Strong Early Morning Storms Sneak Up On Burlington

Strong storms took just about everyone by surprise this morning.

“We had a large complex of showers and thunderstorms. A lot of widespread 1 to 3 inch amounts [of rain]. There were some isolated strong storms, including one that hit the Burlington area with reports of 60 mile an hour winds, and possible a little bit higher,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist Bill Nichols.

Even the National Weather Service was blindsided by the storm, which hit around 12:30 am. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was never issued for the storm. Nichols says that due to the rapidly developing nature of the storm, combined with the fact that most trained weather spotters were asleep, posed a unique challenge to the National Weather Service.

“Unfortunately, It’s not a precise thing,” Nichols told KBUR, “You’re limited, as any decision in life, if you don’t have enough information or any information, it limits your ability to make the right decision.”

Wind speeds of over 60 miles an hour knocked out power to parts of the city and caused even more trees to fall down. Thursday morning’s severe storm is the third severe weather system to hit the listening area this week.

Minor flooding persists in Burlington and every single river in the area is now under a Flood Warning.