December Waterspout. 12/2/2021

 

    I noticed a colorful sky developing just before sunset so I grabbed the camera and went outside to get some photos.  

  Sure the sunset was picturesque but 10 minutes later after I was back in the house I looked out and noticed a funnel dropping down from the clouds.  It was the first waterspout of the year for me. So I ran out on my deck in my socks to try to capture the rare event. 

   Waterspouts form when cool air passes over much warmer water.  With Lake Michigan at record high temperatures for December waterspout season has lingered past its normal November 30th end. 

   As the funnel drifted south it lined up with the path that setting sun had taken, adding a dramatic color element to the photos.

Triple Digit Weather...The Hard Way 8/10/2021

        Usually when the number 100 enters the conversation in a discussion of August weather, it is in terms of heat index or the actual stifling air temperature.  But on Tuesday evening when a line of thunderstorms crossing Lake Michigan reached the eastern shore it kicked up a 90.6 mph sustained (2 minute average) and a gust of 105.1 mph.  My 3-digit gust even got a mention on the online news site MLive

     My house survived unscathed but the winds took down a couple of my dead trees and up 5" diameter limbs off of some of the live ones.  It also mangled the middle section of the pole that supported my Purple Martin house and tossed the bird house and top 6-foot section of pole a little over 90 feet.

  The next morning I took the photo below, when I had to go to Ludington for a dentist appointment.

  The storm took out power to over half the customers of the company that supplies our electricity.  My power was out for 49 hours, but the standby generator was up to the task.

Lightning over Lake Michigan 4/5/2021

 

  An unexpected thunderstorm woke me up around 5 am today as it rolled in off of Lake Michigan.  The cloud-obscured flashes were nearly continuous before the storm crossed the shoreline.  As the storm got closer the frequency of the lightning diminished but the bolts themselves became visible.

      

   Below the map from Lightningmaps.org shows the strikes in my area during the storm.

The Gales of November Come Early 11/2/2020

 

  Gales weren't exactly predicted, as the forecast was for winds of only 25-35 mph with occasional gusts over 40. Gales are technically winds in the 39-46 mph range.   What I've found out since moving to the lakefront, is that I can usually get winds about 25 mph higher than what is predicted.  Yesterday even exceeded that, when I had a sustained wind of 68.7 mph and a gust of 82.5 mph.   

  I went through the data on my weather station monitor and found between 3 AM and 8 PM, the wind reached 59.9 mph or higher 121 times. Eight of those times were between 70 and 77 mph and occurred between 7:19 AM and 1:45 PM.   But even those were topped by the category-1 hurricane force gust of 82.5 mph that happened at 11:09 AM.  

  I was a couple of hundred miles from home all day but monitored the conditions by computer and an app on my phone.  It would have been stressful to be here to hear the screaming wind as the roof shingles held on for dear life. I did lose a little patch of shingles but I didn't lose a single tree or even a large limb.

Lake Michigan Waterspout 9/28/2020

 

   Last Monday I spotted my first Lake Michigan waterspout.  I was kind of surprised to see the spout because they usually form when cool air passes over relatively warm water.  There was only a couple of degrees difference between the 63 F water and the 60 F air. 

  Later in the week waterspouts were forecasted to be likely on Lake Michigan but all I saw was an early  morning rainbow on Friday.

Sunset and Thunderstorm 8/28 & 8/29 2019

    As beautiful as a sunset can be over Lake Michigan, it got kicked up a notch as recent volcanic activity in western Pacific have infused the stratosphere with sulfurous aerosols which are adding purple and gold to sunrises and sets in the northern hemisphere. 

   Last Wednesday I went down to the lakeshore and unsuccessfully tried to photograph the green flash (saw it but overexposed it) at sunset.  In the twilight aftermath the clouds and sky took on vivid hues to make a great backdrop for two Ludington icons.

The SS Badger and the Ludington Lighthouse

  Tried again for the green flash the next night but it didn't materialize but thunderstorms 50 miles to the south made the effort worthwhile.

Sunday Morning Storm 6/26/2016

   Quite a storm rolled in off of Lake Michigan this morning. I had been watching it on radar in the predawn hours as it was crossing Wisconsin. The storm front held together as it crossed the lake and arrived on the Michigan shore just after sunrise.

Woody Woodpecker shaped bolt

   I took over 1000 photos and only caught lightning on 5 or 6 shots.

Impressive strikes a little too far from the lighthouse

Crop of above photo

Now there's something I can work with.

Right-side crop of previous photo

Left-side crop of same

   The heavy rain held off as I was taking the photos as I only had to deal with sprinkles until the ominous cloud advanced toward the harbor.

   I could handle getting a little wet as I hovered over my camera to keep it dry, but the wind associated with the fast approaching low-hanging cloud started pelting me (and more importantly my camera) with sand, so it was time to pack it up.

Save the Drammatus for your Mammatus

   Last evening a line of intense thunderstorms accompanied by high winds (and even a tornado in Huron County) rolled across Michigan toppling trees and  knocking out power to tens of thousands.  I was awoken from my pre-work nap by my alarm clock as I had slept through the whole storm. 

   Per our evening ritual, I took the dog out to empty his accumulated liquids and solids before he turned in for the night.  When we headed back toward the house, I looked up and saw that mammatus clouds had formed in the wake of the storms. 

   Mammatus aka mammatocumulus (or mammary clouds) are named for their sac-like structures that are said to resemble a cow's utter or human equivalent (Full disclosure - having been strictly bottle-fed as an infant I can only confirm the bovine reference).

. Most clouds form when warm humid air rises and condenses in cooler air.  These clouds on the other hand, develop when cool moist air containing  large drops or even ice crystals descends into drier air. The mammatus phenomena can be a long lasting feature, as it may take a while for the large drops to evaporate.   The common misconception that I had heard growing up, was that they are associated with tornadic activity.  But only times I have seen them were after a severe storm had passed and the dry zone into which they formed had sucked the energy out of the atmosphere.      

Taken from my driveway

   Sensing a rare photo opportunity I grabbed my camera and headed toward the lake shore in the waning dusk.

Stormy Weather

  This morning I headed to the lake shore to try to photograph lightning from an approaching storm.  Not a lot of flashes with the storm but I did get some time-lapse of the clouds and boaters.

Below is a link to a video I uploaded to youtube.  

Stormy Weather 20150718

Photos of the week, Birds, Moon, Jupiter and Waterspout 9/28/2013

Here are a few photos I took from my yard this week.



Red-eyed Vireo

Thick Crescent

Jupiter with four moons

Moon ID photo

Ruby-throated Hummingbird still hanging around

Nashville Warbler

Red-eyed Vireo

Same bird

  The photo below was taken last Saturday from the Point Mouillee Headquarters.  It is a funnel cloud attempting to become a waterspout.

Waterspout Funnel Cloud