1988 vs 2006--May and June

[Mike Hollingshead]

Yeah there is no disputing if you count stuff before May in 2006.

 

[cdcollura]

Good day,

If you are all talking about the entire season of 2006, compared to 1988, there is a good chance that SO FAR - 2006 is better, because of the March and April activity as opposed to May 8, 1988 only.

Now, for May and June, ESPECIALLY May 2006, yeah - MUCH worse than 1988. In '88 you at least had May 8 - In May 2006, you had NOTHING (no major / chasing type tornadoes).

I remember Tim Vasquez quoted "1988 is the ashtray of all chase years, plagued by the "death ridge" and moisture problems. Little chasers had any luck, with the only storms weak ones in New Mexico".

I don't smoke, but I sure did not feel like having an ashtray thrown at me in 2006. Well, maybe I should say, "I survived a 1988 like may and I didn't die"!

Congrats to all you others who did too ;-)

Chris C - KG4PJN

 

[Seth Price]

I chase with a crew from Virginia Tech and Pulaski County High School (Virginia). We actually had a few decent storms in 2006, though our only brief tornado intercept was in Durham, NC. We had some good supercells in IL, WI, SD, NE and a squall line mess in IN.

[attachmentid=474]
Maroa, IL, 5/17/06

[attachmentid=473]
Southern WI, 5/24/06

The key this year was making lemonade from lemons and chasing in non-traditional locations. I've chased with this crew for a few years now, and this year holds the records for:

1. Earliest chase (normally we travel for two days, but we had a storm in NC after loading up!)
2. Number of Mississippi River crossings (4 I think?)
3. Shortest trip home after chase (1 day- left from southern IN)
4. Largest amount of chase time spent behind trees (all day in IN)
5. Number of gustnadoes we heard reported as tornadoes (there were several in SD)

Let's hope 2007 has a much better pattern. Getting the storms we did required much more than average forecasting, and it really was picking and choosing, versus the typical dryline panhandle of TX scenario. Good luck to all of you in 2007 (and for the rest of 2006)

73

Seth Price, N3MRA
www.n3mra.com

 

[Jeff Snyder]

This is related to 1988 vs. 2006 discussion...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("NWSFO MPX")</div>

The period of relative calm so far throughout 2006 is very apparent when examining the very small number of tornadoes that have occurred across this region, and more specifically, the NWS Chanhassen County Warning Area. To date, there have been no tornadoes reported in any of the 42 Minnesota counties or 9 Wisconsin counties served by the Chanhassen NWS, and even more striking is the fact that no Tornado Warnings have been issued either. Both of these facts either place this tornado drought near or past record status.

Since 1950, when accurate tornado statistics for the entire United States were first compiled, the farthest into a calendar year that the first tornado was reported in the NWS Chanhassen County Warning Area was August 2nd, 1988, when a tornado touched down in Carver County. If there are no tornadoes reported before Wednesday, August 2nd, the year 2006 will surpass 1988’s record. By contrast, the earliest in a calendar year that a tornado was reported was March 18th, 1968, when a tornado touched down in Watonwan County.
....
When it comes to Tornado Warnings, NWS Chanhassen has already surpassed its previous latest calendar date since 1986 for issuing the first Tornado Warning of the year. Previously, the year 1995 registered the latest date, having issued the first Tornado Warning of the year on June 27th for Meeker County;....[/b]

READ HERE

 

[Dick McGowan]

Well, looks like it broke the curse, although I haven't seen it on SPC's reports as of yet and not very impressive on radar......

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
SOUTHERN LAC QUI PARLE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...
YELLOW MEDICINE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...........LAW ENFORCEMENT
IN DAWSON ALSO REPORTED THIS STORM BRIEFLY PRODUCED A TORNADO.[/b]

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Well, looks like it broke the curse, although I haven't seen it on SPC's reports as of yet and not very impressive on radar......
[/b]

I cursed the near-record!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("MPX NWSFO")</div>

The likely first tornado of the season was reported near the community of Dawson in Lac Qui Parle county on Thursday Night. Confirmation of this tornado will be done during the day on Friday. If this indeed was a tornado, this will end a near record drought for tornadoes across the NWS Chanhassen County Warning Area.
[/b]

Likely Tornado Thursday Night Ends Near Record Tornado Drought