08-17-09 Lightning

Cluster of rain approached from the southwest, shortly before it reached us it became electrically active. Again as the storm grew closer we spotted another shelf cloud. this passed overhead but luckily it was the eastern edge of the cells and we got little rain and lots of lightning as the cell passed about 4 miles west of our location.

08-15-09 Lightning

Small pop up storm developed over eastern Fayette county around 9:45 pm This storm spit out a few decent air bolts before it fell apart as it drifted northward.

8-11-09 Midnight Storms

After 11 pm a small cell developed over northwest Fayette county and drifted to the southeast with clear skies ahead of it there was a good photo op for lightning . a few pictures came out well most were in cloud flashes in the mid levels of the storm but a couple were cloud to air discharges. when the storm passed over it did have a shelf cloud associated with it.

08-10-09 Lightning

While in the north end of Lexington with a great view some storms moved into the area just before sunset and lasted till it got dark. managed to capture a couple shots of lightning after dark and a very weak shelf cloud before the sun set.

08-04-09 Severe Storms

Thunderstorms rolled across the area today bringing damaging winds and heavy rains along with very intense lightning. Around 245pm Severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Fayette county, By this time we were already set up at a great spotting location on the Fayette/Jessamine county line, At first the sky didn't look much different from any other storm but when the shelf cloud came into view we knew it was more than we expected. the shelf drew closer and we could make out significant lowerings behind it. Then off on the horizon we could see the advancing rain as more and more of the details of the horizon vanished. After the shelf rolled overhead, we observed what looked like a gravity wave about 2 miles behind the leading edge, this is the area that several funnels were seen, none became anything significant.

It was around this time a car pulls up behind us and out steps Bill Meck, WLEX Channel 18's Chief Meteorologist. (One of the best met's Turns out hes on vacation and had a chance to enjoy the storms in person rather than being in the studio during them. We chatted a few minutes and said our goodbyes as the precip started to reach us..

When the rain hit it came down hard and fast , within minutes streets were starting to flood over, As we headed back for the house bri decided to check something out near his house and WOW, looked like a small waterfall pouring out from behind his yard, water was a few inches deep about 10 ft wide and was moving very fast.

Probably due to a storm drain back there being clogged.

Power outages, Flooded and closed roads and tons of lightning strikes were common around the Lexington area this afternoon... with the front hanging around the region well just have to wait and see what we get tomorrow....

Until next time












































1.5 inches of rain in less than an hour caused excessive runoff issues across the county






Radar @ 2:55 Pm


Base Velocity Radar @ 2:55Pm



Radar @ 3:14 Pm

07-25/26-Storms

On this day storms seemed to want to bypass Lexington, We had a storm go over at around 7 am after that storms went all around us..... Until.... Around 7 pm a couple cells developed to the west over Anderson county and we decided to intercept them as they crossed into northern Jessamine co. Looking for the golf course we ended up punching the core on the way back north. found a place on Harrodsburg road that offered a good view. There was some heavy rain and a bit of lightning. nothing spectacular. After that cell moved on we went back to Lexington for a few hrs to monitor a line of storms near Louisville..

As the line grew closer we could see it was going to affect the northern scott county area, so we took off for scott county to put ourselves just south of the storms, This didnt work out too well since the storms started to expand and other small cells developed across the area as well.

After not finding a good spot to shoot from it was decided to head back south to northern lexington, we figured that should be well out of the precip... again that didnt work, we set up in the back part of Masterson station park, watching the intense flashing coming from the northwest and west, after about 20 minutes or so we spotted the shelf cloud cresting the horizon. It was a fast mover and its outflow winds were roughly between 35-45 mph. Again to get out of the precip we headed south again. What a drive.... very intense rainfall water covering roads and the constant flashing of lighting made the drive south interesting... We got to our spot on west reynolds rd where we have shelter from the rain and we set up there and spent the next couple hours there shooting and running video. Lots of lightning but not much that was photogenic.

Between storm cells we spotted what at first looked like a large tornado on the ground... It wasnt, but will be what i will class as a scudnado, Low level moisture condensed into a fog like area which was being pulled upwards and rotating in 4 discreet columns before it dissipated a few minutes later. was a strange and very interesting feature i have not seen before.

All in all it was a really great storm.....

Note: between 2.5 and 3.5 inches of rain fell during this storm



Intercepting Afternoon Storm in Jessamine County


Intercepting Afternoon Storm in Jessamine County


Rain Core passing just to our southwest


Cell heading off to the east



Intense Storms as seen from Masterson Station Park



Intense storms from Masterson Station Park


Just before the shelf cloud (Masterson Station park)


Shelf Cloud approaching Masterson Station






Strange rotating mass of scud, At one point there was 4 columns of rotating scud...
As seen from West Reynolds rd.

July 10, 2009 20th anniversary of the Watertown Tornado of 1989

Map of the tree fall path from July 10,1989 Connecticut.


Map and wind speed estimates (F-Scale from Bantam)


Bantam Ct July 10,1989


Cornwall Ct July 10 1989


Crystal Rock Water plant Watertown Ct July 10,1989


Watertown Ct July 10,1989


Exchange Place (South Main @ The Green) Waterbury Ct July 10,1989


The Green, Waterbury Ct July 10,1989


East Main St, Waterbury Ct July 10,1989


Beacon St, Waterbury Ct July 10,1989








July 10, 1989 Photo of a street in Hamden Ct

On this day or should i say yesterday 20 yrs ago one of the largest tornado families moved across western Connecticut, I am lucky to be one of those who was in the storm and got to witness first hand the power of an f-4 tornado up close and personal...

Now that im in Kentucky i have yet to see a storm with such power. and on this day 20 yrs later mother nature decided to give me a reminder of the past. Granted it wasn't anything really severe but it did have a bit of rotation to it.