Severe Weather Awareness

This last week was national severe weather preparedness week.  During the week, the national weather service put out various themed preparedness messages each day to help to inform the public on severe weather and how to be prepared for it.  Along with the NWS, many television (and non TV) meteorologists and severe weather enthusiasts also did their part to inform the public of severe weather safety.  This is generally done in the early spring to make people aware for the upcoming severe thunderstorm season that begins in Spring.



There are several types of severe weather that one can encounter.  They can come all at once or individually as each storm is different in its own way.  The main threats from thunderstorms are lightning, wind, rain, hail, and tornadoes.  Each of these can bring life threatening risks that are good to be aware of.

Warnings are not generally issued because of lightning, and lightning can be a hazard in non severe storms.  Lightning is an electrical current.  You needn't be struck directly by the lightning to be a victim of its effects.  It can travel distances through objects and can even strike you indoors through conductors such as pipes or wires.  The electrical charges will interfere with your bodies electric nervous system causing damage or death.  It can also "pass over" the outside of the body leaving burns.  Many people are killed each year by lightning.  The catch phrase to remember is, when thunder roars, go indoors.




Wind, on the other hand, is something upon which a severe thunderstorm warning will be issued.  Wind speeds of 58 mph or greater will cause a severe thunderstorm warning to be issued.  This is the speed at which more significant damage begins occurring; damage that can cause injury or death to a person, or significant property damage.  Power outages are also caused by the wind that can be more than just a nuisance should the outage last for any length of time.  In larger wind events, power could be out for days.

Rain is not something that brings a severe thunderstorm warning, but is an inherent danger in thunderstorms.  Severe thunderstorms can produce very large amounts of rainfall in a very short period of time that can cause flash flooding to occur that can wash away, people, cars, and property.  Prolonged periods can cause longer lasting flooding that lingers on.  The phrase "turn around, don't drown" is put out to help remind people not to go into flooded waters and they can be deadly.




Severe thunderstorm warnings are issued for hail; hail that is greater than 3/4 of an inch in diameter.  Hail stones fall at high rates of speed and when they get large can be devastating to property and can kill living creatures.  Most hail is small, but in rare instances can get up to softball size.  Hail of that size will total you car.

Tornadoes get their own special warning because of their destructive and deadly properties.  Most of us have seen what the large tornadoes can do to communities over the last few years.  The scenes of devastation can be apocalyptic and leave places unrecognizable and uninhabitable.  Debris can also be carried long distances.  Last year I was 30 miles away from a major tornado and had large pieces of debris raining out of the sky; pieces of roof and walls, insulation, personal affects.  It was nerve wracking to realize that this was pieces of peoples disrupted lives raining down on me, and that some were likely dead.


Watches are issued by the national weather service when the conditions that could produce severe weather appear to be coming together in a region.  They might be a severe thunderstorm or tornado watch, depending on conditions being favorable for their development.  When a watch is issued, that is when you should already have your plans ready to go.  Stay informed with your local weather reports and have a NOAA weather radio in case a warning is issued for your area.  They only cost $30 - $40.  It is much like having a smoke alarm.  They are there for when you need them.


When a warning is issued, this means that severe weather is ongoing and will be entering your area.  This is the time when you put your emergency plans into play.  Many people are caught off guard in severe weather because they don't have a plan on what to do and often are left frozen with indecision and confusion.  Some people just plain don't heed or take serious the warnings.  Don't be that person.  It only takes one time for it to be fatal or life altering.


And, I don't want to forget about the aftermath.  After a severe event there may be a lot of debris about and downed power lines.  You generally want to stay in place if it is safe to do so.  You may have to help neighbors should they need it too.  Your being prepared may not only help you and your family, but neighbors also.  People who are not affected can help by staying out of damaged areas and donating cash to known charities such as the red cross who deal with disasters on a regular basis.  Cash is best because these organizations know what the immediate needs are and they would rather not be inundated by other peoples throwaways.


Stay informed, have a plan, and help others if you can.

