May 2006 National Storm Summary


NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY

MAY 2006

7th-13th...Hailstones as large as an inch in diameter fell Tuesday in
parts of the South while wind gusting to more than 60 mph damaged trees
and structures. Severe thunderstorm warnings or watches were issued in
much of Mississippi. Elsewhere, thunderstorms moved slowly through the
northern Plains and dropped heavy rain across northern Michigan.
Moderate to heavy rain hit coastal New England, where dense clouds
combined with northeasterly winds off the ocean kept temperatures in
the 40s.
Authorities went door to door in a search for victims Wednesday after
twisters ripped through rural North Texas overnight, reducing homes to
concrete slabs and killing at least three people. At least 26 homes
were destroyed. Ten people were hospitalized and dozens of others were
treated at the scene for minor injuries
Tornadoes swept through rural North Texas after dark on May 9. The
storm reduced houses to bare concrete slabs in a path of destruction
that left three people dead and 10 injured, officials said. An elderly
couple were found dead in a destroyed mobile home in Westminster, about
45 miles northeast of Dallas, Collin County Fire Marshal Steve
Deffibaugh said. He said a 14-year-old was found dead in a home in
neighboring Grayson County. "It sounded like a regular thunderstorm,
then it went crazy," said Cathy Dotson, who huddled on the floor of her
Westminster home with her grandchildren when the tornado hit Tuesday
night. "I could actually feel my house move." Christy Adame, who lives
a half-mile from the home where the elderly couple died, took shelter
in a closet with her husband and two sons. When they emerged, she found
her horse barn gone, one of her horses in a tree and the smell of
propane so strong _ and the risk of an explosion so high _ that
officials would not let a neighbor shoot his suffering
cow, which had been impaled on a two-by-four. Deffibaugh said the
twisters took Westminster's residents "by surprise, totally unaware."
The community of about 420 has no sirens, and the tornadoes hit too
fast for the county's emergency telephone-notification system to
respond, he said. National Weather Service meteorologist Alan Moller
said at least two tornadoes hit. "I think it was the first tornado that
killed three people," he said. "Then there was a larger tornado after
that that probably did extensive damage." The damage track was
estimated at a half-mile wide and 6 to 7 miles long. Storms also raked
Arkansas early Wednesday, toppling trees, damaging roofs and downing
power lines. Students at a Little Rock junior high school were
evacuated to a high school next door after a tree fell near fuel tanks.
A FedEx truck was blown into the median of Interstate 530.

14th-20th...Emergency crews used boats to rescue people trapped in
their homes and sewage systems overflowed Monday as rain pounded New
England for the fourth straight day in what could prove to be the
region's worst flooding since the 1930s. The National Weather Service
predicted that rain totals could hit 15
inches in some places by Monday afternoon. In the Merrimack Valley,
north of Boston on the New Hampshire line, the Merrimack and Spicket
rivers overflowed their banks and forced the evacuations of hundreds of
people. Firefighters warned roommates Erica Digaetano, 22, and Kelly
Malynn, 23, to leave their first-floor apartment in downtown Haverhill.
Water had filled the basement up to the ceiling and was still rising.
Tens of millions of gallons of sewage spilled into the Merrimack River
after pipes burst in Haverhill on Sunday, and millions more poured from
a treatment plant in Lawrence after floodwaters knocked it out of
service Monday. Emergency crews took to flooded streets in boats and
used bullhorns to urge people to leave their homes in Lowell.
Forecasters said the river could rise past 60 feet by Monday night,
putting it at more than 8 feet over flood stage. In Wakefield, MA,
about 15 miles north of Boston, Ralph Tucci watched nervously as
shallow water in the front yard lapped near his front door.
In New Hampshire, more than 600 roads were damaged, destroyed or under
water. Gov. John Lynch said his own front yard in Hopkinton had become
a pond. The raging Merrimack threatened historic mill buildings in
downtown Manchester. The buildings now house a wide assortment of
businesses, restaurants and shops. In Nashua, the overflowing river
reached a condominium complex that is normally several hundred feet
from its banks. Firefighters rescued about a dozen people and their
pets by boat. Flooding forced the evacuation of St. Paul's School in
Concord. Floodwaters hit some dorms, the library, the health center,
post office
and performing arts center at the exclusive prep school, which has
students from around the world. In southern Maine, fast-rising
floodwaters forced scores of families to flee homes near the Mousam
River. Kayakers paddled down a main street in York Beach, where
firefighters in a boat went building to building to make sure that
propane tanks were shut off. State officials said their chief concern
was potential damage to two dams along the rain-swollen Salmon Falls
River in Lebanon, where two areas were evacuated as a precaution.
Former President George Bush and his wife arrived at their summer home
in Kennebunkport, Maine, over the weekend, but the house was
unaffected, said Jean Becker, Bush's chief of staff.
A funnel cloud was spotted over part of northern New
Jersey on Friday morning, the National Weather Service reported.

