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DISCUSSION: Powerful thunderstorms ripped through Eastern Germany and Western Poland today thanks to a classic textbook example of a Mesoscale Convective System (MCS). MCS is an organized area of thunderstorms usually associated with a weather front. Larger than a typical supercell thunderstorm, these storms can last for hours and well into the night sometimes as well. MCS have been observed across Europe and the United States during late spring and summer as warm humid air from the south clashes with cool dry air from the north. The results are explosive, typically leading to very heavy rainfall and flash flooding as was the case in Poland on Tuesday May 30th, 2017. As the thunderstorms began to roll on through residents captured several images of the impressive shelf cloud before the heavy rains and frequent lightning began. Several reports of flash flooding emerged from Switzerland and a downburst was said to have battered Berlin, Germany as well. A funnel cloud was captured on camera just outside the town of Frankfurt, Germany. Thankfully, it appears that no tornado was confirmed and damage appears to be minimal so far. We await reports from areas further to the East as darkness began to cover the European continent. The storm will continue to weaken as it slowly heads towards the East, losing its energy source which is daytime heating from the Sun. As we head towards the end of this week it does appear that the heat will make a comeback across Western Europe.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across Europe, be sure to click here! ~ Meteorologist Jake Keiser
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 DISCUSSION: Over the past couple of days, there has been impressive convective activity across several different parts of Germany. In light of this recent convection, it is always neat to conduct an overview of the total lightning activity associated with a given convective outburst across any given region. As you can see in the image above, several of these storms produced copious amounts of lightning. Often times, as convection intensifies as it's core and expands in coverage, there is often a dramatic increase in the amount of lightning within such storms (whether this lightning be characterized as cloud-to-ground, cloud-to-air, or cloud-to-cloud). In cases which have larger thunderstorm coverage, there are often more complex in-storm dynamics which tend to facilitate greater amounts of lightning due to more convective storms merging and/or interacting with one another as they continue to exist in close proximity to one another. Always neat to see classic storm dynamics at play in the real world.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Europe, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz Hail Observed in Southeast Poland (credit: Andrzej Gajek via Polscy Łowcy Burz via Meteo Europe)5/10/2017  DISCUSSION: Just a few days ago, many people living across portions of southeastern Poland experienced an impressive early Spring severe weather event. This severe weather event was chiefly defined by a severe thunderstorm moving through the region while producing damaging hail. It is worth noting that such hailstones across parts of southeastern Poland are particularly impressive due to the fact that for thunderstorms to generate such large hailstones, there needs to be a sufficiently strong core updraft within the given thunderstorm. Often times, when thunderstorms are generating hailstones of baseball size or larger (i.e., upwards of 2.00 inches in diameter or greater), there are associated updraft speeds of at least 80 to 85 MPH or more in many cases. In order for a severe thunderstorm to generate hailstones of softball size or larger, a thunderstorm typically needs to have updraft speeds of 85 to 100 MPH. Therefore, when there is destructive hail being generated by a severe thunderstorm, there are often core updraft speeds well over hurricane-force to be able to support the larger sizes associated with the hail being produced.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Europe, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz Gorgeous Perspective of Shelf Cloud over Rovigio, Italy (credit: Tornado in Italia via Meteo Europe)5/10/2017 
DISCUSSION: Only just a few days ago, there was a weak area of low pressure which moved through portions of very impressive thunderstorm developed and through areas in and around the city of Rovigio, Italy. As it progressed through this part of Italy, it did not disappoint all of the people who had the privilege of watching it evolve during the course of it's lifetime. As seen in the time-lapsed storm footage attached above, this storm quickly developed a shelf cloud as denoted by the lowering of the cloud deck near the center of the image. You can also note how there were multiple instances in which rain shafts revolved around the center point of rotation associated with this particular storm. Although this particular storm is shown from a time-lapsed perspective, you can still clearly denote the layered structure of the outflow associated with this storm. Hence, it was certainly quite the site for all people who had the opportunity to witness this intense convective storm.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Europe, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz 
DISCUSSION: As a small pulse of energy passed over parts of far western Europe within the last couple of days, many areas across central and southern Spain received fairly large amounts of rainfall. As the heavy rainfall persisted, there were many widespread impacts similar to those felt across many parts of the Mississippi Valley over the past couple of days. These impacts across many parts of southern Spain were predominantly characterized by flash flooding and consequential flows of debris and automobiles being picked up by the rushing floodwaters. It goes without saying that water is the most powerful force on Earth and it is always imperative to respect the incredible natural power of Mother Nature when it comes to flooding as well as flash flooding. As the entire National Weather Service network conveys to people from across the United States and the world, when you are approaching any sort of regional floodwaters, always be sure to "Turn Around and Don't Drown!"
To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring from across Europe, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz |
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