A Nation In Gridlock

It was quite the week in weather for the last week of January!  The week began with another arctic blast into the upper Midwest and great lakes that pushed its way down into the deep south.  Small clipper systems with high winds plagued the Midwest too creating blizzard like conditions That had everything closed down and thousands of people stuck in snow.  Another system swept the south early in the week creating disastrous traffic conditions in major metropolitan areas.  Entire cities like Atlanta and Birmingham were in entire gridlock.  People were stranded intheir cars, students in school busses all having to spend over 24 hours stuck with no way to get out.  The west remained dry and water restrictions were being put in place with admonitions to not even flush the toilet every time.  The week ends with a pattern change that looks to bring a series of large snowstorms across the plains and into the great lakes that could have people digging out 2 feet of snow.

This winter being so harsh in so many places is putting a strain on resources.  Many communities are running low on salt and are having to limit their salting to major roadways, leaving side streets and rural roads untreated.  States like Illinois and Missouri have had to make declarations because of a shortage of propane which is leaving many people without heat in the brutal arctic air.  Manpower of government services are stretched thin.  Police, fire, and ambulance services have more than they can handle with the many many accidents.  Plow drivers are getting little rest as the snow piles up and blows around faster than they can keep up with.


In this time of hardship we do see many good things that people do for one another.  In Atlanta, chik-fil-a went around giving away food to stranded motorists.  Local residents took people in, or set up free coffee stands.  A friend of mine who was stranded was taken in by an apartment complex that had community areas so people could stay warm as they waited up to 48 hours to get home.  There were even reports of a baby being born amid the chaos of stranded motorists.  Even when the elements are at their worst, many people moved to their best.

true southern hospitality chick-fil-a hands free food to drivers stranded in winter storm


Winter winds whipped up big drifts and kept plows busy early in the week in the Great Lakes.   Here is a plow clearing the way:

Gridlock in the south from a rare snowfall:




And a little video of the conditions I faced.  Sorry I swore at the tailgater.  =/



I would sure like to be able to get some warmer weather to report on.

Weather Report 12/22/13

Another week and another powerful storm system has blasted through the mid-section of the country and into the northeast.  This storm was not atypical for this time of year and not record setting, but it was potent and had a variety of ways of causing mayhem across the country. 

When I began talking about this system a week ago, it looked like heavy snow was going to be the big story.  It turns out that I was wrong.  We had some good snow totals, but really just a normal snowstorm.  The really big impacts came in other packages.



Rain was a large story as many places were seeing rainfall amounts in excess of 3 inches.  Flash flooding and small creeks and streams overflowing were seen from Indiana to the gulf coast and from west of the Mississippi to the Appalachians.


Severe storms and tornadoes threatened the southern states.  There were a few confirmed tornadoes, but many of the storms packed winds in excess of 70mph and cause quite a bit of damage.  Downed trees helped knock out power lines all through the south.  Reed Timmer Tornado Chase

This storm also had an ice component that has knocked out power to hundreds of thousands in Canada and the northeast USA.  Lesser amounts caused numerous small accidents throughout the Midwest and great lakes regions.


The weather looks to be quieting down for the week ahead with no major systems across the country.  There will be a little clipper system that will bring some Christmas eve and day snows across the upper Midwest into the Great Lakes region, but that is about it for the next week ahead.  Temperatures should remain mostly in a seasonal range, maybe a little under average most locations. 

Tornado Outbreak Nov. 17th, 2013

This was the lead story last weekend.  A tornado outbreak strikes the midwest and Great Lakes region.  81 reports of tornadoes in 6 states damaging dozens of town and leveling several. Also hundreds of reports of severe wind and hail we recieved causing sporadic damage and power outages over hundreds of miles.  In Illinois there were 2 F4 tornadoes, the first time such large tornadoes had struck the state in November since records have been kept. 



As early as the previous Wednesday and Thursday, there was talk of a severe weather event coming together in that region.  The storm prediction center even put out a graphic 4 days in advance for severe potential.  As we got into Friday and Saturday, the potential for severe weather became more and more sure, and also more and more ominous.  All the ingredients seemed to be coming together for a major tornado outbreak.  It became so sure by Saturday that a High risk area was posted, which is a rare event.  On Sunday morning they expanded the risk areas a bit. Anybody who was into weather knew...  this was a seriously dangerous situation about to unfold.



All the ingredients were there, a strong low pressure system creating lots of wind,  moisture flowing in from the south, a strong jet stream flying overhead from the west creating crosswinds at different heights in the air.  Along with the moisture you had enough warmth at the surface and cold air aloft.  The cold front coming off the low was bowed a bit forward rather than dragging behind with a sharp contrast in temperatures and wind direction.  It wasn't a matter of if, but when would they begin to fire.