Nancy Figuera, a meteorologist based in Upton, NY, said trained
spotters first observed the cloud over Elizabeth, but no touchdowns
were reported. Once a funnel cloud touches the ground, it is considered
a tornado. "We've had no reports of wind damage to be associated with a
tornado," Figuera said.
She said the cloud went over a high school in Elizabeth before
traveling north to nearby Bayonne. Mark Smith, director of police in
Bayonne, said the department received several phone calls reporting a
funnel cloud about 10:30 a.m. Beth Polera, who works at the site of a
former military ocean terminal
in Bayonne, said at about 10:30 a.m., the sky seemed to open up. "The
sky was a funny green-yellow color," she said. "We had hail hitting the
windows for a good five to 10 minutes and then it just stopped. The
hail was maybe a quarter inch."
A low pressure system located in the Great Lakes sparked showers and
thunderstorms from the Northeast and Great Lakes southward to the
Southeast and Tennessee Valley. Severe thunderstorms brought hail,
gusty winds, and locally heavy rainfall to the region. Golfball size
hail fell in Hamburg, New Jersey, with a measured wind gust of 65 mph
in New Bern, North Carolina. Skies were partly cloudy with dry
conditions in the Deep South. Across the central region, scattered
showers and thunderstorms along a stationary front in Kansas began to
dissipate during the afternoon, then redeveloped in Missouri and
Arkansas. A warm front brought scattered showers and a few
thunderstorms to the eastern Dakotas, otherwise skies were partly
cloudy across the northern Plains. Showers and thunderstorms developed
in the Nebraska Panhandle and western Kansas by late afternoon. A
tornado was observed in Mingo, Kansas. Clouds increased across the
Texas Panhandle and western Texas during the day, which led to
developing thunderstorms by evening. Across much of the southern
Plains, Lower Mississippi Valley, and Midwest, skies were partly cloudy
and dry. In the West, showers and thunderstorms developed along the
Front Range during the afternoon hours, with additional showers and
isolated thunderstorms over the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies.
Skies over the Great Basin, California, and Desert Southwest remained
partly cloudy to mostly sunny with dry conditions.

28th-31st...Showers and thunderstorms exploded over the Southeast, the
Tennessee Valley, and the lower Ohio Valley Monday afternoon. Some of
these storms were severe, producing damaging winds, large hail,
frequent lightning and locally heavy downpours. In Demopolis, Alabama,
thunderstorms winds threw shopping carts into vehicles, while
quarter-sized hail fell in nearby Talladega, Alabama. Severe
thunderstorms were also observed over parts of the Northeast this
afternoon as well. Strong winds downed trees and power lines in Kings
County, New York, this afternoon. Otherwise, dry conditions were
reported across the remainder of the Eastern Seaboard. In the central
states, showers and thunderstorms persisted over the lower Mississippi
Valley and eastern Texas this morning into this afternoon. A
particularly heavy thunderstorm produced over 3 inches of rain in and
around Houston, Texas, today. Meanwhile, a line of severe thunderstorms
pushed across Minnesota this afternoon, producing large hail and
damaging winds. A 76 mph wind gust was measured at Lyle, Minnesota.
Other storms pushed through the southern Plains this afternoon as well.
Topeka, Kansas reported over an 1.50 inches of rain as thunderstorms
pushed through the area this afternoon, while severe thunderstorms
produced wind gusts to 66 mph and hail up to the size of quarters
across northwestern Oklahoma. Otherwise, dry conditions were reported
along most of the northern and central Plains states.
Afternoon isolated showers and thunderstorms developed over the
Tennessee Valley, Appalachians, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic on Monday.
Golfball size hail fell in Julian, West Virginia. A cold front produced
scattered showers and thunderstorms from the Northeast and Great Lakes
to the Ohio Valley. A few severe thunderstorms produced hail, gusty
winds, isolated tornadoes, and with locally heavy rainfall. Across the
central region, unsettled weather allowed for scattered showers and
thunderstorms over a large portion of the region. Scattered rain
showers with embedded thunderstorms developed over the Upper Midwest
and northern Plains. Hail fell in Rapid City, South Dakota,
accumulating up to 2 inches deep and stripping leaves off trees. A cold
front pushing through the Mid-Mississippi Valley and into the central
and southern Plains produced scattered showers and thunderstorms, which
increased in coverage during the afternoon. Additional showers and
thunderstorms developed in eastern Texas, with 3 inches of rainfall in
Houston, Texas.

.