The Sierra Nevada got it’s first taste of snow this last weekend. I noticed a dusting on the Mammoth Mtn Cam Sunday morning. They also had their first hard freeze of the season with higher elevations getting well below freezing this morning. Looks like the rest of the week will be nice with Sierra temps ranging from the high 60′s to high 70′s.

It’s a great time of year to go hiking in the mountains. Temps are decent, the mosquitoes are gone and after next weekend, the crowds will be gone. One of my favorite days to go to Yosemite Valley is the Wednesday after Labor Day, you get the whole valley to yourself.

BEHIND THE FRONT…MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED THIS
WEEKEND. HIGH TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY WILL BE IN THE 50S AND
60S…WHICH WILL BE 30 TO 40 DEGREES COLDER.

IN ADDITION…SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AS THE LOW
SETTLES OVERHEAD LATE SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY. WITH THE COLD
TEMPERATURES…SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE SIERRA ABOVE 9000 FEET
THIS WEEKEND. ANYONE PLANNING TRAVEL IN THE HIGH SIERRA THIS
WEEKEND SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR WINTER-LIKE CONDITIONS.

Talking snow levels in August, very interesting.

——————————————————

• Total days with measurable precipitation: 9
• Total precipitation for the month: 6.85 inches
• Highest one day rainfall: 2.31 inches
• Highest temperature: 92.4
• Lowest temperature: 49.2
• Average High temp: 82.49
• Average Low temp: 65.29
• We had three days with a high temp of 90+, seventeen days of 80+ (Remember I live right along Lake Michigan. Highs in the upper 80′s are rare here.) Add in dew points that were in the upper 60′s – low 70′s for most of those days and it was pretty miserable at times.
• Had 4 nights where the low temp was 70+, the highest low temp was a sticky 75.5
• 2 Tornado Watches
• 3 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings

All in all it was a warm, sticky, sweaty month with only a few days of relief  from the humidity. Interestingly the mosquitoes weren’t that bad. I guess they decided to wait until August because they are horrible right now.

Currently we are enjoying a break from the humidity. Yesterday we had a high of  82, but the humidity was only 49% leading to a very pleasant day. This shows that it’s not the temperature, but the humidity that make it so uncomfortable. We are looking for the same today and tomorrow, then the humidity returns next week along with a chance of storms.

It had a diameter of 8 inches and weighed in at just under 2 pounds! The one category it didn’t set a record in was circumference. That was set in Aurora, NE back in 2003 by hail measuring 18.75 inches in circumference.

More details about this record breaking hail will be given in the forthcoming NOAA press release.

If you’d like to see the storm that produced this monster check out this link: http://www.chasethestorms.com/Other/Spring-2010/12006343_P5snn#951969823_xmqsk-A-LB

———————————

(Updated at 3pm CST)
Here’s the press release from the NWS. Check out the link at the bottom for more detailed info on the storm and photos.

South Dakota Storm Produces Record Hailstone
NOAA’s National Climate Extremes Committee, responsible for validating national weather records, has declared a hailstone found last week in Vivian, S.D., to be the largest in diameter and heaviest ever recovered in the United States.
Found after a July 23, 2010, severe thunderstorm by Vivian resident Les Scott, the hailstone is 8.0 inches in diameter and weighs 1.9375 pounds (1 pound, 15 ounces) with a circumference of 18.62 inches.

These measurements displace the previous hailstone record for weight, previously 1.67 pounds for a stone in Coffeyville, Kan., in 1970. They also surpass the record for diameter, which was 7 inches for a hailstone found in Aurora, Neb., in 2003. The Aurora hailstone still holds the record for circumference of 18.75 inches.

“I’m just glad nobody got hurt and hope the town will recover soon,” Scott said.

David Hintz, warning coordination meteorologist at NOAA’s Aberdeen weather forecast office said a local power outage likely led to the hailstone melting some before it could be measured. “Mr. Scott told me the area was littered with large hailstones and the largest had a greater diameter when he first found it. He immediately stored it and several others in his freezer, but a power outage caused some melting.”

