Parkersburg tornado an EF-5; major flooding in Central America likely from 90E
The tornado that devastated Parkersburg, Iowa on Sunday has now been rated an EF-5 by the National Weather Service. An EF-5 is the strongest possible classification a tornado can receive, and is only given to those tornadoes with estimated winds over 200 mph. The winds in the Parkersburg tornado were estimated at 205 mph. At those wind speeds, total destruction of homes occurs. Even those sheltering in basements are not safe--several of the six deaths from the Parkersburg tornado were from people sheltering in basements.
The Parkersburg tornado cut a path 43 miles long and between 3/4 miles and 1.2 miles wide across Iowa, killing six people, completely destroying 350 buildings in Parkersburg, and injuring 70 people. It was only the second EF-5 tornado this decade in the U.S. The other EF-5 occurred in May 2007, when much of Greensburg, Kansas got leveled. The Parkersburg tornado was the first F5 or EF5 tornado in Iowa since the Jordan, Iowa tornado of June 13, 1976, and was the second deadliest in Iowa since official record-keeping began in 1950. Iowa's deadliest tornado hit Charles City on May 15, 1968, killing 13 while producing F5 damage.
Figure 1. EF-5 damage from the May 25, 2008 Parkersburg tornado. At EF-5 winds speeds (over 200mph), homes are completely destroyed or removed from their foundations. Image credit: Iowa Helicopter. The NWS Des Moines office has posted ground damage photos from their damage survey.
Major flooding likely in Central America from 90E
An area of low pressure (90E) in the Eastern Pacific off the coast of Costa Rica, near 10N 88W, is steadily organizing and appears likely to develop into a tropical depression later today or tomorrow. The National Hurricane Center is currently assigning a "High" probability (>50% chance) that this will be a tropical depression, in its new experimental Tropical Weather Outlook. Satellite loops show that the low has developed a very large and expanding circulation. This circulation is likely to expand across Central America into the Western Caribbean, allowing the storm to tap moisture from the Atlantic and Pacific. Storms that are able to tap the moisture sources of both oceans can be extremely dangerous rainmakers, even if they are weak tropical depressions. Already, 90E is generating very heavy rains in excess of six inches per day near its center. The storm is expected to move northeastward over Costa Rica or Nicaragua by Thursday or Friday, and should being dangerous flooding rains of 5-10 inches to those nations and Panama. Most of the computer model guidance suggests that the storm will then track to the north, spreading very heavy rains across Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Belize, and southern Mexico by Saturday. These heavy rains will cause life-threatening flash flooding, particularly in mountainous regions.
Since 90E is beginning to dominate the circulation pattern of the region, it appears unlikely that a tropical depression will form in the Western Caribbean in the coming week, as some computer models have been predicting. It is possible that 90E could cross Central America and pop out in the Western Caribbean near the Yucatan Peninsula, or in the Gulf of Mexico's Bay of Campeche. However, the crossing of Central America will severely disrupt the storm, and the odds of 90E becoming a depression in the Atlantic basin are low.
Figure 2. Observed precipitation for the 24 hours ending at 12Z (8am EDT) Wednesday May 28, 2008. Rainfall amounts in excess of 2000mm (eight inches, yellow colors) occurred near the center of disturbance 90E off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Image credit: U.S. Navy Monterey.
I'll have an update Thursday morning.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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Thats a real mess in the area of 90E.
Complex upper level winds around there as well.
Still dry at my location, but 1" of rain in Port-of-Spain(the capital city) last night.
Conditions aloft in the Caribbean are clearly improving rapidly and will aid in the potential development of a low in the basin
Link
Are you saying this storm just went from an EPAC system to a SWCARIBBEAN system?
What I said was that the high pressure system that was previously in the EPAC has migrated further East and is now centered virtually in the SW Caribbean. If you look at the link I posted the center of the high is barely onshore Costa Rica and will likely move over water shortly.
The high is NOT 90E
"tropical wave moving across CV Islands along 23/25W south of 18n.......significant deep layered moisture surge extending off Africa to near 30 W.
Scattered showers isolated moderate concentrated south of CV islands from 3-8 n, between 23-33 W."
Looking at the Images for that area, the co-ordinates above are not making sense to me.
Am I reading this wrong?
Any comments please.
Many of us that post here tend to assume that everyone reading the blog understands every term used. That is not the case so you do not have to feel badly about the comment.
Please feel free to raise questions. That is how all bloggers who are not Mets got started.
Wow I feel dumb. Please disregard my previous comments I am very very dumb.
Lol you are not dumb, and I've felt that way many times. A 200mb anticyclone is basically just the high pressure area at about 40000 feet above this whole area.
Wonderful explanation. Real nice........
Well, lets see if it can get to a TS before crossover, theres an Anti-Cyclone waiting on the other side, If it crosses over that is.
Anything interesting going on out there?
Got a slight break in the action at work, so just popping in.
3 Hr TRMM regional
Evening, SJ. 90E has just been redesignated as Tropical Depression 1.
I know a little something about that.
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