Be prepared!

Well, if you listen to me, you have hooked up, or you immediately went out to purchase your weather radio. Hopefully, you purchased one that is SAME (Specific Area Message Encoder) code enabled. If not, don't freak, just having a weather radio could mean the difference between life and death. If you got one that is SAME code enabled, you are able to program your radio using specific codes, so your radio will only alert you when weather advisories pertain to that specific county. You can find codes for the counties you want alerts for by selecting your state at this link. Now what? Well, you wait for "inclement" weather. You will hear weekly tests of the EAS (Emergency Alert System), so the broadcasters can be certain the signal is going out properly. Anyone who didn't hear the National test of this alert system can recognize the value of the test. When inclement weather is present, the test will not occur. Generally, the alert in your area will start with a watch of some sort. Ideally, a severe thunderstorm or even a tornado watch will be issued for your area. A watch simply warns you that conditions are favorable for the weather described in the watch to occur. This should alert you to be aware and mindful of rapidly changing conditions, have your emergency kit ready. You should always have a disaster kit ready, but now's your chance to freshen it up, double check those batteries. Be mindful and vigilant. A watch means that the weather could happen.

Then, you might just experience a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning. When that is issued, it means one of two things, either those conditions have been witnessed by a credible source (SKYWARN spotter or law enforcement) or the radar that the National Weather Service meteorologists are observing is showing an imminent threat. If you are in the path of the storm, this is the time to get below ground, or if no basement is available, an interior room, away from windows. Cover up with a mattress; wear a helmet; put infants and small children in a car seat. Most injuries and deaths from severe weather occur when degree becomes projectile. Stay there until the warning expires.

... and that is how you stay prepared.
~Dewdrop

Shelf, Severe, and a Rainbow

What a wonderful weather day yesterday was!!! I was finishing up on my Thursday afternoon, when this great cell moves into the area. The cell spanned 4 counties... and in Georgia, the counties are HUGE! Well, anyhow, the radar capture here, translated to this beautiful shelf...
With this beautiful cumulus congestus (that I watched bubble up)...
Produced this severe wind damage...
And ended with this beautiful reminder from God...
All in all, a great day!
~Dewdrop

Cotton ball sky

SKY WATCH FRIDAY time! Welcome all sky fans!!! I truly appreciate your visit and comments. I might not have time to respond to you, but I will try my best to visit!!!

Our hosts: Klaus Sandy Sylvia 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!

Greetings from south Georgia. I have been promising Thanksgiving pics from our wonderful family Thanksgiving festivities, and I plan to do that today, but first, allow me to share with you, one of my more memorable skies. We have had several days of blanketed skies full of altocumulus clouds. An altocumulus sky resembles a bed of cotton balls in the sky. This one is especially memorable because it is from our wonderful sunset/sunrise trip, the one that occurred while tornado warnings were blaring back home for an "actually seen tornado", which turned out to be a microburst. Regardless of the missed chasetunity, it was a wonderfully romantic trip that my amazingly wonderful groom (gtb at the time) planned for me as a surprise. You can read more about that here. Oh, and here is my opinion about the missed storm. Anyhow, that's my sky shot for today. The Altocumulus sky made for an amazing sunset that evening.I'll briefly touch on yesterday's weather since there were watches and actual warnings throughout the day yesterday. The line of storms that passed through here lost much of their intensity just before arrival and then, ramped back up to produce significant rotation just beyond here... are we surprised??? I think not. Generally, the big story in this storm was the flooding rain and ferocious wind. One tornado was reported in the panhandle, but generally... that's all folks. Now, onto our Thanksgiving, which was wonderful in every way. We had much of my wonderful groom's family over to partake in our feast consisting of 2 big birds and all the fixin's! It was my wonderful groom's first time frying a turkey, but we are all SO GLAD he took the time to do it. It was scrumdiddlyumptious in all its juicy yumminess! He brined the turkey for many many hours while it thawed, and the men rigged up an Alton Brown-style lowering system for the bird, involving a ladder and some coat hook contraption. One hour later, voila! Here are some pics to capture the essense of our day.Incidentally, the tree behind the men in the picture above was struck by lightning the same day I caught this shot.Yeppers, same tree... :DI hope each of your Thanksgivings were blessed!

Have a great day!
~Dewdrop

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

A December tornado outbreak in the south

So far, a total of 11 tornadoes have been reported in Louisiana and Mississippi from the line of severe weather that is moving across the southeast. The system didn't sleep through the night, and I'm certain denied sleep to many others as tornado sirens and weather radios blared warnings of imminent danger. Here are just a few of the reports from the storm.

