Upcoming May Heat Wave Could Bring An Odd Weather Record

Like yesterday, more comparison photos. One of my frozen gardens
in St. Albans, Vermont on May 9, this year.,.........

Kudos to WPTZ-TV meteorologist Tyler Jankoski, who alerted us to one of those weird potential records that fascinate us weather geeks.

This is Vermont, afte rall, so there's been measurable snow in Burlington during several Mays in the 128 years of weather records there.

There have also been several Mays with temperatures of 90 degrees or hotter. But those two things have not happened during the same May in this past century and quarter.

Until likely this year. Barely, though.

On May 9 this year, 0.1 inches of snow accumulated at the official National Weather Service site in South Burlington. Now, there's a decent possibility that temperatures in Burlington could reach 90 degrees Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday and Thursday. That would be a new one for May!

I've been comparing this month a lot to May, 1977, when basically the same thing happened. It snowed in most of New England that year on May 9 - the same day of the month it snowed this year. However, Burlington only received a trace of snow in May, 1977, so it wasn't measurable there.

Same garden this morning as we ramp up toward 90 degree
heat later in the week. 

By May 21-23, 1977, the temperature was in the low 90s.  It was only one of two official May heat waves in Burlington. (It's officially a  heat wave in these parts if the temperature is 90 degrees or warmer on three or more consecutive days).

And on May 23, 1977 the temperature reached 93, to establish an all-time high temperature for the month of May.  That record was subsequently tied in 2017.

It's unclear whether we'll get three days in a row with 90 degree temperatures this upcoming week. It's even more doubtful we'll get to 93 degrees or past that, but you never know.

However, it's amazing how weather has repeated itself so precisely in May, 1977 and 2020.

I'm not sure I'm loving the idea of such hot weather already. Sure, I detested the snow earlier this month and have really enjoyed the sunny, warm, but not hot conditions over the past week.  It will turn more humid during the upcoming hot spell as well, so it will be uncomfortable.

Fortunately, it looks like we'll continue the pattern of May, 1977 this year. That year, in 1977, high temperatures cooled to the 60s and 70s during most of the final days of that month. Longer range forecasts suggest the same will happen this year.

Not that history will keep repeating itself - it probably won't - but the subsequent summer of 1977 was for the most part coolish except for one week of exceptional heat in mid-July that year.

UPDATED: Tornado Magnet Moore, Oklahoma Hit Again On Wednesday

Tornado damage in Moore, Oklahoma
on Wednesday via @RebeccaFox25 on Twitter.  

(Editor's Note: This is the Thursday morning update of a post released at 9 p.m EDT Wed)

A tornado caused quite a bit of damage in Moore, Oklahoma Wednesday evening.

If Moore, Oklahoma and tornadoes sound familiar to you, it should. Three massive  and unusually strong tornadoes, two of the the strongest possible, have hit the community in the past 16 years.

Wednesday's tornado wasn't as strong as a tornado can get, but early reports indicated there is a fair amount of damage in Moore, but unlike the other three tornadoes, it doesn't look like vast stretches of Moore have been obliterated.

There are reports of injuries, but so far no super bad injuries or deaths in Moore. We do know an elementary school roof was ripped off, many homes were damaged, vehicles were overturned on highways and thousands have no electricity, reports Reuters. 

Tornado debris in Sand Springs, Oklahoma Wednesday
evening. Photo by Joey Johnson/Tulsa World.  

Televison reports showed dramatic footage from a helicopter depicting a swirl of dust and debris with the tornado in Moore, with dozens of power flashes as the twister's winds broke electrical lines and transformers.  

You can see of of those videos at the bottom of this post.

Other towns in the Plains were hit Wednesday by severe storms and tornadoes, too. At least one damaging tornado touched down near Tulsa, Oklahoma for instance.

At least one death has been reported at a mobile home park in Sand Springs, OK, and there have been in at least 15 injuries with this tornado and severe weather outbreak.

People had to be rescued from a gymnastics studio in that town when the tornado collapsed the structure. Sixty people were in the studio when the tornado hit, but none of them were injured, says Reuters.

As of early Thursday morning, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center had received eight reports of tornadoes, 31 reports of wind damage and 122 reports of large hail.

The high number of large hail reports isn't a surprise. Forecasters had expected this severe weather outbreak to be mostly a damaging hail event. The number of damaging tornadoes is, to me, a bit of a surprise with this one, though.    

Scary storm clouds menace Tulsa, OK. Wednesday.  

Today, there is a marginal risk of a couple strong to severe storms right along the East Coast from North Carolina to central New Jersey. There won't be nearly the number of severe reports as there was yesterday.

There also might be a few severe storms in the southern half of Florida on Friday. No widespread severe weather outbreaks are forecast at least into the middle of next week.

MOORE IN PERSPECTIVE

I don't think there's any town in the world that has been hit as often and as hard by tornadoes as Moore, Oklahoma. The chances of this happening are incredibly small. 

A mammoth EF5 tornado, the strongest possible, destroyed a big chunk of heavily populated Moore in May, 2013, killing 24 people.

Another EF5 tornado hit Moore in May, 1999. It was the strongest known tornado ever measured, with winds as high as 318 mph.

Yet another severe tornado hit Moore hit Moore in May, 2003. This one was a borderline EF3/EF4,. Not as strong as the other two, but still among the nastiest you can get.

Four videos of the storms next:

Here's some of that dramatic video from a helicopter as shown on News9 in Oklahoma City as Wednesday's tornado toucned down in Moore.



Here's some storm chasers that got too closer to the tornado in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. Extra demerits to them for parking under an overpass.  Some people think it's safer parking there in a tornado but it's actually especially unsafe, because the underpass accelerates wind and debris.

The video was shot by a tornado chasing group called Basehunters, and they're usually pretty good. There might be some extenuating circumstances or they accidentally got caught at the overpass.

Here's the vid:



Next, from Stormchasingvideo.com, we have more images of the Sand Spring, Oklahoma tornado, along with incredible views of wall clouds and severe weather in and around Tulsa. Turn down the volume for this because there's a lot of wind noise. Unavoidable, because, duh, it's windy near tornadoes:



Also from Stormchasingvideo.com, we have this video of tornado damage in Moore, and big hail.