFF THE ROOF AND LANDED APPROXIMATELY 20 FEET FROM ITS INITIAL LOCATION.

THESE FINDINGS ARE PRELIMINARY AND WILL BE UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND AS MORE INFORMATION IS GATHERED.

 

[Saul Trabal]

Hi Howard,

The squall line moved through my area very quickly-it was barely a 10 minute event. There was brief, but extremely heavy rain and intense lightning. It was over almost as soon as it started.

 

[Andrew Sorce]

Any reports from the widespread wind event after the low passage? Buffalo peaked out at 67mph which is always quite respectable. In fact, that may well be the highwater mark for this season's wind events.

 

[HAltschule]

Incidently, the winds behind the front/departing low were gusty here in Eastern NY but prob not higher than 35-40mph. If my memory serves me correctly, the winds behind the system did not live up to their billing.