Posts Tagged ‘Tornado’

Tornado Watch #1 has been issued this evening across portions of Missouri and Illinois for a strong cold front that has sparked some severe/tornado warned storms across the region this evening.  It looks like no confirmed reports of tornadoes are out at this time, but several reports of hail greater than .75” in diameter have been.  The tornado watch runs for the next several hours until 7AM central time.

On another note….a SLGT risk of severe weather was issued by the Storm Prediction Center around midnight for today across portions of Central Mississippi into Central/Northern Alabama.  The primary threats remain to be wind/hail but an isolated tornado occurrence is possible as well.  We will have to watch this potential through the afternoon and evening hours tomorrow and we may have teams in the field if conditions warrant. 

There is the potential for touring to take place as well.  Inquire about tours to brett@livestormsnow.com ASAP to make reservations! 

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….

My cousin, Misty Grogan, of Gratitude products has designed a shirt and proceeds will go directly to tornado relief victims.  An image of the shirt will be posted below and the total cost will be $15.  She has a massive order of these coming in later this week.  If you would like one please email her at mgrogan@gratitudeproducts.us

It’s football related because we know this stuff always sells.  Great looking shirt and I will definitely be ordering one.  Thanks to all who are interested and keep supporting our state!

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.

Last night….a large supercell developed along the Nebraska/Iowa border and completely raked West-Central and Northern Iowa with several large tornadoes and a swath of damage.  We have some interesting radar imagery we wanted to share to show how strong this beast was along with some video and photo documentation from fellow chasers of our media group, KDR Media.

Base Reflectivity shows the well pronounced hook and inflow region gong strait into Mapleton around 710 PM Central time last evening.  This is as the tornado was getting organized on the SW side of town.

You can see the tornado coming strait through the town of Mapleton here with the 0.5 degree inbound/outbound velocities beginning to converge and max out as the tornado plows through town.  This tornado did significant damage all across this area.  This parent supercell thunderstorm apparently produced several large, destructive tornadoes over the course of a 4 hour period across Iowa.  So far, we haven’t heard of any confirmed fatalities.

The video below comes from fellow KDR Media stringers Skip Talbot and Mike Boik.

Also….some damage video from KDR Media Stringer Mike Brady.

We will continue to update this story as it unfolds.  Another high end severe weather event is expected across the northern plains and upper midwest later today.  Stay tuned…

We will be chasing Mississippi and Alabama tomorrow as a major storm system moves toward the east.  We expect to depart by 6am Central on our trek to a target of around Oxford, Mississippi.  We expect a line of severe thunderstorms to impact the area with the potential for some supercells to develop ahead of the main line by the Noon – 2PM time frame.

Some of the latest data is indicating the potential for some supercells capable of producing tornadoes….in particular the 18z GFS and the 12z WRF.  Here is a shot of the reflectivity for 20z tomorrow from the 12z WRF.

This model indicates some isolated development just west of Tupelo which moves towards the NE quickly as the line to the west intensifies.  We think this is a likely scenario where a few rogue cells are able to fire ahead of the line before the winds veer too much and surface convergence is killed before the line plows full.  We expect some pretty significant winds as well with the line which could cause sporadic major damage.  The line won’t be something to take lightly. 

The GFS shows extreme divergence fields over portions of MS/AL by the afternoon and temperatures jumping into the 80°s.  Instability values will be moderate to strong and this will help create a volatile environment.  

LIVE STREAMING VIDEO: CLICK HERE!

The live video will be available via the link above at StormScapeLIVE.com.  We will be streaming beginning around 7am as we move toward the target zone.  As of now, we have one tourist along for the ride tomorrow and have one slot open.  If interested….contact us on our facebook page HERE!

Continue to monitor our twitter feed on the side of the page and our fan page updates when on the road tomorrow.  We will pop in and out of our chat room on the right side of our video stream to chat with you guys as time permits.  See you tomorrow.

The Storm Prediction Center has outlined much of the deep south on Monday and Tuesday for the potential for a significant severe weather threat including hail, high winds, and the potential for some strong tornadoes.  This looks to be the greatest severe threat of the year as we move onward into spring with April marching right in and on cue.  There have been some timing differences, but currently the greatest threat and time for severe weather looks to come between 6pm Monday and 6am on Tuesday.  This has the potential to be a dangerous event.  We will continue to monitor and update later on as conditions warrant. 

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.

Much of the rainfall has moved out, but the cloud cover is hanging tough.  Most of the mid level drying is back to our west and it may be hard for us to destabilize before the cold front comes through this afternoon that is already moving into portions of NW AL as shown by the isobaric trough on the surface charts trailing back through Mississippi.  Dewpoints are trying to surge once again, but I don’t believe that there will be enough time for things to get active again before the frontal passage. 

Here is a look at the Silverhill, AL tornado on radar this morning.  This storm produced tornadoes across Mobile and Baldwin counties from Tillmans Corner to the Florida state line.  NWS survey crews will be out in full force estimating the damage and strength of these tornadoes.  Luckily only minor injuries have been reported.

Portions of SW Alabama have been placed under a tornado watch until 3AM CST.  This watch only includes far western border counties this evening.  Thunderstorms are erupting along the front and ahead of it from the Shreveport, LA area eastward.  This is expected to continue overnight and the threat of tornadic action is expected to increase with time. 

A very heavy rain mass is moving across portions of Mississippi and Alabama this evening and will likely cause some localized flooding troubles throughout the evening.  We are watching the warm front closely to the south and will likely be chasing if things become unstable across south-central portions of our area by morning.  We will be updating throughout the night time hours as conditions warrant.  Go over your tornado plan if you are in the watch area.