By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
A severe weather threat exists for our area during the overnight hours. According to Todd Holsten, one of the Lead Forecasters at the National Weather Service Office in Northern Indiana, our area may see damaging winds and heavy rain tonight.
Holsten explained that night storms are different. In many cases, storms start to lose their energy at night as the heating cycle cools off. Even so, our area has a good chance of seeing winds in excess of 60 MPH. Holsten also explained that chances are high for our area to see a lot of rain. “With this system, given how warm and moist it is, we could see exceedingly high rain rates at 2-4 inches per hour. Areas near and at the Ohio-Michigan State line could see a fair amount of rain after 11 p.m.”
As of right now, storms are expected to begin forming ahead of a “Bow Echo” line. A “Bow Echo” is “an arched/bowed outline of thunderstorms, sometimes embedded within a squall line. Bow echoes, most common in the spring and summer, usually are associated with an axis of enhanced winds that create straight-line wind damage at the surface.
In fact, bow echo-induced winds/downbursts account for a large majority of the structural damage resulting from convective non-tornadic winds. Transient tornadoes also can occur in squall lines, especially in association with bow echoes. These tornadoes, however, tend to be weaker and shorter-lived on average than those associated with supercell thunderstorms.”
Storms ahead of this line could be strong. Holsten further explained that the highest threat for our area tonight will be damaging winds and rain, with tornados being a minimal threat. He did however stress that, while this threat may be minimal, there is still a chance and people should be ready just in case.
Currently, the storms heading our way are producing 100 MPH winds and are damaging homes. These storms are expected to enter into our area sometime between 11:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m.
Be sure to have more than one way available to receive weather alerts. A weather radio with batteries is recommended, along with a charged cell phone.