The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
-Psalm 19:1

Do you know that God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash?
-Job 37:15



Thursday, December 11, 2008

Slight risk for severe weather in much of Georgia today

Howdy Dew, folks!!! It's time again for a Sky Watch "Friday" post! Please visit Klaus, Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Louise and Fishing Guy's SKY WATCH BLOG to participate in Sky Watch Fridays, which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! Thanks to Dot, the mother of this fabulous blogging event, and to the "retired" Tom, who brought it to full bloom. It is so fascinating to see skies from all over the world!!! You should definitely climb aboard the SWF Express! Today's shot of a shelf cloud was captured this morning while a squall line of "thunder"storms was passing overhead. This shelf cloud was shot while I was facing northeast during a southwest to northeast traveling storm... so I was looking at the back side of the shelf cloud...

*Shelf Cloud - A low, horizontal wedge-shaped arcus cloud, associated with a thunderstorm gust front (or occasionally with a cold front, even in the absence of thunderstorms). Unlike the roll cloud, the shelf cloud is attached to the base of the parent cloud above it (usually a thunderstorm). Rising cloud motion often can be seen in the leading (outer) part of the shelf cloud, while the underside often appears turbulent, boiling, and wind-torn. ~source
Here's a shot of the bigger picture, what I was seeing.Shortly after waking up this morning, the Storm Prediction Center issued a tornado watch (#950) till noon, which includes my neck of the woods, based on the turbulent weather expected in the squall line tail of the STRONG upper low circulating over Mississippi and Alabama, dropping ridiculous amounts of heavy snow in Houston and Lake Charles (WHAT?!) and generating severe weather over on our side of it. Anyways, my handy dandy weather radio alerted me of the tornado watch. I, of course, went into alert mode. As the line approached my specific area and the line intensified, the National Weather Service Office in Tally offered a significant weather alert for my county and a few others nearby. I heard the wind slam into the house, which made me very aware of the storm's arrival and its potent outflow winds at the leading edge. I went outside in time to see trees swaying and to be slapped in the face with another wall of wind. It was blowing hard, and there was some rain, but there wasn't any lightning. I watched the sky for signs of rotation but saw none. I took the long way to work, only capturing the decent shelf cloud posted above. Upon arrival at the office, I checked the radar to see that several cells in the storm were exhibiting some signs of Doppler indicated rotation. Of course, it waited to get past me to start that... sigh... dewvoid, and a Thursday, no less.

Yesterday's line actually produced an EF0 tornado, in Haralson County, Georgia, which caused:
50 FT SECTION OF THE HARALSON COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL COLLAPSED. TWO OTHER BUILDINGS DAMAGED. NO INJURIES REPORTED.
This was originally reported as basic severe weather wind damage, but the NWS survey crew thought more of the damage than that, and I saw some cell phone captured video footage of the actual tornado.

So, that's our weather in a nutshell. If you're interested in severe weather, or if you perhaps have a weather enthusiast on your Christmas list to shop for... consider visiting this site for severe weather DVDs created by some of my wonderful storm chasing friends out in the field.

4:00PM: Wow, that's two days in a row that the only tornadoes in the country occurred in Georgia. The National Weather survey crew that evaluated downed trees in Blackshear, Georgia determined that it had been caused by an EF-0 tornado.

Tewdles!
~Dewdrop

28 comments:

  1. The VOID! I was sure you were getting some action early this morning. Shelf cloud picture came out nice though....

    SCM

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope everyone's fine. Is this a routine, ordinary weather that passes there at this time of the year? Is there rain yet.

    Happy skywatching again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a cloud; great photos!

    Thank you for all the weather information, and the description of the cloud formation too: we've seen shelf clouds here and I knew the name, but not the details.

    Great post! Sorry you just missed the weather going through (isn't that always the way?) Happy SWF all the same!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You make me want to say, yes, sure, I am definitely interested in bad weather! :-)
    Could we please agree that I am referring to your pictures, only?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great post and beautiful photo's!
    Thanks for sharing
    Happy SWF

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yikes, does look kind of ominous! Hey, don't miss Sylvia's post
    (#49) this week, if you havne't been there already.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice photos. I am looking forward to Spring already.

    Troy

    ReplyDelete
  8. There's so much to learn about our skies and weather. Thank you for teaching us a little at a time and making it so enjoyable.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dew: Dew not send any more our way, it has been a cloudy week throughout. That was a neat explanation.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thats sure is a snowy looking dark cloud, great capture.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very scary to be in a tornado watch!
    Take care!!
    The skies are looking dreary too!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your pictures show the weight held in the shelf cloud.
    Thank you for such lovely shots and the write up too.
    May you be safe on your travels.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I don't miss tornado warnings. So glad to hear that nobody was hurt at the high school, scary!
    Nice photos :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Do clouds hold books? Nice shot. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great photos, and never been around a tornado.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Cool photos and all the more interesting to learn what goes on to make that sky.

    Thanks for sharing with us all.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The changes from week to week and the dangers in the skies are phenomenal. Makes my skies seem very tame. Superb work again.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I like your site. I wish I could subscribe to it, but I couldn't find the feed. It's always an interesting exercise trying to correlate the images you see (photos) with what the data and radar is showing.

    ReplyDelete
  19. interesting post and i learned what a shelf cloud is...great shots.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow, what a brave soul to chase storms. I live in Arkansas and we see lots of tornadoes come and go. I hide when they come. :D

    The sky in the first photo is an all too familiar ominous sight! I'm looking at the sky here.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Last week we met what we took to be a nutter who claimed that due to the close proximity of the Moon as well as Venus and Jupiter, there was some wild weather, tsunamis and earthquakes to be expected on the 13th. oddly enough we are finally after waiting 9 months getting some decent rainfall. Nearly 50mm in 36 hrs. and still some possibility. After being a Prof. of Met. for 35yrs. my husband even was a little surprised at the coincidence.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love it that I always learn something when I read your posts! Great shelf cloud.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Wow ... fascinating pictures.
    I always love the darkness and the threat of shelf clouds.
    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I enjoyed learning and seeing your shelf cloud! I'll be watching for one in my sky! Happy SWF!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Shelf cloud, something new again...too beautiful for a storm! Happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Great photo. :)

    I always learn something new when I visit here. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Ah, it's good to be back and reading your posts once more! It's like coming home... beautiful post, fantastic photos!
    (Hug)
    ~Michele~

    ReplyDelete
  28. Beautiful shots! Happy SWF!!

    ReplyDelete

Dew comment, please...