MIDWEST SUPER STORM BY THE NUMBERS

Written by: Brian Neudorff

The National Weather Service writes:

... [the storm] had a minimum central pressure of 28.24" or 956 mb (equivalent to the minimum pressure of a Category 3 hurricane). This breaks the old record of 28.28" (958 mb), set on ...Jan. 26, 1978, during the Blizzard of 1978 (aka the Cleveland Superbomb). This is also lower than the March 1993 Superstrom (aka "The Storm of the Century"), or the "Witch of November" storm that sank the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975, or even the Columbus Day Storm of Oct. 1962.

Other reports I have seen is that the lowest pressure for this storm was 28.20 inches (955 millibars) in Bigfork, MN. at 4:13 p.m. CDT Tuesday.

This pressure is now the lowest recorded on land in the contiguous United States, outside of coastal states affected by nor'easters and hurricanes.

Out of St. Paul there is a report that it may have been lower than that in Orr, MN at 28.14 inches (953 millibars). Orr is located in Minnesota's arrowhead.

This was definitely an example of "bombogenesis" With a 26 mb pressure fall in 24 hours in central Minnesota.

24 tornado reports

282 wind damage reports

A peak wave of 26 feet on Lake Superior

77 mph wind gust in Greenfield, Indiana. Highest "official" wind gust reported.

5 states (Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and South Dakota) - where wind gusts to at least 70 mph were reported. List of selected wind gusts.

150-180 mph winds estimated at jet stream level driven by the large temperature contrast between the eastern and western U.S. - which in turn - fueled this storm in the center of the country.