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, August 20, 2009

Tornadoes ravage the plains... in August??

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! I might not have time to respond to you, but I will try my best to visit!!!
Our hosts: Klaus Sandy Ivar Wren Louise Fishing Guy

Thanks, also,to Dot and Tom, who were instrumental in the success of this blogging event. You should definitely come fly with us!This is a capture of what our skies are generally looking like by early to mid afternoon here these days... We have had some amazingly brilliant blue skies with splatterings of clouds that build and boil to generate those late afternoon boomers that are so common in south Georgia summers.

Well, though it was pretty mild and normal summer-like thunderstorms here, yesterday was a banner severe weather day, especially for an August day!! As a cold front creeps its way across the CONUS, we watched as severe weather became the top story throughout the plains (especially Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa), with the big story coming out of Minnesota, specifically downtown Minneapolis, where an apparent tornado ravaged its way through downtown, destroying structures, downing trees... insanity. All in all, we saw 18 tornado reports and a total of 195 severe weather reports. My weather radio actually went off one time, alerting us of a severe storm to our east, which appears to have generated some severe wind reports in north Florida. Our company (Mini-Dew's friend), heard the blaring EAS tone and asked, "WHAT IS THAT?!" sigh... you have no weather radio?? All we got out of that was a bit of rain and some gorgeous lightning, which I was too busy with company to shoot. So, what does this whole tornado outbreak mean...? Well, this year has actually been a below average year for storm reports and tornadoes. Last year, an exceptionally active year, most likely raised the average quite a bit, so we are probably on target for "normal".I love the site that the image above links to... it's a great tornado trend resource. Unfortunately for the people over a large part of the eastern US, it looks like things might get severely active again today. If you fall within the green outlined area, be especially mindful of rapidly changing conditions.

Now, looking at the Tropics, we see that Hurricane Bill (the only show in town), actually lost some of his oomph. Now, downgraded to a category 3, still powerful, yet slightly less symmetrical, Hurricane Bill is a major hurricane most likely destined for a life at sea. He ran into a bit of westerly shear overnight, which slowed his winds down a bit, but as the shear settles, and with a maintained pressure, we could expect to see him ramp up speed again, through the course of today. He has begun a slight turn to the northwest, which is falling in line with what the models have consistently boasted about Hurricane Bill's course. In fact, a great degree of uncertainty arises with the expected trajectory of Bill after 72 hours...

IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT BILL WILL PROBABLY NOT TURN AS SHARPLY BETWEEN 72-96 HR AS IMPLIED BY THE TRACK GRAPHIC...AND THUS IS LIKELY TO PASS CLOSER TO NEW ENGLAND THAN THE GRAPHIC WOULD SUGGEST.
Have a stupendous day!!
~Dewdrop

24 comments:

  1. hey there...
    as always enjoyed the update on the summer weather. we have had some superb skies in virginia...this past weekend was in lewisburg west virginia and the sky was awesome.
    have a wonderful weekend.

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  2. Tornadoes in the summer, I'd like to keep my foggy summer :)

    And I was starting to bitch about our still colder summer. You have nice looking skies though.

    Have a great weekend.

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  3. Nice clear sky. But tornado in August?.
    Great shot!
    Good weather here today.

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  4. super photo, such blue skies....

    Can you pop by and give me your opinion on my photos, I have never seen clouds like the ones I took photos of.

    Gill in Canada

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  5. That is just a gorgeous sky!

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  6. Overall, the weather has been a bit weird this year. Or is it just me.

    Great job of reporting and observations.

    This is one of my favorite blogs.

    come visit,
    Troy

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  7. Another great post and beautiful photo's!!
    We had some pretty powerful storms go through here yesterday evening.
    LOVE THEM though...probably one of the only ones sitting out on my porch!

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  8. That's a beautiful white and blue sky, doens't look like anything bad could ever happen...

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  9. As Allways an informative post, great capture and love your text!!

    Have a nice SWf

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  10. Sounds like the tornado season is picking up now that it's the middle of August.

    Canada is watching Hurricane Bill since there's a strong possibility Bill will hit our Maritime provinces.

    Love the fluffy clouds in your photo.

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  11. Skies over S Georgia look beautiful. Didn't know there were 18 tornado reports! In your second map, what does the SGLT over Ohio mean? I have been watching Bill as we have friends in New England...

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  12. Love your sky photo. The different kinds of clouds made it full of interest.

    As for the storms, WOW! Downtown Minneapolis? Crazy!

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  13. Pretty skies at your place this week. That is a worry to see another big storm heading towards the beachs of New England.

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  14. That sky shot is just about perfect. I would take that view any day.

    Carol said that you would know what kind of clouds are in my photos this week. Care to take a quick look?

    We are in southern Maine, do you think Bill will stop by?

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  15. Fantastic sky, interesting weather report!

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  16. We have beautiful clear skies too, hope it lasts! Enjoy your lovely skies :)

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  17. Dew: Those a some neat clouds to show for SWF. I hope the hurricane holds it track far out to sea.

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  18. i was in Atlanta last week and experienced a rainy morning from a storm in the Carolinas. beautiful sky you have.

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  19. Gorgeous sky photo! Sounds like you are getting some storm action. Be safe.
    spirithelpers

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  20. Some strong weather this summer. Thanks for the story and the images.

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  21. A nice 'usual sky' from you for a change.

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  22. It's me, back again. You probably already know this, but the weather around Toronto and north has been severe causing massive damage and the death of a 13-year-old boy. Not nice.

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  23. Another great posting Dew... love that blue sky... ours are grey at the moment.. :O(


    If you get time nip over and meet Ammon Wrigley then read his poem The Homestead
    Tom

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  24. Even though I am far away from hurricanes now, I still enjoy tracking them via the NOAA website. Great post and cloud pic.

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Dew comment, please...