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Tornadoes in Ohio and Pennsylvania

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, left) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm, right) images [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed an isolated thunderstorm which produced an EF-1 tornado in northeastern Ohio and 1.0-inch diameter hail in northwestern Pennsylvania during the morning hours on 08 January 2019 (SPC storm reports). (09 January update: a storm survey conducted by NWS Pittsburgh also confirmed an EF-1 tornado with the same storm that earlier produced the 1.0-inch diameter hail)

GOES-16 Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images (below) revealed the broad cyclonic flow associated with a trough of low pressure aloft over the Great Lakes, and RAP40 model fields showed an elongated lobe of 500 hPa vorticity pivoting across Ohio and Pennsylvania. After the initial tornado/hail-producing thunderstorms during the late morning hours, a second round of storms produced additional hail in the afternoon.

GOES-16 Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images, with overlays of surface fronts and NAM40 geopotential height and vorticity [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images, with overlays of surface fronts and NAM40 model 500 hPa geopotential height and vorticity [click to play animation | MP4]



Categories: GOES-16, Severe convection