A powerful Midwestern storm knocked out the power of thousands in Illinois and even tied air traffic in Chicago.
Travis Hartman, energy weather manager and meteorologist for MDA EarthSat Weather Inc. in Rockville, Maryland classified the storm to be the second most severe in that region because of its remarkably low central pressure. This is an indication of the power of the storm, recorded in the Northern Hemisphere around 8:30 a.m. (Chicago Time). Such is the strength of the storm the extremities are difficult to imagine. The same kind of severe weather is expected to prevail everywhere, from Chicago to the Appalachian Mountains.
He also added that the pressure reading was about 28.6 inches. The National Weather Service added the storm will continue at its fullest strength till tomorrow.
The city’s Department of Aviation revealed that Chicago’s O’Hare airport, the second-busiest in the U.S., operated under a ground stop program for an hour through 8:30 a.m. local time, meaning no flights departed. Carriers including United Continental Holdings Inc. and AMR Corp.’s American Airlines cancelled more than 125 flights. The Weather Channel’s website concluded that the wind speed at the airport was about 41 miles per hour.
Andrew Krein, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Romeoville, Illinois talked about the Great Lakes cyclones being different from the hurricanes. Energy gathered by the storms come from the upper atmosphere and the jet stream, while hurricanes have their power source as the warm ocean waters and the strongest winds are tightly wound around the core.
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