Posts

Hail, waterspouts and rainbows all made an appearance today

A developing coastal system produced an array of weather conditions throughout the area today. Beginning in the morning, showers and thunderstorms developed as a result of daytime heating at the surface and cold air moving in aloft. The developing system aided in lift which allowed for these storms to form. The cold air aloft, meanwhile, aided in not only the storms development, but the threat for some hail. As the storms progressed through parts of New Jersey and then out to sea, some low level shear allowed for waterspouts to develop.

When colder than normal air exists in the mid levels of the atmosphere, developing thunderstorms will often produce hail as the ice in the cloud becomes much more thick than usual due to the colder temperatures. This often occurs in the transitional seasons of Spring and Autumn in our area, when cold pools move overhead and the surface can still become unstable.

Meanwhile, scattered showers and storms continued to develop throughout the area during the afternoon hours. Multiple rainbows were seen throughout the area. Currently, a convective system south of Long Island is moving northward toward the Central and Eastern parts of the Island. Stay tuned to our Twitter account for up to the minute information on these storms.

Read more