After getting Hintz’ notice of a possible record hailstone, personnel at National Weather Service Central Region headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., requested activation of the National Climatic Extremes Committee to examine and judge Scott’s hailstone. Personnel from the Aberdeen office traveled to Vivian to measure and weigh the hailstone, and then turned their findings over to the three-person committee. After a thorough review of the facts, committee members certified its record-breaking status.

Information about the National Climatic Extremes Committee and existing weather records may be found at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/ncec.
If you would like to learn more about this record event, please go to: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/abr/?n=stormdamagetemplate

The Sierra Wave reports that the largest fire began Saturday near Bridgeport. As of yesterday it was at 686 acres in size and 70% contained. There was also a fire south of Mono Lake that was 100 acres in size and caused the closure of Highway 120 East. Most of the other fires were small in size and quickly put out.

There were also some flooding problems in Mammoth Lakes with a couple homes and some businesses being affected. Much of the flooding had to do with drainage issues the town is having.

On a non Sierra thunderstorm note,  here is a link to some photos of what could be the largest hail stones ever recorded. It fell in South Dakota on Friday, July 23rd. These are amazing! http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=abr&storyid=55671&source=0

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:50:00 -0500Wisconsin Emergency Management
Dept. Of Military Affairs

Contact: Lori Getter
(608) 242-3239 or Jerad Albracht (608) 242-3215

News: Situation Report #4 on Severe Weather, July 23, 2010
Date: July 23, 2010 – 10:40 a.m.

OVERVIEW – Latest damage reports as of 10:40 a.m.:

Milwaukee County – County Executive Scott Walker signed a Proclamation of Existence of a County Emergency at 10:30a.m. Several roads closed due to flooding in the City of Menomonee Falls, City of Delafield and the Town of Vernon.

City of Milwaukee – Milwaukee received 8in of rain on the north side and 6in of rain on the south side. There were 2,000 calls for backwater in basements, 144 incidents of surface/street flooding and 50 lids were blown off sewers. At Oakland and North streets a manhole cover collapsed, which caused a sinkhole. There were 70 EMS calls, 122 fire calls and the dive team was out all night. There was a lightening strike to one house and a lightening strike to 2 people. All beaches are closed through Sunday. There were 500 police calls – one was to evacuate 100 people from a Country Inn and Suites as the water went over the first floor and surrounded the hotel. There are two shelters open – one at GlenHills Middle School (which sheltered 89 people last night), and the other at 26th and Wisconsin (which sheltered 10 people). To get a clean-up kit or to report basement water backup call 414-286-CITY.

Washington County – Sandbagging is occurring in the following areas: Little Cedar Lake, Druid Lake, Friess Lake.

Crawford County – Highway 82 bridge over the Mississippi now open.

Southeast Wisconsin – WE Energies confirmed they have approx. 7616 customers without power.

The above map is a preliminary outline of the rainfall amounts that fell across South Central and Southeast Wisconsin on Thursday July 22nd.

A persistent band of strong to severe thunderstorms developed Thursday afternoon and lingered over central sections of South Central and Southeast Wisconsin through the evening hours. WIdespread 3 to 4 inch amounts were reported along and either side of the I-94 corridor…with locally higher amounts of 5 to 8 inches. Widespread reports of flooding and flash flooding associated with the heavy rain were received across southern Wisconsin…sending rivers and streams above flood level…with water flowing over roads and stalling cars. Traffic was stopped on various stretches of I-94 through downtown Milwaukee at the height of rush hour….stranding motorists in their cars until the waters receded enough for traffic to move again.

Mitchell Field recorded 5.61 inches for the day…breaking a record for the date. The previous record was 1.26 set in 1948. This also is the second highest daily rainfall total on record for Milwaukee. The greatest one-day precipitation record was the 6.81 inches which fell on August 6, 1986.

Madison also set a record for precipitation for the date at 3.61 inches. This beat the previous mark of 2.21 inches set in 1885. The 3.61 inches ranks 13th for the most precipitation in one day. The record is the 4.96 inches which fell on August 8, 1906.

The above map will be updated in greater detail after co-operative observer reports come in later this morning.

I ended up with a 24 hour total of 2.5 inches here at the house.