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



Monday, March 01, 2010

3 year anniversary of a sad, sad day

Today marks the three year anniversary of the EF-4 that ravaged Enterprise, AL and stole the lives of 8 students at the high school there. That horrific tornado devastated the school there and the system as a whole wreaked havoc in much of the southeast. Fortunately, our National Weather Service was fully prepared for a Potentially Dangerous Situation. It was a high risk day for severe weather. ... and with 68 tornado reports that day, they were right on target. Fortunately for many, the tornado trend is well below what we have seen in recent years, with only 41 tornadoes having been reported so far (27 fewer than what was reported during that one day of outbreak including the Enterprise tornado). In 2008, we saw 360 tornado reports by this point. In 2007, the year of the Enterprise tornado, we had seen 101 at this point.

On Friday, as I was leaving town with some friends, my wonderful groom called me to point out a sun pillar, by the time I got back in touch with him, most of it had dissipated, but a part of it remained in the salmon glow in the clouds as the sun set. He knows how to impress me, talk weather to me!!! He's become so aware of the magnificent sky and it's offerings, and calls them by name... I guess I'm wearing off on him.

Have a magnificently-skied day!
~Dewdrop

5 comments:

  1. I saw a short documentary about this on TWC this morning. Sad indeed. Their new school will be much better equipped and I am certain the students will be even more well prepared for such situations. That radar loop shows the storms moving awfully quick!

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  2. Incredibly sad. I can't imagine being in that situation or being a parent of those students at the time. I am glad they are learning from the past and ramping up new designs. The tornado safe rooms sound like a great idea. I'm glad they were able to get FEMA money for that.

    That tends to be the nature of the early spring systems, they are racers! The National Weather Service did an excellent job staying ahead with the warnings! Unfortunately, when storms pulse like that and are moving so quickly, warning times are cut dramatically.

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  3. I remember this day so clearly. My very best friend in the whole wide world was killed just a few feet away from me. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her. I somehow fell asleep around noon today and woke up at 1:10pm in tears after having a dream about her. RIP Katie!!!

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  4. Oh, Dylan, my heart aches for the tremendous pain you must feel at the loss. What a tragic day that was... I will be mindful in prayer for all those whose lives were stolen that memorable day, and for all those, such as yourself, so traumatically impacted. God bless you.

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  5. That was a sad, tragic day.

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