OT: Big storm coming

Submitted by 1464 on

Not sure that this is particularly topical, but from what the news is saying, the storm rolling through today will be pretty severe.  Some are speculating it will be the worst storm of the year for the Michigan and Ohio region.  May want to text your families to put the grills in the garage and whatnot.  Be prepared to duck and cover, many will likely lose power for a while as well.

They're calling it a Derecho, which has very strong straight line winds.

/knowing is half the battle

MGoShoe

June 12th, 2013 at 11:32 AM ^

...was crazy powerful. Not looking forward to a repeat performance. Difference is that when the storm came over the Appalachians (sorry everyone), it hit a ridiculous heat source. Temps were still close to 100 that night and it really fueled the storm as it hit the DMV. Since it's not as hot today, I'm hoping for a much smaller event. 

ILMichFan70

June 12th, 2013 at 10:33 AM ^

For the Chicago area they are talking about baseball size hail, flash flooding and even tornados. Hopefully it won't be as bad as what they're saying but they are expecting it to hit here at some point this afternoon and then into the evening. I know I definitely won't be out then.  

What will make it bad once I am home is that I have Directv and the Hawks are playing tonight.  More than likely I won't be getting any kind of signal if its bad during the game because of the rain and wind.

MikeCohodes

June 12th, 2013 at 10:59 AM ^

I have Dish Network, and my signal too goes crappy with storms like this. Not looking forward to the drive home from work in it either, hopefully it comes late tonight through Chicago.

**EDIT:  I checked weather.com and lucky me, this is supposed to hit right at rush hour. With luck though it will pass through before the Hawks game starts, but it's supposed to clear up by 9 so at least I should have signal back by the end of the game.

Yinka Double Dare

June 12th, 2013 at 10:49 AM ^

And most bars use satellite as well, so parking myself at a bar probably won't really help.  Missing a bunch of a Cup finals game would suck.

Of course, the really big disaster is if there's a massive power outage.  I'm sure United Center has backup generators, but I'd assume it wouldn't be enough to run everything necessary for a Stanley Cup game?

ILMichFan70

June 12th, 2013 at 11:02 AM ^

What I had to do the last time that there was bad weather and I was trying to watch a game was to stream the game from my iPad through my Apple tv. Directv offers "live tv" on their app so I was able to play the game on the iPad and then stream it through the Apple tv to my tv.  Worked great until the weather got better and I could then watch it through the Directv. Also there is an NBC app that I have on my phone which has been showing all of the games so if for some reason the Directv app didn't have the game streaming I could use the NBC app instead.  A couple options in case of bad weather is nice.

True Blue Grit

June 12th, 2013 at 10:35 AM ^

southern Michigan in the earlier 2000's (can't remember exact year).  They move very fast compared to most storms.  So, you need to keep an eye on the radar and don't get fooled into thinking "oh I have at least an hour to do something outside or run an errand".  It's not worth being caught out in it.  That particular storm sheered off about a dozen power line poles near us and caused an outage that lasted several days.  Hopefully, this storm will be nothing that bad.

meddler

June 12th, 2013 at 10:41 AM ^

Oh, goodie. The entire contents of my garage is currently loaded onto 6-foot racks and tarped down in my backyard in preparation for a new garage floor installation. What's worse - the broad side of the racks face, you guessed it, west.

Z

June 12th, 2013 at 11:34 AM ^

If it is a derecho, brace yourself.  We got one here in central Virginia last summer and we had 100+ mile an hour winds for about 10 minutes, then it was gone.  The damage was catastrophic, though.  Nobody had power for 3 days, and many people in rural areas didn't get it back for a week and a half.  

 

Do anything you can to prepare

MGoManBall

June 12th, 2013 at 11:41 AM ^

One thing that's good is that last year's derecho was hardly talked about until it already started doing its damage.

Now the thing hasn't even developed yet and there are already warnings out for it. 

Science, man.

LSAClassOf2000

June 12th, 2013 at 11:47 AM ^

The proud few who worked for Detroit Edison in 1980 and are still here still talk about the infamous "Green Storm" here, which was the derecho event that impacted SE Michigan in July of 1980. NWS Story here. According to this, the green color was from the low reflective angle of the Sun because it was relatively early in the morning when the storm hit. 

It did a lot of damage around Ann Arbor and from about Canton in Wayne County southward. Several portions of the Edison service territory were without power for up to 10 days as a result. Gusts within the storm were reported anywhere from 100 to 150 MPH supposedly.

Adjusted for inflation, the four-state rampage of this event totalled over $1 billion in damage stricly from straight-line wind damage, according to one report on derechos. 

MichiganStudent

June 12th, 2013 at 12:00 PM ^

I'm driving back from Cleveland to Ann Arbor after work today. Approximately 530 departure. I drive a 2012 Honda Civic, should I be okay?



Just looking for some tips or advice from the MGoMasses



Thanks in advance!

1464

June 12th, 2013 at 12:03 PM ^

The fact that there may be golf ball sized hail means that when this hits, you'll not want to be driving.  Busted windshield for sure if you are.  As far as the winds, from what I can tell the big risk is falling limbs and trees.  I'd guess that farmland would be relatively safe?  I would avoid being out in it, though, if it were me.

TTUwolverine

June 12th, 2013 at 2:10 PM ^

The worst weather will likely stay south of the Ann Arbor area... but if you live in Eastern Iowa, Northern Illinois (including Chicago), Northern Indiana and NE Ohio, get ready for some nasty straight line winds. The worst tornado/hail threat will likely be across eastern Iowa and NW Illinois, and earlier in the afternoon, since storms will probably turn into a line quickly after they form... something that isn't great for tornadoes.

StephenRKass

June 12th, 2013 at 5:33 PM ^

It is 4:30pm, and is getting dark quickly. Thunderstorms are forecast to begin around 6:45pm. I wouldn't mess around with loose patio furniture, etc. It is a coming.

backtoblu

June 12th, 2013 at 6:00 PM ^

Ha.  We JUST had sod laid in front of house this morning/afternoon.  The guys were gone when I got home around 5:30, but I'm assuming/hoping rain is good for it and this worked out beautifully.

backtoblu

June 12th, 2013 at 6:00 PM ^

Oh and thanks OP.  I just ran outside to put our deck chairs and grill in the garage (better safe than sorry).  I ran about 100 feet and got completely soaked.  Had to towel off inside.

UMgradMSUdad

June 12th, 2013 at 7:47 PM ^

One of my colleagues used to work in the news industry, and she said around the newsroom they used a term to describe the meterologists and weather reporters when they got excited about extreme weather: a weather woody.  

backtoblu

June 12th, 2013 at 9:37 PM ^

.... we haven't had a drop since about 15 minutes after my above post.  I chose to run outside in the only, what, 10 minutes of rain we've had all night. 

 

I'm an idiot.

UMgradMSUdad

June 12th, 2013 at 10:59 PM ^

Is it just me, or does it seem to anybody else that meterologists have invented at least a half dozen words in the past few years just to make storms sound more dangerous and exotic.