Geobulletin alpha

GOES 14 One Minute Imagery of Plains Storms 

The spare GOES 14 weather satellite can send back an image every minute, and it was turned on today to give forecasters a look at the tornado and severe storms developing in the Plains. We will see this imagery more frequently in the future after the launch of the GOES R weather satellite next fall. You can see the imagery at the link below, but you will need a good

GOES 14 One Minute Imagery 

The spare GOES 14 weather satellite can send back an image every minute, and it was turned on today to give forecasters a look at the tornado and severe storms developing in the Plains. We will see this imagery more frequently in the future after the launch of the GOES R weather satellite next fall. You can see the imagery at the link below, but you will need a good

Cool Science Pics 

Thought I’d share some cool pics taken from Space today. The first one below is from the past week, and is a great view from the ISS courtesy of Astronaut Barry Wilmore. Notice the city lights shining through the clouds. I forecasted a sunny Sunday in Maryland and Delaware today. Missed it by THAT much! Severe storms hit Oklahoma Sunday evening ahead of a powerful tropospheric low pressure system. The

November Severe Weather Outbreak Expected Sunday in Ohio Valley 

I cannot remember the last time I saw a moderate risk for severe storms in November, but it has seemed to happen more often in recent years. A negatively tilted trough will swing through the region on Sunday and severe storms will likely develop along a fast-moving cold front. The wind field will be strong as well with south winds of 20-30 mph ahead of the front, with almost all

What makes a tornado? And why does the American Midwest have more than any other area of the world? 

Shawnee, Oklahoma tornado, May 19, 2013photo by Brett Wrightfrom http://www.tornadotitans.comThe forecast map posted for May 20, 2013on the tornado chaser's WWW site athttp://www.tornadotitans.comNOTE: Between the time I started this and posted it, the forecast for  storms in the area has gone from "strong severe storms predicted for 5:00" to "isolated thunderstorms." Forecasts from the commercial sites, such as weather.com or wunderground.com vary considerably. Here's the National Weather [...]

Severe Storms Threaten College Football Saturday In The Northeast 

There is a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms, with a few tornadoes, over the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states beginning Saturday afternoon. A moderate risk is a big deal anytime, but this event will happen on a busy Saturday with hundreds of thousands of people in college football stadiums across the region. The timing could not be worse either. As it looks now, the line of severe storms will be moving into the

Severe tornado outbreak predicted for the weekend; record outbreaks 

Storms on Friday, 4/13/2012From weather.comIn a very unusual move, NOAA issued a severe weather/tornado alert two days in advance for this upcoming weekend. I first read of this from Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal on the American Geophysical Union Blogosphere. Dan (Satterfield) is a meteorologist on air who writes a blog for AGU aimed at junior high-school audiences and up. Unfortunately, Joplin, Missouri, so hard-hit just a year ago, is getting pummeled again with severe weather today and [...]

IPCC says they don’t know if the climate is becoming more extreme 

There has been much speculation and many headlines about the relationship between global warming and extreme weather.  For example, see this recent alarmist story from the AP in the Arizona Daily Star: “World warned to prepare for extreme weather.”  The first line of that story says, “Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts

January Tornado Outbreak Imminent 

A rare significant outbreak of severe storms and tornadoes is looking more likely later today in the region from Little Rock to Memphis, and into West Alabama. The Storm Prediction Center here in Oklahoma has posted a moderate risk. Those are rare in January. The upper level trough is negatively tilted, and this will cause the wind field to be very favourable for roating supercell storms. Negatively tilted troughs always

Storm Prediction Center Issues Rare “High Risk” of Severe Storms 

There are two main ingredients for severe thunderstorms, wind shear and instability. These long lasting thunderstorms called supercells produce almost all of the severe weather that hits the plains and Southeast USA in the spring. If you have large hail or see a tornado, then you are in a supercell. Meteorologist combine instability and shear into an number called the supercell index. Anything above 5 is significant, and over 10

70 MPH Winds Rake Midwest 

70 mph winds approach Memphis late Tuesday. Notice the bow shape of the line of storms. Yet another band of severe storms has caused widespread damage across the Eastern U.S. The event late Tuesday was composed primarily of damaging straight-line winds with a few strong tornadoes. Memphis was hit with winds up to 70 mph, (around 10 PM)  and when the line hit Jackson TN an hour later, a gust

New Tornado Outbreak Coming- This one in the Midwest. 

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman (They are the ones who issue the tornado and severe thunderstorm watches) has indicated a moderate risk of severe storms on Wednesday afternoon and Evening over much of the Midwest. After last weekends swarm of tornadoes, this is not good news, but it is April and some of our deadliest tornado outbreaks have been in this month. There are already signs in the numerical

Dust Foot from Microburst 

A line of heavy and severe storms crossed North Alabama and Middle Tennessee today, with numerous reports of trees and power lines down. During live coverage of the storms, I spotted a dust foot on our live camera on top of the Saturn 5 mock-up in Huntsville. A dust foot is an indicator that a microburst has occurred and that strong winds are very likely. A microburst happens in severe

Spotting A Tornado On Your iPhone-Part Two 

  So what do you think? Is this a band of severe storms? For the most part they are just heavy, but there may be some strong winds in the line. Large tornadoes rarely come out of a line of storms like this.  Heavy rain and gusty winds are the main threat. In part one, I discussed using the Radar Scope app to tell if you are in the path

President declares major disaster for October floods in Havasu Canyon 

A presidential disaster declaration was approved yesterday as a result of flooding during October 3-6 that severely damaged areas, especially in Havasu Canyon, on the Havasupai tribal reservation near Grand Canyon. FEMA announced that federal funding is available for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms and flooding and for hazard

Flooding in Southern Spain 

Severe storms in Europe have caused flooding in southern Spain. NASA has released a satellite image showing the Guadalquivir River flooding Las Marismas, a marshy area near the coast, and a sediment plume along the coast (shown in the image as a bright blue

Evidence for October 6 Flagstaff Tornadoes 

You may or may not recall that northern Arizona and the Flagstaff area received national weather attention for a series of severe storms that raced across our region from north to south in the early morning hours of October 6. Perhaps 28 and at least 8 tornadoes were documented to have touched down in the area north and west of Flagstaff. While driving to and from the "Trail of Time Dedication" between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon, I noticed unmistakable linear blow-downs of Ponderosa [...]

Tornadoes in Illinois and Indiana 

Severe storms damaged many homes and buildings this past weekend in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa and Michigan. Tornadoes struck three areas near: Laomi, IL; Greenfield, IL and Columbia City,