Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Midwestern Pressure System Sets New Low; Ruins my Day

♫ I don't know where I'ma going to go when the low pressure blows! ♫
A low pressure system slinking its way across the northern Midwest of the United States has set a new record  as its central pressure is now the lowest on record for a U.S. non-tropical land-based system with a barometeric reading of 956.31 mb 954.95 mb in Minnesota.  To put this into some perspective, a Category 3 hurricane usually has a atmospheric pressure of 964-945 mb, but unlike a hurricane the pressure system does not have a large, warm body of water to feed itself with so it isn't quite the same. 

The center of the storm is off to the northwest of me, and our local barometer is reading 979.68 mb.  The wind is howling, rain is coming down in sheets, and I need to walk the dog still.  Ugh.

Update: Walked the dog.  So at least that is out of the way.

Are you getting slammed by this storm?  Is the weather ruining your day?  If so consider the comment section open for our own private pity party.



Morning Updates
We survived the night here and I took the dog out for his morning walk.  Our yard had a lot of shingles in it, but fortunately they were from the neighbor's roof and not our own.  The wind is still whipping around like crazy, and it is still cold, cold, cold.

The national record of a low of 954.95 mb (28.20") held overnight, though Wisconsin managed to set a state record with 961.06 mb (28.38") at Superior.

The high winds have also knocked out power for about 60,000 people in Northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  The Big Falls Dam on the Flambeau river near Ladysmith, WI, also had a sinkhole developed in an earthen portion of the dam.  Crews are lowering water levels in the reservoir behind the dam to try and relieve pressure on the structure.

Wikipedia is telling me this storm has been dubbed "The Chiclone" because Chicago had some of the worst impacts from the storm.  The name looks to have stuck as several major media outlets are using the term.  It is, in my opinion, a silly name, but I can't come up with anything better.

It doesn't appear that the pressure system has moved all that much since last night.  Appearantly it really likes northern Minnesota.  Eventually, though, it should continue to move north toward Hudson Bay.  

A blizzard warning is in effect for North Dakota, with up to 10 inches was expected in some areas.  Light snowfall is being reported in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, but it is still rain in my neck of the woods.  We probably lucked out that rain was the main form of precipitation with this storm.  Had it been all snow the blizzard conditions would mostly likely have been awful and probably something more akin to the Great Lakes Storm of 1913.


Lake Superior is getting some major wave action from all the wind with 23 foot waves near Isle Royale this morning.  Hopefully no one is out there trying to surf.

21 comments:

  1. i am in VA and it was 80 here today, does not feel like halloween weather...

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  2. Here in Denver, it has been incredibly windy for more than 24 hours

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  3. Came from reddit. This explanation is great! I live in Iowa, so we're getting bad winds, too. Anyways, just wanted to say: good work!

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  4. The weather still sucks at 6:00 Am on Wed. WTF is going on?

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  5. The surfing is great in Michigan!

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  6. O god the weather, it burns. I totally agree this bad weather is ruining my hair-do.

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  7. O god this weather is horrible. Totally agree man, my hair-do is getting messed up.

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  8. isn't the great lakes a good size body of water located close to the system ??

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  9. isn't the great lake located real close to this system ??

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  10. i feel with you! it has been raining here all day long, feels bad

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  11. @Jessie, the Great Lakes are indeed big, but they aren't as big nor as warm as, say, the Atlantic. That said, they do have an effect on the system and do feed it, but the energy they can provide isn't enough to generate a storm as organized as a hurricane. That said, this storm is really well put together, and we are lucky it is dropping rain and not snow. A blizzard from this system would be nasty.

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  12. Man, this weather stinks. I live in Minneapolis and the commute to work sucked. Raining like crazy, temp says 33 degrees outside, and it is windy as heck. I don't mind the cold, but wet and windy cold is just miserable.

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  13. Holy crap! LOOK at that thing! That's nuts.

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  14. Thanks for the blog. I'm in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, at the southern end of Lake Huron, where it empties in the St. Clair River. We had a very windy day yesterday, with only a few rain showers. We are even windier this morning, but sunny. Freighters are anchored in Lake Huron until the wind eases up or changes direction. When there is a strong southerly wind, it pushes the water up into Lake Huron, and the shipping channel is too shallow for the freighters. Hope this wasn't too boring. Thanks again for the info on the barometric reading. Have to get myself a barometer.
    Kathy

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  15. Don from Baldwin twp, MN here. the wind tipped my horses lean too on its back sometime last night. that thing is heavy and I built it on 6x6 skids to drag it around on if needed.

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  16. Been really windy for us here in Grand Rapids, MI. Not much rain though.

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  17. I'm in Ottawa, ON and we are enjoying a CLEAR blue sky with warm temperatures!

    But this bastard is heading for us....

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  18. We were spared any major storm here in Metropolitan Detroit. I still can't believe the contour gradient in this pressure system. I don't look at weather maps everyday, but I've never seen a low pressure system so well defined. Amazing.

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