Saturday, December 02, 2006

Summerlike Weather in December

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.
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