Chicago Flood and Oakfield Tornado Meteorological Data from 1996

Meteorological data documents a major rainfall event over Chicago suburbs on 17 July 1996 and a severe thunderstorm with an F5 tornado in Eastern Wisconsin on 18 July 1996. The dataset was compiled by SCIOPS and archived by UCAR/JOSS/NOAA/CODIAC. The data was last updated on 19 July 1996.

Use Cases

• Analyze precipitation intensity and spatial patterns for the Chicago flood event using rainfall rate or accumulation fields.
• Study the environmental conditions preceding the F5 Oakfield tornado using atmospheric pressure, wind, or temperature time-series data.
• Correlate radar reflectivity or satellite imagery features with ground reports of severe thunderstorm damage.
• Model the synoptic-scale meteorological drivers for both events using geospatial fields like sea-level pressure or upper-air observations.

Strengths

• Focuses on two distinct, high-impact severe weather events within a 48-hour period.
• Data is associated with a documented F5 tornado, the highest rating on the Fujita scale.
• Archived by authoritative meteorological organizations (UCAR/JOSS/NOAA).

Limitations

• The dataset is from 1996 and may lack modern high-resolution observational formats.
• Specific data volume, variables, and file structures are not described in the input.
• Geographic coverage is limited to two specific regions in the Midwestern United States.

Provenance

Source

UCAR/JOSS/NOAA/CODIAC (COMET Case Study 006).

Collection Method

null

Time Range

17-18 July 1996.

Freshness

Static historical dataset; last updated 1996-07-19.

Geography

Chicago, Illinois suburbs and Eastern Wisconsin, USA.