By 9am the storms had already begun to fire.  There was a line in N IL near Rockford, and SW of Peoria some more storms had just formed.  There were a couple of tornado warnings on the north storms for spotted funnel clouds, but they were soon robbed of energy by the southern storms as they developed.  At 11:55am the first confirmed tornado was spotted by Pekin IL, just south of Peoria.  It did some damage and moved on to East Peoria by 12:00pm and damaged up to 80 homes there.  The storm intensified more before it moved into Washington by 12:05, a full blown F4 tornado that you saw at the open of the blog.  As time moved on, more storms developed and more tornadoes formed and towns hit.  It was truly a scary afternoon.



I was already on the road by the time the first torndao reports started coming in.  The first tornado was on the ground for 46 miles and lasted 41 minutes (notice the speed?  over 60mph).  It lifted at about 12:36 or shortly thereafter.  Very shortly after that I was arriving at Morris on the NE corner of the storm.  All kinds of debris was raining down from the sky.  Mostly it was construction material; insulation, shingles, little bits of wood.  I knew something bad had happened, and that also I was not in a good location.  It seemed to take forever to get out of there as there was traffic lights to work through and I got them all red and thinking, there is a tornado coming at me and I am stuck at this light.

I proceeded east to stay ahead of the storm, also hoping I could work into a good location.  Then the storm began dropping new tornadoes.  Braidwood, Coal City, Wilmington, Manhattan, then Frankfort.  Each time the reports were moving  NE and I was on a direct collision course with the tornado.  I knew I was in the slot, with rains to my north and ominous steep rising clouds to my SW.  The tornado I knew was just behind the feature to my SW, being abscured by rain from my view.  The whole time I heard the sound of tornado sirens blaring into the afternoon sky.  I just couldn't make any progress against this fast moving storm.  I finally had to bail as traffic had become too slow to outrun the storm and I did not want to be stuck in my car if it hit.  Good thing too.  The map I am looking at shows the last report only 2 km to my south.  How many miles is a km? That was at 2pm in Frankfort.



Upon my return home, I stopped back and checked out some of the debris that had fallen.  Mostly it was construction material.  I found a fragment of a hand written note and a piece of a bill from 1991.  About 40 miles from Washington I found a piece of wall board about 3ft square.  Hard to imagine that frisbeeing for 40 miles, but there it was.  There was also a lot of sporadic damage from non tornadic winds; trees down, power poles snapped, garbage cans and such strewn about.  It was also on my way home I began to hear the reports of what I already had known from the falling debris.  Towns had been hit and severely damaged by tornadoes.







One of the oddities of the tornadoes that day was there seemingly targeting places named Washington.  There was the town of Washington IL that was severely damaged by an F4, and further downstate another F4 struck Washington county.  AND, the town of Washington Indiana was hit by a tornado also.  



My prayers go out to those affected, and calls go out again for assistance to anyone within my reach.  If you give cash to the Red Cross, you can designate it to be for tornado relief.  I have to hand it to the communities though.  They have very quickly sprung into action with their emergency plans they had in place and the relief efforts so far have been very organized and quick.  Kudos to the communities, and the surrounding communities and businesses who have all pitched in to help. I hope it has been like that in all the communities hit Sunday.  There were many.

God's Weather Cycle

Ecclesiastics 1:5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
    and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
    ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
    there they return again.

In these few verses, the bible describes all we need to know about weather.  All the elements and dynamics of weather here are simply stated.  Thousands of years before men understood the water cycle, or the effects of the sun on the atmosphere, or about the Jet streams and how the air circumnavigates the globe, the Bible lays it all out, proving the inspirational writings are from Yahweh who created all these. 

The sun rises and the sun sets….  This is the beginning of weather.  The sun beats down on the waters, and the waters evaporate, turning into gas and rising into the air.  The wind blows, carrying the now gaseous water vapor with it.  These winds meet up with other winds from other directions that help to lift the moisture higher into the air.  The sun too heating the air helps to lift the moisture higher and higher into the cooler upper atmosphere, where it condenses into clouds, forms into water droplets and falls back to the earth at the place where the streams came from.  Sun, wind, and water.   The building blocks of weather.

