What an intense weather day!  The lift from a frontal boundary combined with some energy from the sun and a wave of low pressure created some nasty thunderstorms this afternoon.   There were numerous reports of damage in Suffolk, Portsmouth and parts of the northern neck and northeast North Carolina.  Early reports from the Emergency Manager in Suffolk say that at least 65 homes in the Berkshire Meadows subdivision have minor damage from Sunday’s storms.  Gusty winds toppled trees  into homes, cars and across roadways, shingles were blown off rooftops and large hail and dangerous lightning reminded us of what a severe thunderstorms is capable of.  Thankfully, so far there have been no reports of injuries.

Here are a few photos from WAVY-TV viewers.  Remember, you can always send your photos of weather and storm damage to photos@wavy.com.  Please make sure your photo size is less than 1 MB.  Thank you!

From Darcy near Obici Hospital in Suffolk

Kings Landing area

Meteorologist Cheryl Nelson

Rainbows.  Sun.  Clouds.  Rain showers.  Thunder.  Lightning.  Hail.  Even some wind.  Whew! 

A pesky area of low pressure has been spinning off the New England coast over the past couple of days.  Every now and then impulses rotate counter-clockwise around that low pressure system.  One of those impulses moved over Hampton Roads this evening just before the sun set.  At the same time, a cold pool of air was overhead… you combine cold air aloft with energy and the heating of the day…and boom: showers all of a sudden become thunderstorms.  Some storms briefly became severe.  Hail was reported in parts of North Carolina. 

There will still be a few showers and thunderstorms around tonight, but with the loss of daytime heating (sun setting), the overall trend will be for showers and storms to weaken tonight.  As a result of the rain that fell today, there will be areas of patchy fog  tonight into Tuesday morning.

Thank you to all the WAVY-TV and Fox 43 viewers for sending their photos to photos@wavy.com.  By the way, if you could resize your pictures to be less than 1 MB before you send them that would be great!    Thank you! 

Here are just a few pictures that we received today. 

From Mario in Hampton

From Elizabeth in Elizabeth City

From Michael in York County

Meteorologist Cheryl Nelson

Many of us enjoy spending time outside during the warmer months. However, sunshine can quickly fade behind developing cumulonimbus clouds. If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning.

If you’re caught outside during a thunderstorm, you want to get to shelter as quickly as possible. But if there’s no building or vehicle nearby, you may be inclined to get under a picnic table…but no. It is actually made of metal so you want to stay away from metal.

You may also want to run over to a nearby tree to seek shelter, but a tree is always a bad idea. Lightning looks for the quickest way down to the ground, so you never want to get under a tree.

You want to get away from tall objects and trees and get to a low-lying area. You want to crouch down on the balls of your feet and make yourself the smallest target possible and cover your head with your hands.

If you are inside a building, stay away from faucets, and don’t take a bath or shower. Lightning can get conducted through the pipes and wiring inside the building, so you should also turn off and unplug major electrical devices such as computers.

Although homes don’t get struck very often, it happened Tuesday in Portsmouth and Virginia Beach.

Most of the time, you’ll be safe from lightning if you are indoors, however sometimes people return to their activities outside too quickly. Just remember to stay inside for 30 minutes after hearing the last rumble of thunder.

An average of 62 people are killed and a reported 300 people injured from lightning each year in the United States. The National Weather Service has simple advice: “When thunder roars, go indoors.”

If you’d like to see my broadcast that aired on WAVY-TV 10 last week, click on this link: http://www.wavy.com/dpp/weather/hurricane/local_wavy_lightning_safety_20090610

Stay safe.

Meteorologist Cheryl Nelson