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

Boy Scout Camp Ravaged by a tornado during Tornado Outbreak yesterday evening

Sky Watch Friday post time!!! It worked out well posting it on Thursday and since I am leaving for Miami this afternoon/evening... I'd better get posted. (Please visit our host, Tom's blog to participate in Sky Watch Fridays. So much fun!!! I highly recommend it!) Today's Sky Watch Friday Shot is a shot at my sky yesterday... When I stepped out of my office yesterday, I knew that the environment was ripe for some action... The juicy cumulus stacks were climbing high into the sky, filling in all the available sky with convection... I went to my last pain and torture appointment (long story) and went to pick up Mini-Dew for some quick shopping before her practice... While we were shopping, I noticed things were getting rather ominous outside, and I suggested we hurry to miss the rain. Well, we weren't so lucky. As we were checking out at the registers, the leading edge of the storm, with its ferocious wind and torrential downpour, swept in, tossing carts around, knocking down trees, and even tearing down a barn. I heard reports of nickel sized hail. We ran through the slower point in the rain and some less frequent lightning to the car to get on our way. It was wild and crazy with some insane scud dipping down, very LOW cloud bases. It was eerie. As it turns out, it was a significant squall-like event, feeding in off the Atlantic... east to west mover... weird. Apparently:

"It was definitely straight line winds, but what we had happen was the sea breeze boundary from the Gulf coast, an outflow boundary from the north and another one from the east (well ahead of the East Coast sea breeze) collided over Echols County causing a rapid intensification of the storms over Lowndes County. Then, when the East Coast sea breeze caught up later over western Lowndes and into Brooks county, it further strengthened again. This happens sometimes in the summer and can lead to rather strong storms in the afternoon hours." ~Kelly

Cool stuff, huh? Here is a link to the imagery for that. Thanks, Kelly.

Unfortunately, sadly and tragically, I have a top story today. It broke my heart last night watching the coverage of the impact of the tornado that hit the Little Sioux Scout Camp in Iowa, which killed 4 scouts, ages 13 and 14, and injured 48 others. Apparently, the cell was tornado warned for 15 minutes, but the sirens had only gone off for a couple of minutes before the tornado was on top of them. The boys sought refuge under picnic tables, in ditches. The story is horrifying. I can't imagine the intense fear these boys felt as they were experiencing this terror first-hand, a true lesson in survival... how the adults responsible for them felt, charged with keeping them safe... on top of that, wondering about their families at home without any ability to check on them due to poor cell reception in the valley they were camping in... the parents, family and friends at home... not knowing the well-being of their children... listening to the story unfold on the news, the horrific fear that your child could be among the 4 fatalities, or as in early reports, one of potentially 40... or worse... learning that your child WAS among those taken by the vicious storm. My heart-felt prayers go out to all of those impacted. My heart aches for those who have lost family or friends, children under your care. (Click here for a link to the official report from the National Weather Service in Omaha/Valley, NE.) Thanks to team mate Mikey for the updates last night.

If that were all, it would be horrible as it is... but there were actually a total of 52 tornado reports yesterday, including two additional fatalities... (click here for the report about the northeast Kansas tornadoes...) not to mention, it all occurred an already flood stricken, saturated area... Des Moines is dealing with man holes being blown out of the ground... homes are being washed away... and the record crest-leveled waters will only rise from here, as MORE rain is in the forecast... In Norfolk, the heat caused the asphalt to "buckle" sending a motorcyclist flying as he drive over the 8 foot dip in the ground... many lives are being lost to the record heat, which happens to be the number one killer, followed by flooding... two things this country is seeing entirely too much of these days...

Another slight risk exists for today.... close to the same area... God bless them.

Have a blessed day,
~Dewdrop

Lawrence County, AL, Tornado -- Damage pictures

Alabama Mike (a member of the Weather Brigade storm chasing team) shared with me some pictures that he took when his friend, Mike Heflin, a lifelong resident of Lawrence County and deacon at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Wren, drove him and his 14 year old son through all of the tornado damage in Lawrence County, Alabama, this morning. Mike's son, David, took all the pics. He says that these pictures, as good as they are, do not do justice in portraying what the tornado did here... Here are some of them... To see them all, please follow this link to Alabama Mike's blog.Thanks for sharing the pics, Mike. My continued prayers go out to all those impacted by the "Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak".

More information available at the main site: dewdropweather.com.

God bless,
~Dewdrop