Winter Storm Bringing Widespread Hazardous Weather to the Eastern U.S.

A rapidly-intensifying winter storm continues to bring heavy snow, high winds, and blizzard conditions over the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes through today. An Arctic front will lead in a period of gusty to high winds and sharply colder temperatures over the entire eastern U.S. Heavy lake effect snow is then expected from Lakes Erie and Ontario through New Year's Day. Read More >

March 23rd, 2011
Severe Weather - Hail and Wind

An upper level jet stream tracking through the Ohio Valley combined with low pressure at the surface to produce severe thunderstorms during the afternoon of March 23rd. Several supercells developed with hail to golf ball size (1.75" in diameter). There were also a few thunderstorm line segments with damaging wind gusts ahead of drier air rapidly advancing from the west. Later in the afternoon, the surface low pressure over northern Ohio pushed a reinforced cold front through eastern parts of the area in the wake of the storms, resulting in some non-thunderstorm wind gusts to 55 mph.

A second round of thunderstorms occurred closer to the main cold front during the evening of March 23rd to just after midnight on March 24th. These storms contained primarily hail with diameters of 0.75"-1".