Latest news with #TreyFulbright
CBS News
6 days ago
- Climate
- CBS News
40 years ago, a tornado outbreak killed 75 people in Pennsylvania
It's been 40 years since western Pennsylvania endured one of the worst tornado outbreaks ever to hit the area. On May 31, 1985, over the span of nine hours, more than 40 tornadoes touched down in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario, Canada. Half of those tornadoes hit western Pennsylvania. The worst included four F-3 tornadoes, including one that tracked 39 miles through Beaver and Butler counties. Four F-4 tornadoes hit Crawford, Erie, Forest, Mercer and Venango counties. And the strongest and deadliest tornado of the outbreak was an F-5 that tracked from Ravenna, Ohio, 47 miles to Wheatland in Mercer County. Eighty-nine people were killed in the outbreak, with 75 of those lives lost in Pennsylvania. More than 1,000 people were hurt. The tornadoes caused $600 million in damage. How did the 1985 tornado outbreak happen? An unseasonably hot and humid air mass flowed northeast from the south during the morning and midday hours of May 31, 1985. This fuel was able to keep building through the afternoon because of a strong cap or lid of warm and dry air in the middle of the atmosphere. By early evening, the cap ferociously broke open as a strong cold front and jet stream winds moved in from the west, resulting in rotating storms that produced dozens of strong to violent tornadoes. To mark 40 years since that devastating outbreak, KDKA First Alert Meteorologist Trey Fulbright put together a series of stories as a way to remember the victims, the survivors and the resilience of so many local communities. You can watch the full video in the player above.
Boston Globe
16-05-2025
- Climate
- Boston Globe
Rare ‘dirty rain' traced to desert dust 1,600 miles away gets swept up in New England storm
The dirty rain in Maine came from desert dust that had hitched a ride on strong winds out west, more than 1,600 miles away. 'It's kind of cool to think it was transported hundreds of miles across the country' to the Northeast, said Christian Bridges, a meteorologist at WGME-TV in Maine. 'This phenomenon has been seen in the Midwest many times during big storms when dust from the Southwest gets caught up in storm systems, especially in the winter. It's more unusual that the dust made it all the way to New England.' Anybody else notice that the rain we got Friday night/Saturday was full of dust and dirt? All the cars are caked in it! — Christian Bridges 🌩️ (@ChristianWGME) Advertisement Using NOAA's Hysplit model, which simulates the paths of air parcels, meteorologist Trey Fulbright traced the cloud of dust to the Southwestern United States. 'I used a backwards trajectory to see where the air parcels came from,' said Fulbright, a meteorologist at KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pa. Satellite images show that powerful winds kicked up the dust across parts of New Mexico and west Texas on April 17. At the time, winds were gusting to 65 miles per hour in Roswell, New Mexico. The dust was swept up to an altitude of about 10,000 feet, below the level of rain clouds, as it was carried off. Advertisement A satellite image showing the dust cloud moving from the West. NOAA The trajectory of the dust cloud as created from NOAA's Hysplit model. Trey Fulbright These tiny particles, while managing to travel hundreds of miles, 'moved quickly. Dust that left the Southwest the evening of April 17 made it to Portland by the 19th. That's less than two days,' Fulbright said. So when the precipitation fell over portions of Maine on April 19, 'the rain kind of grabbed the dust as it was falling and brought it down to the ground,' Bridges said. It's a reminder that what happens in one part of the country can quite literally land on another — car hoods and all. 'On that night of April 18 into the 19th, the rain was fairly light, so that allowed the dirt to get stuck to cars and other surfaces and not get washed away,' said Bridges. To survive such a transcontinental journey, scientists said, the particles need to be small enough to fight the forces of gravity so they stay suspended in the air. 'Smaller particles — less than about 2 microns — can stay aloft in the atmosphere for a week to 10 days, sometimes longer, before settling,' explained Joel Thornton, an atmospheric science professor at the University of Washington. To put that into perspective, 2 microns is about 1/50th the width of a strand of human hair and so small that a single red blood cell is about four times larger. These tiny particles become cloud droplets, but even then, they are too light to overcome rising air. 'Cloud condensation nuclei are usually the smaller particles because they're more numerous. One droplet forms on each nuclei, but it takes many merging to create a raindrop big enough to fall,' Thornton said. Advertisement Chris Gloninger is a meteorologist and a senior climate scientist at the Woods Hole Group.
CBS News
24-04-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
A warming climate increases the likelihood of high intensity rainfall events. Here's how it impacts Pittsburgh.
The earth continues to warm at an alarming rate. The World Meteorological Organization confirmed that 2024 was the warmest year ever recorded based on six international datasets. Out of the many consequences of a warming climate, one major concern is the increasing frequency of high intensity rain events. Researchers at Climate Central say the change in hourly rainfall rates in Pittsburgh has increased 28% since 1970. Pittsburgh is number 11 out of 12 on a list of larger cities that have seen the greatest increase in rainfall intensity rates between 1970-2024. How does a warmer climate contribute to higher intensity rain events? KDKA-TV First Alert Meteorologist Trey Fulbright met with Chris Gloninger, a meteorologist and the senior scientist at the Woods Hole Group, based south of Boston. Gloninger says the main idea behind a warmer atmosphere and heavier rain stems from the Clausius Clapeyron equation. "Essentially, for every 1 degree of warming, Fahrenheit, that you see, the atmosphere holds 4% more moisture. What you see is heavier rainfall rates — more rainfall falling inside that one thunderstorm, a coastal storm, or a hurricane like a Harvey or a Florence that holds a lot more water and breaks all kinds of rainfall records." Pittsburgh's terrain, soil type make rain events more dangerous Gloninger says places like Pittsburgh don't have incredibly porous soil, which doesn't allow for efficient absorption of rainfall. The pitch and angle of the region's terrain also enables it to run off faster. Not only is soil type and terrain a risk factor, but Pittsburgh's aging infrastructure adds to the risk as well. Gloninger says the area's aging stormwater systems are being overwhelmed by extreme rain events and that they are not designed for the recent rainfall rates. How to protect your home from heavy rainfalls There are some measures people and business owners can take to protect themselves. First, make sure your home or business is covered by flood insurance. Second, remove debris from drainage areas. Third, consider raising utility equipment in your home or business that could be damaged by flooding. Finally, watershed restoration and green development may be necessary measures used to combat flooding risks in the future.
