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



Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Oh, the weather outside is boring...

This morning's weather news is all about the rain... rain, rain, everywhere... except here. We have had rain in the forecast since this past weekend, and I haven't seen a drop. Meanwhile, everywhere else in the country (and even in other countries), there are serious flooding concerns. There really needs to be a way to channel water from locations of over-abundance to drought-stricken areas... Don't you think???

Yesterday, while I was driving home, I noticed several cumulus towers, which I found very exciting. I haven't seen towers in a while, and I am hopeful that it is a sign of chaseability in my near future. Of course, like I said, nothing materialized, but at least some of the elements were present for me. I did get reports from Rick of thunder well to my west... and from Meso Mike (who appears to be on a blogging strike, but I linked him anyhow, just to be nice...) of cloud-top lightning last night well to my northeast... sigh. Anyways, I stopped to snap a few shots, and that's when I saw these pretty flowers (posted above) on the side of the road. Here are my sky shots...Onto the weather... it appears that Oklahoma has decided to hog all of the upcoming weather. Weather hogs... At this point, the SPC has outlined an area of slight risk for severe weather today in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas, the concern of large hail being the greatest threat... and here, we are expecting some sea breeze interaction with an approaching cold front to fire things up (thunderstorms and such). They mentioned:

ISOLATED DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS AND MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL IN AN ENVIRONMENT WITH MODERATE INSTABILITY AND WEAK VERTICAL SHEAR.
As a result of this, I have recommended that bf dress the jeep. No fun riding around in a swimming pool. We'll see what happens... since last night and the night before and the entire weekend before were precipitation-less, I am not feeling too convected... Tomorrow is a big day in the SPC's forecast. They have outlined Oklahoma (again...) and part of Texas to be in an area of moderate risk for severe weather. There is powerful wording with this one, as they show that the environment will be very unstable with an SBCAPE at or around 2500 J per kg!!! Haven't seen that kind of instability forecast since last year, looks like the season has arrived. The cap's as good as busted. Chasers should be abound...
AN ENVIRONMENT FAVORABLE FOR SUSTAINED SUPERCELLS WITH VERY LARGE (SEVERE) HAIL...HIGH WIND AND TORNADOES
Bf and I plan to visit family and friends up near Atlanta this weekend. Currently, the SPC has highlighted almost the entire state of Georgia to have severe weather on Saturday... a day 4 severe forecast... chasetunity!!! Yeah, yeah, so it's the squalled out leftovers of the exciting stuff they are playing with in Oklahoma and Texas tomorrow... but we could get a little something, something... you know how those embedded supercells can be.

We'll see what happens...
~Dewdrop

14 comments:

  1. Hey, Dew! Still loving the flower pics. And, towers are definitely exciting! I am almost in the middle of that Mod Risk area for tomorrow, here in Dallas. I would love to top off the storm I chased in OK on Sunday with a good strong tornado over open country tomorrow, but we will see. My chase account and pics are up on the blog for the Sunday chase. Maybe you will finally get something down there later this week!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Ken! I actually took that through the window of my idling vehicle on the side of the road as the breeze from passing vehicles caused my van to sway... scary. I will have to go over and check out your chase account and pics. Be very careful tomorrow. I hope you bag one... over open country.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the comment, Dew! To be honest, some of my best photos have been taken through the window from inside an idling vehicle. I will be careful, for sure. I have a strong feeling that we will get upgraded to a High Risk by morning. Things look really good with this one. Spring is definitely one of the reasons I love living in Texas!

    ReplyDelete
  4. LOL. I have that same suspicion. I have been urged to fly out to OK for tomorrow... I wish it wasn't another doggone Thursday. I would love to come out and play.

    Spring is one of the reasons I sometimes feel so geographically misplaced.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We had a light rain yesterday morning but it was not even enough to put but a few drops in our rain gauge. It cleared up to a pretty afternoon. Tooday the sun is shining bright here in the west Georgia area. At 1:30 it is 70 degrees.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am currently watched convection roll in and the instability climb... the cap is busted here. Let's see what happens. I am close to a newly added slight risk area.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love all this activity in you posting and comments... it makes a great read even though my weather is so far away from yours.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love the white flowers! I'm wondering if those are cherokee roses the Georgia state flower.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love the flower pic at the top!

    I think James and I will be with a bunch of mets when this thing rolls through Starkville Friday afternoon. Instability values there may be in the 1500 j/k range. I think MS will be in a mod risk Friday.

    Looking fwd to your next post with the cloud photos.

    Go west young lady!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Tom, Thanks. I love it too. It is great when people keep the content of my blog alive with comments. It gives me a great opportunity to keep teaching. I think it's my niche.

    Dot, It appears that they are, in fact, cherokee roses. Thank you so much for telling that. Now, I know. Have I mentioned that I also love all the comment activity because many times, I learn something, too??!!! Thanks, Dot.

    Mike, Seems to me that you and James need to hop in that UAH chase car and go for it... I am thinking major chasetunity and all the tools and forecasting knowledge under one roof. You have to chase!! I am done for the night... to dark for me to keep chasing with Mini-Dew, but I will work on that post! :O)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nice shots! It is storming here as I type. I can never hear a rumble without thinking of you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Awww... so sweet. I actually heard some rumbling today... slim but there...

    ReplyDelete
  13. I really miss the towering cumulus clouds in the deserts of Arizona during monsoon season.

    ReplyDelete
  14. They always thrill me, such an amazing fact of nature. Strikingly beautiful.

    ReplyDelete

Dew comment, please...