Archive for the ‘Severe Weather’ Category

Here is some footage of the Marengo County storm we caught on April 15th that we have been unable to get off the HD camera until now.  The camera view is a bit shaky at times, but it gives you a much better perspective on what was going on if you choose the 1080p method of viewing with the debris flying.  Then another video of the supercells as it traveled northeast and dropped more small tornadoes and produced incredible structure.

Second video of the structure….

More videos to come of the incredible month of April and May that we had….

Insane footage taken today by a TV tower cam of the Springfield, Massachusetts tornado as it developed and raked across the river into town.  Some fatalities have been reported and major damage has also been confirmed.  Couplets like this don’t go without doing some kind of damage….

Some tornado warned storms are ongoing this evening and we are testing our setup back on XP so I thought I would post some images of the broad rotation and some of the tornado warnings that were in effect.  Feedback is appreciated!

Shear on these storms have been mostly containing broad rotation, but there have been a couple of confirmed tornadoes in this case.  Luckily damage has been minimal.  We are still working on our comprehensive post from the 4/27/11 tornado outbreak.  

Friday, April 15, 2011 proved to be one the most intense chases we’ve ever been on, and was certainly the most intense chase we’ve had in the state of Alabama. For nine straight hours the western portion of the state was battered by supercells and tornadoes. This is a recap of that day from our perspective.

We departed our office around 8:00AM and met with our rider, Justin Chandler, for the day in Birmingham. We then traveled to Tuscaloosa and initially were going after some storms that had fired to the north of there. While we were sitting in traffic on the bypass, a supercell erupted just across the Alabama/Mississippi border in Wayne County, MS and immediately began rotating. This storm went tornado warned within the first 20 minutes of its life. We spun around and headed south down I20/59 then AL28 toward Livingston, AL. We intercepted the storm just south of Linden in Central Marengo County, AL. Timing and placement were perfect. Just as we approached an open intersection at AL69 and AL10 a massive multi-vortex tornado appeared from our right. Below is a video clip from that. We would later learn that this tornado killed a person in a mobile home just southeast of Linden. Due to our partnership with WBRC-TV FOX-6 in Birmingham, Brett was in contact with Robert (Our Producer) for the afternoon.  Here is a view LIVE of what Mickey Furgueson and the rest of the FOX-6 Storm Warn team were viewing from our vehicle during the noon newscast.

This really set the tone for the rest of the day and the outbreak.  The storms was really wrapping up as we sat at the intersection of AL-10/AL-69.  Here is our view of the radar as the cell approached and came right over our location.

This was radar imagery of the tornadic circulation as they approached us and crossed our area.  Figures 3 and 4 show the significant inbound and outbound winds showing strong rotation and the tornado as it approached and passed us.  This was our first storm intercept of the day….and there were several more.  I will be making an updated post of the next few videos that I take off when I get a chance. 

I will leave you with this radar and Water Vapor image of the entire outbreak.

This is the latest output from the SPC RUC model.  0-1km EHI values are in the 4-6 range across much of Arkansas, North Mississippi and Alabama this evening.  Effective shear values of 500 m*2/s*2 also suggest very strong turning of the winds in the lower levels and could set off a few tornadoes later this evening into tonight.  At the surface….a meso-low of 1004mb may be forming in SW Arkansas by looking at the mass fields.  I would keep the weather radio on in West Alabama tonight just in case some storms do break out ahead of the front and get active.  Don’t be surprised to see some severe storms tomorrow as well with the front hanging around.  Wind/Hail are the main threats, but a tornado could happen too. 

We will watch the situation and post up more information if needed.  We may even chase locally if something breaks early in the morning hours tomorrow.

We will have a full radar summary and video log of our tornado outbreak on last Friday, April 15th online very soon!  Stay tuned.

Brett

Friday looks to be an active day in the weather department and likely in the field for us during the afternoon and evening hours.  The models are keying in on a rather impressive setup for super cell thunderstorms  and potential tornadoes especially across West Alabama beginning around the 2-3pm time frame.  Computer model guidance over the past couple of weeks has been all over the place….however, the models continue to come in more impressive with every run in regards to Friday.  The short term model…..the NAM….appears to be the least aggressive yet still impressive.

This is the latest 12z NAM forecast sounding for 3PM Friday at Columbus, MS.  You can see that low level moisture and CAPE values are more than prime for tornados.  Keep in mind, this is the LEAST impressive model….and these parameters could be underdone somewhat.  It looks like the threat will get cranking shortly after noon for parts of Mississippi and moving into West Alabama shortly after.  This threat will continue into the evening and overnight hours across portions of our area.  The thermodynamic profiles will support the severe weather threat as it moves eastward and as night falls.  We all know how these systems tend to be once they get to our area during the overnight.

We will be out chasing on Friday and will have two tourists seats available for this event at a first come, first serve basis.  If interested, please shoot me a message on facebook or to our company email address.  alabamastormtrackers@gmail.com 

Stay tuned for more information on this storm system as data flows in.

Well, there are a few parameters that support an increasing threat of damaging winds coming into the state later on Monday afternoon and evening as the cold front begins to push through the area.  The latest 12z NAM that has just come hot off the presses continues to emphasize that the atmosphere will grow unstable in the late afternoon into the evening across central/southwest sections of Alabama ahead of the cold front.

LI values in the –3 to –7 range (higher values to the SW) will support a threat of damaging winds with the increased forcing moving in from the west.  Low level shear values will also support updrafts that will keep the line charged across the state, but directional shear will be nearly non-existant.  We will have to watch for kinks in the line for minor spin ups, but the possibility is near zero.

This NAM reflectivity product does just what we think and suggests a line of showers and storms will move through the Birmingham metro during the late afternoon and push through the area during the evening.  Damaging winds up to 65 mph, small hail, and a VERY slim chance at a brief tornado touchdown are possible.  Main threats will be from the wind, lightning, and heavy rainfall.

We have posted up a slight risk of chasing if something does happen to pop and get significant…..especially ahead of the line but we don’t expect much.  Stay tuned for later updates if the situation deserves a closer look.

The video below showcases the storms that we were able to catch up with on 3/26/2011 across Central Alabama where many storms went into rotation yet only produced very few tornadoes.  Large hail was prevalent during these events as well. 

It looks like we have a more active period of weather ahead for the coming days as we go into the weeks end.  Some isolated severe storms are expected over OK/W AR tomorrow evening as our initial impulse begins to kick out.  Storms will start firing late in the evening over OK and AR and continue to spread eastward into the night and during the day on Saturday.  The SPC has issued a SLGT risk (shown above) across portions of the deep south for Saturday.  The risks look to be mainly damaging winds and large hail, but wind profiles do support some isolated super cell development that would include tornadoes if they form.  We will likely hit the field early Saturday morning if this is to occur. 

The chances decrease somewhat on Sunday, but there is still some chance of severe weather even then.  Our final impulse will roll through on Monday evening with another heightened risk of severe storms.  Tornadoes could be more common with this impulse as wind profiles look better and surface instability is in place.  We are still 5 days away from this shot, so we will get through Saturday first and then have a better determination of Monday’s system.

Tornado damage about 2 miles from some my in-laws home.  This tornado has apparently damaged a fuel station as well as the Food World and tossed many cars about.  An 18 wheeler also sustained significant damage at this location.  This was the tornadoes starting point as it raked Mobile and Baldwin Counties.