SEVERAL HOMES WITH ROOF DAMAGE ALONG WITH NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES BLOWN DOWN IN OAK HILL AREA. -Hineston, LA

HOUSES AND A CHURCH DAMAGED. -Coxburg, MS

ONE HOME DESTROYED. -Hamburg, MS

... and like I said, more to come. Already, we have seen some tornado warnings this morning as the system moves through Alabama, and a slight risk for severe weather has been outlined over almost all of lower Alabama (LA).We are not in an official severe threat, at this time, but there are warnings that some of our storms could reach severe parameters, and as the system makes its way across the south, things could change in our outlook. Stay tuned.

9:20AM: Got this report from Meso Mike...

IF EITHER MOISTURE OR INSTABILITY IS UNDER FORECAST ACROSS THE FL PANHANDLE INTO SRN GA THEN A SLIGHT RISK WILL CERTAINLY BE WARRANTED FOR THE POSSIBILITY FOR TORNADOES AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WITH ANY SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT.

The slight risk has been shifted to include my neck of the woods now... happy, Rick? Have at it! I've got a solid stratus deck now that will inhibit instability and really most likely prevent a severe outbreak here, but what do I know?

AS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE CONTINUES TO STREAM INLAND FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO...INSTABILITY COUPLED WITH AVAILABLE SHEAR SHOULD RESULT IN A CONTINUED THREAT FOR STRONG/SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THRU THE DAYLIGHT HOURS SERN AL INTO GA AND NRN FL. SHEAR PROFILES WILL CONTINUE FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

THE STRENGTH OF THE DEEPENING SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED WIND FIELDS SUPPORT THE POTENTIAL FOR A SQUALL LINE REACHING THE WRN COAST OF NRN FL AND THE PANHANDLE PRIOR TO 12Z THU. ACCORDINGLY A SLIGHT RISK HAS BEEN INTRODUCED THIS AREA FOR AFTER 06Z FOR PRIMARILY WIND DAMAGE POTENTIAL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

The tornado watch remains a couple of hundred miles to my west, but it is creeping this way as the system forces its way eastward.

Continuing my education...

12:20PM: A mesoscale discussion was just issued for the south regarding this storm system. It appears that I fall just outside the area which is expected to see tornadic action later today.

THE BAND OF SLOW MOVING TSTMS WILL PROBABLY MAINTAIN SOME CHARACTER. SUFFICIENT DEEP/LOW-LVL SHEAR WILL EXIST TO SUPPORT A FEW EMBEDDED ROTATING STORMS WITH BRIEF TORNADOES/DMGG WIND GUSTS.

The arctic blast pushing this storm our way is hot cold on the heels of this squall line, bringing a yucky wintery mix to Mississippi and eastward.... meaning, it will be cold again soon.

12:45PM: Got a text from Alabama Mike that the National Weather Service office in Birmingham, AL confirmed an EF-1 tornado (tornadoes are confirmed by the local National Weather Service offices)caused lots of damage to Oakman High School, the stadium and elementary school. Fortunately, it all happened during very early morning hours, before school was in session. The report can be found here. The part that struck me was that...

PATH WIDTH AT THAT LOCATION WAS 400 YARDS WIDE.

THAT'S 4 FOOTBALL FIELDS!!! Mike also reports that the storm has passed, and he is hunkering down in preparation of the approaching snow.

4:30PM: The storm looks to be rotating again... and we have had just enough breakage to allow some heating... it's in the doggone 70's here. CRAZY! Anyways, the NWS in Tally just issued a tornado warning for the Marianna, FL weather-hogs, who seem to be in the perfect spot for spin-ups.Could be an interesting night... Anything can happen.

Have a SAFE stormy day,
~Dewdrop

Just a quick update... Clinch County tornado

MY SKY WATCH POST IS BELOW...


Yesterday, I watched severe weather dance all around me. I watched one cell in particular pass just to my south that had lots of rotation being exhibited. I watched it come up through north Florida... into Echols County as a severe thunderstorm warned cell and then enter Clinch County as a tornado warned cell. My weather radio sounded the alarm and blared the warnings. Well, as it turns out, the only reported tornado yesterday was produced in the cell that passed perhaps 20 miles to my southeast...

1543 7N OF FARGO CLINCH COUNTY,GA
TORNADO SPOTTED NORTH OF FARGO. TREES REPORTED SNAPPED.

Here are the screen shots...Yesterday's tornado was about 20 miles from me... chaseable... on a doggone Thursday!

Have a wonderful weekend!
~Dewdrop
Oh, btw, the Atlantic Basin is looking a little active again.

Finally, a MODERATE RISK for me... tomorrow!!!

