Before he was a household name, David Letterman was a weekend TV weathercaster in Indianapolis. He popularized the phrase “hail the size of canned hams.” Usually hail is compared to coins or fruit, but the National Weather Service is getting creative.
During Monday’s severe outbreak I saw reports of mothball-size (0.7 inch) and egg-size (2 inches) hail. The 3 to 4 inches in diameter, softball-size hail that fell near Waconia hit the ground at close to 100 mph. And the twister that skipped from Casino to Merrifield was a rare “multi-vortex” tornado — one big tornado composed of multiple funnels, all rotating around a common center.
We saw 50s last Friday and we’ll enjoy (?) 90s this weekend, with a side-serving of tornadoes sandwiched in between. Makes sense.
Wednesday looks mercifully quiet, but the arrival of superheated air sparks more roaming gangs of strong thunderstorms late Thursday into Friday night. More downpours are likely. The mercury soars into the mid-90s this weekend, with dew points in the 70s and a heat index over 100 degrees. Enjoy!