The dynamics of the interplay of these three factors determine what kind of weather we get.  That’s where weather people make their predictions.  They have learned how these elements interact in greater detail and can make predictions based on their understanding of that interaction based on timing, location, and amount of each factor. 

I myself find it a little funny that man has spent all these years discovering what the Bible had already told us thousands of years ago, and we act like we have accomplished something.  I also find it laughable that we think that in some way we can either control or effect this interaction that God has put into play.  Man has tried many ways to manipulate the weather, with no effect.  At the same time we claim that we have irrevocable effected the weather by a mere 100 years of advancement, despite the fact that records show far more extreme weather occurrences long before man became “civilized”

Yahweh is the one who created weather, and He is the one who controls it.  God set it in motion, created the parameters and laws of its functioning.  It is He who can alter it at His will.  If and when He chooses, Yahweh can use weather to punish, or save, bring judgment or blessing. Rather than worry about what us tiny little creations are doing to the weather, we should be paying attention to changes in the weather that the creator of weather is bringing about.  Jehovah God just might be trying to tell us something through the weather.

God Don't Play

It was the evening of August 13, 1987.  I was a young man struggling to make ends meet in the world, and also a very young man in the Lord.  I had a job from a temporary service that I had to walk about 10 miles to get to.  A pretty good walk, but one had to do what one has to do to get by.

The job I was working was at a factory working 3^rd shift, 10:30pm-7am.  It was one of those really boring monotonous jobs that did not require much brain activity, but at least it was feeding me temporarily.  It was a good company though so there was always the hope that the temporary job would lead to a permanent one.

I had to start off to work about 8pm to get there on time walking.  The day had not been a particularly good day.  Frankly, the month had not been a particularly good month, nor the year a particularly good year either.  I was bouncing around from home to home, job to job, living hand to mouth.  I was questioning my faith, wondering why all these bad things were happening to me.  I was mad at God and mad at the world.

On the way to work the clouds had begun building up, and building up rapidly.  As the sun was setting I began seeing a lot of lightning and the clouds began closing in as they grew.  The clouds seemed to match my mood as I was having it out with God on the way to work.  I was not happy about what was going on in my life and I was letting God know this in no uncertain terms.

Finally, about half way to my job, it began to rain.  I started to complain about that too. After a few minutes of getting wet, I looked up in the sky and said, “ok God, give me your best shot, I can take it.”  No sooner had I said that, the skies opened up it rained like I had never seen it rain before.  It was like standing underneath a waterfall.  Lightning bolts were crashing to the ground all around me, almost as if seeking me out.  Before I even got to work, the ditches had filled up and the roads were beginning to get flooded over.  The winds were blowing leaves and branches around and the non-stop thunder shook the ground.  I walked the rest of the way to work with my head down just repeating, “I can take it”.

Finally I got to work, soaking wet and exhausted.  Everyone just looked at me like the cat had just dragged something in.  At least I had been smart enough to have some dry clothes in a garbage bag so I went and changed.  Soon after arriving the power went out for an hour or so and everyone stood in the loading dock watching the incredible lightning storm and the deluge of rain that just kept falling.  Finally the power came back on and we went back to work.

At lunch time, the boss came over to my work station and informed me that I was no longer needed at that job, so it was time for me to go home at 2:30 in the morning.  It had already been storming for 6 straight hours and now I had to go back out into it. I had no place to go…  I now had no job…  and it was still pouring rain on me as I walked silently and humbly back to town.

It took a while longer getting back to town as I had to detour around several flooded out areas.  Finally about the first light of dawn the rains ended.  Exhausted, dejected, demoralized, and humbled, I could not go on any further.  I walked out into a field and lay down on the ground and was soon asleep.

I don’t know how long I had been lying there, but I opened my eyes and sat up to see a police officer jump back scared out of his wits like he had seen a ghost!  “GEEZ!  You scared the heck out of me!  I thought you were a dead body!”  “No,” I replied, “Not dead, but dead tired.”  The officer gave me a ride back into town and I went about my way from there.  Later on I found out, God had given me the best shot known in that area since the flood. 

A couple of things happened from this though.  I learned, do not tempt the Lord thy God.  And it was also confirmed that, yes indeed He was there, and that He was listening.   I got seriously spanked, but from it found a greater faith.

Here is the article confirming the record rainfall of that day.
http://worldhistoryproject.org/1987/8/13/the-chicago-flood-of-1987