Well, several members of the Southern Weather Brigade are abuzz with life, after a long bout with SDS (Supercell Deprivation Syndrome), since the arrival of the MODERATE RISK in my neck of the woods. Yes, folks, I WILL be storm chasing tomorrow! At this time, I am charging up the batteries for my still camera, as well as on my video camera... thanks Rick. I have spoken briefly with Rick and Meso Mike, who are both geared up for a chase tomorrow. I have been in touch with Jay, who will be visiting his mom deep in the moderate risk area (looks like whether he planned it or not Jay will be chasing), and am trying to get in touch with Alabama Mike (Alabama Mike, your mailbox is full... could you call me?) to coordinate support. Of course, I will have my chase partner, bf, with me, who I need to remind about the dangers of driving under wall clouds. Don't know yet if we are going for the divide and conquer approach or what, but we are all geared up and ready to go. Here's the discussion out of the SPC.

COMBINATION OF INSTABILITY/SHEAR STRONGLY SUGGEST ANY DISCRETE STORM STRUCTURES WILL ROTATE POSING A THREAT FOR TORNADOES. GIVEN THE FORECAST STORM MOTIONS MANY OF THESE STORMS COULD EASILY BE LONG-TRACK AND POSSIBLY DAMAGING.

So, Happy Mother's Day to me! I will be chasing tomorrow.

THE WEATHER WILL BEGIN TO GET QUITE INTERESTING AS THE STORM SYSTEM IN THE PLAINS MOVES INTO THE OHIO VALLEY. AS HAS BEEN STATED MANY TIMES... THIS EVENT LOOKS TO COMBINE SOMETHING WE RARELY SEE IN THE COLD SEASON...HIGH CAPE AND HIGH SHEAR. MODEL SOUNDINGS FOR SUNDAY SHOW SBCAPE IN EXCESS OF 2500 J/KG IN THE GFS...WITH AROUND 2000 J/KG IN THE NAM. 0-6KM BULK SHEAR APPROACHES OR EXCEEDS 50 KNOTS ACROSS OUR FORECAST AREA. THESE PARAMETERS ARE MORE THAN SUFFICIENT TO GENERATE SEVERE WEATHER.

Today, there is a HUGE area of moderate risk covering a large part of the south. In fact, a Public Severe Weather Outlook (click here) has been issued for folks living in CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ALABAMA, MUCH OF ARKANSAS, MUCH OF GEORGIA, FAR SOUTHERN ILLINOIS, FAR WESTERN KENTUCKY, NORTHERN LOUISIANA, SOUTHERN MISSOURI, CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI, FAR EASTERN OKLAHOMA, WESTERN AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE, FAR EASTERN TEXAS. (Oh, is that all?)

THE GREATEST THREAT FOR STRONG TORNADOES WILL OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN ARKANSAS...NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND WESTERN TENNESSEE.

This is a large area of moderate risk, and folks within green should be watchful, but the folks in the the red outlined area, should be especially vigilant! In other words, keep your weather radios on. Have you safe spot ready. If warnings are issued, seek shelter immediately, check the validity later! Seriously, this is not a drill!!! As active as this season has been, today could very easily be the day that they think it might be...

THOSE IN THE THREATENED AREA ARE URGED TO REVIEW SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY RULES AND TO LISTEN TO RADIO...TELEVISION...AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WATCHES... WARNINGS... AND STATEMENTS LATER TODAY.

Be safe! Bf and I are headed to the drag races tonight. I should get some good pics from that. LOL... unless it's rained out... or better yet, severe weathered out... meso discussion...

GIVEN THE PRESENCE OF 3000 J/KG OF MUCAPE...40-50 KTS OF EFFECTIVE VERTICAL SHEAR...ANY TSTM THAT DOES BECOME SFC BASED WILL LIKELY TAKE ON SUPERCELL CHARACTERISTICS WITH THE THREAT FOR LARGE HAIL/DMGG WINDS. MAY SUPPORT THE THREAT FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES.

Toodles,
Dewdrop

Severe weather ahead for the Southern States, Alabama Mike deployed

Well, I expect today to be a busy day. As it stands, I've got my typical Thursday workload stress. I have the police on their way over for me to make a formal report against the anonymous vandal(s) who destroyed my daughter's play area and threatened her safety, and Alabama Mike plans to go out into North Alabama to chase the slight risk up in his neck of the woods. Already, a tornado watch has been issued for Northwest Alabama, so let the games begin. Be careful, Alabama Mike! We discussed the dynamics of this storm at this point are generally more similar to that of a central plains event, rather than a squall, such as the area is used to seeing. Already 8:45 central time, there are reports of a tornado by law enforcement. He is currently going after a persistent cell that has a "confirmed tornado" 11 miles west of Red Bay, AL. The "confirmed tornado" occurred near Tupelo, MS. You can watch his live stream at this link. (Oops, his live stream is malfunctioning... power source issues). I am nowcasting with updates on the team blog. Here I have linked a photograph of damage from Tupelo, MS tornado on ABC 33/40 Weather Blog.

