|
|
|
 March 2, 2007 — Tornadoes that tore across the Southeast on Thursday struck after significant advance warning from the NOAA National Weather Service. Preliminary Tornado Warning lead times—the amount of time between the issuance of a Tornado Warning and the touchdown of a tornado—ranged from 12 minutes to 55 minutes, providing critical time for the emergency message to sound NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio and television and tornado sirens. For Enterprise, Ala., the preliminary tornado lead time was 18 minutes. (Click NOAA image for larger view of the storm-based Tornado Warning—peach-colored polygon—issued for Alabama's Coffee County, including Enterprise, at 12:47 p.m. CT on Thursday by the NOAA National Weather Service displayed the projected tornado path with greater specificity over the typical county-based warnings. Please credit “NOAA.”)
 New storm-based warnings, introduced by the NOAA National Weather Service in January (to be fully operational nationwide in October), helped to better pinpoint the path of yesterday’s tornadoes resulting in a reduction in the area warned, as compared to the previous county-based warning method. The Tornado Warning that included Enterprise, Ala., included a 71 percent reduction in areas that did not need the warning. |
|
|
|
|
|
Feb., 2006 — The NOAA National Weather Service today announced plans to implement the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale to rate tornadoes to replace the original Fujita (F) Scale. The EF Scale will continue to rate tornadoes on a scale from zero to five, but ranges in wind speed will be more accurate with the improved rating scale. The NOAA National Weather Service has approved the EF Scale and expects it to be fully implemented by February 2007.
"The EF Scale takes into account additional variables which will provide a more accurate indication of tornado strength," said retired Air Force Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, director of the NOAA National Weather Service. "The EF Scale will provide more detailed guidelines that will allow the National Weather Service to more accurately rate tornadoes that strike in the United States."
|
|
|
|
|
|
MOST OF THEM GOT LITTLE OR NO WARNING BECAUSE THEY HAD NO WEATHER ALERT RADIOS...
From Fox News
LADY LAKE, Fla. — Storms carrying the state's deadliest tornado in a decade cut a path across central Florida early Friday, killing at least 14 people, damaging hundreds of homes and littering fields with clothes, furniture and splintered lumber.
Searchers moved through the four-county region, using spray paint to mark what they found in husks of buildings while residents who had startled out of bed came back to look for friends or loved ones and salvage anything that wasn't blown apart.
Among the deaths were two high school students.
See the entire story here. See the storm reports from the Storm Prediction Center here. |
|
|
|
|
|
Tonight, my dad's battle with cancer ended peacefully at 9:34pm EST, after almost a year. His illness was in many ways like different types of deadly weather. It started like a "pulse event", a severe storm that popped up with little warning, did a lot of damage, hurt a lot of people and then, we thought passed.
The doctors did surgery and "hit a home run" - they thought they got it all, but THEY were wrong. As his illness progressed, it was more like a hurricane - we knew something terrible was coming - slowly, we knew it was going to be bad, but we counted on a steady forward speed and direction. WE were wrong. All of a sudden it turned hard and it sped up and it took him fast. I know hurricanes can do that; I've seen it happen, but I prayed my dad's storm wouldn't take him so quickly.
My dad lived a good life - he missed his 78th birthday by only two weeks. He loved a lot, he WAS loved a lot and he'll be missed a lot.
He'd been through his share of storms. In the Navy, he went through plenty of big blows and he used to say, when people asked him "did you ever get seasick?" " yeah, but only once... unfortunately, it started the day I got on the ship and lasted until I got off!" He lived on campus at NC State University when Hazel slammed North Carolina in 1954. He watched the storm ravage Raleigh, tossing giant oak trees, roof tiles and everything else not tied down around his dorm and spiking the giant tiles into the ground.
In 1988, it was he who woke me, banging on my front door, after an F4 touched down less than a mile from both our houses, killed four people and did massive damage along an 84 mile path, during one of those pulse events.
I'd give anything if we'd been able to prepare for dad's disaster and prevent it and I feel so helpless and sad that I couldn't just give him some safety tips and protect him like he always wanted to protect me. His NOAA weather radio didn't have a CANCER WARNING. He was always proud and supportive of my passion to teach people to be prepared for disasters.
He always got nervous when we'd leave for a hurricane deployment or go out during an ice storm or severe thunderstorm. He knew we'd be as safe as possible and he was glad that we could help other people by getting REAL, ACCURATE and TRUE reports out of the stricken areas, but he also knew it was dangerous and he worried about his boy.
My dad's only been gone for a few hours and I am so heartbroken by the way he was taken from us. With StormStudy.com and the Storm Education Team, we've helped support cancer research by helping monitor weather to help protect the guests at the Jimmy V. Celebrity Golf Classic for 7 years. This event has been a major contributor to cancer research. I never thought when he'd ask "what are you doing this weekend" that when I told him we were "doing the Jimmy V." that HE'D become a victim of that terrible disease just months before we did our most recent one. You can help protect future generations from suffering my beloved dad's fate by supportng the American Cancer Society.
Cancer's end day will come soon, I hope, but as long as the Earth spins, dangerous weather and other natural disasters will be potential threats to us all. You can't prepare for everything, but you can prepare for those things. Protect your family and the other people you love against the things you can.
Dad never surfed the web once, but I know he can see this, so... I love you dad, I miss you and I'm so sorry we couldn't have that beer I promised you tonight.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Winter has been BAD for Texas and Louisiana with Spring-like tornadic storms. In the latest outbreak, 3 people are dead, more are injured and damage is heartbreaking. See the entire story here.
Also, tornado reports in Alabama and Mississippi came out of the same storm system that is moving across Mississippi and Georgia today. Atlanta is under a tornado watch, they had warnings earlier and the Carolinas could see severe weather today too.
See the latest storm reports for these (January 4th) storms here the current day's storms here and learn how to prepare here. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