Yesterday was an interesting weather day, with Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming.... Wyoming??? Yes, Wyoming, generating 7 tornado reports, one of which being a landspout tornado, which is similar to a water spout, except on land. They are not generally associated with mesocyclones.
Update on the cyclone that devastated Myanmar. Unfortunately, that poor country is at the mercy of a less than humane militaristic regime that didn't see fit to warn the public about the oncoming storm with 18 foot storm surge that was headed directly for the country's most densely populated city, Yangon, with its population of 6.5 million people. This alone resulted in a direct death toll of 22,980 people, with 42,119 people still missing and unaccounted. To add insult to injury, the "isolationist regime" has only just today started allowing aid to enter the country. Thankfully, the "junta" has finally allowed aid. The fears are that without safe food and drinking water, that the death toll could climb to an unbelievable 100,000. The story is shocking to offer that understatement. You can read it here, and here is the video. God bless America. Let's pray for the citizens of that country and the leadership that God's grace will soften their hearts. Tragedy.

1047CDT Update: Alabama Mike is in Florence, AL awaiting a tornado warned cell embedded within a squall line heading through central MS. The velocity image shows a strong rotation in Guntown, MS. I wouldn't be surprised to hear a tornado report out of that area.


1440CDT Update: 5 tornadoes reported so far. Alabama Mike still out chasing with live stream going. Teh most significant damage reports are out of Tupelo, MS and Oakland, AL.Have a blessed day!
~Dewdrop

My trip to downtown Atlanta... after the tornado

Yet another severe weather outbreak occurred Thursday and Friday of last week, generating 24 total storm reports with 12 already confirmed as tornadoes. So far, there have been 335 confirmed tornadoes this year, and with the average year to date quantity being 167, that is a startling number, especially when you consider the big bulls-eye on Oklahoma for today as they forecast yet another severe weather outbreak with a potential risk of tornadoes. The risk shifts eastward tomorrow, covering Arkansas and Missouri... just what they need and then shifts back to Oklahoma and much of Texas of Wednesday as the second system rolls in hot on the heels of today's storms... It appears that we are well on track for a historic. I am guessing they are awaiting a final count before updating the trend chart.

I had a wonderful weekend in Atlanta. As part of the trip, we took the kids to the World of Coca-Cola (world's largest focused advertisement for Coco-Cola, where you actually pay them to market to you), conveniently located in downtown Atlanta, right in the area where the historic EF-2 tornado struck on March 14. You know me, I was able to talk bf into walking through the Centennial Olympic Park where I was able to capture some great shots of the tornado damage in the downtown area (as well of some very low cloud cover shots). It took him a few seconds, but bf quickly caught onto my ulterior motives for the "stroll through the park". It's ok though, the kids had a great time exploring the various statues and the fountains that were still working, as some were disabled because of the drought. I don't feel very strongly that the funnel was actually on the ground at the point, but certainly it was descended and causing some damage in the area, including the movement of the Westin Peachtree Hotel. I will let my picture summary cover the tornado damage there...Speaking of that tornado, I got an email from Shane Durrance that the "only photograph of the March 14th downtown Atlanta tornado" is now posted on a website for print purchase. This guy is racking up some serious dough for this photograph... get your 8 X 12" print for only $49.98... that too small for you, you can purchase the 24 x 36" for only $209.98. Good grief. So, if you are interested... you know where to go. This is what he wrote to me:

My life has been a whirl wind, no pun intended, since this whole thing started... We have a lot going on preparing for the Cabbage Town Initiative and art show happening in a few months. Please feel free to call me with any questions. Thanks.

Aside from that part of the trip to Atlanta, we did have some severe weather in the region while we were having dinner Friday evening with my extended family. We had them bring speakers over so I could keep an eye on the radar on the local news channel. All I have to show for that is a halfway decent shelf cloud... oh well, you win some, you lose some. On the way back from dropping his children off, bf was sweet to offer to stop at all the charming little churches. We stopped at a couple, but only one of those shots really impressed me...

I got an email from an author who is looking to interview storm chasers, who make money from storm chasing... he asked me for an interview, but as you guys know and as I told him, that is not me, so if you fall within that category and are interested in talking to this guy, drop me a line, and I will gladly pass your info along.

Have a lovely day,
~Dewdrop