Just a quick post this morning about the tornado devastation in Oklahoma. It reminds me of the discussion of SuperStorm Sandy. Check out this past post about SuperStorm risks, and this one about hardening infrastructure against violent storms. The cities in Oklahoma that were struck by the tornado could have used buried power lines. Stronger houses or more underground storm shelters would be beneficial. Maybe it is time to start considering underground shelters or large “storm rooms” for big public buildings like schools, factories, and churches. These are all great ideas, of course, but they all cost money. It is much cheaper to live in a trailer home even though the risk of dying in a severe weather event – in tornado alley no less – is much much greater. I am happy to see WPS is at least testing buried power cables in the Northwoods. I hope the test proves some benefit for buried cables, as then “downed” power lines would be one less thing to worry about in a severe weather situation.

UPDATE: Over the weekend I warned people about an upcoming threat of frost. At that point, it looked as if the highest threat of frost would be Saturday and Sunday morning. Now the main threat has shifted to Friday morning with only a minor threat of frost well to the northeast of Marathon county on Saturday morning. On Friday morning it is looking more likely that there will be a light frost across rural and low-lying areas of central Wisconsin. I am now forecasting a low of 35 even in the city. The Northwoods will have the highest chance of frost with some spots possibly seeing low temps in the upper 20s. I have NOT yet planted my peppers, melons, or tomatoes in the ground in my country garden and I will hold off on potting some tomatoes as well, until after Friday. I already have six frost sensitive plants in pots that I will have to (maybe) cover or move indoors Thursday night. I don’t need anymore to worry about. Hopefully this will be the last significant frost threat of the season. I plan on putting more plants in the ground this weekend.

Have a good Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under Freeze, Gardening, Seasonal Items, Storms, Tornadoes

With tornado and severe weather season ramping up into high gear lately, it is a good time to review safety rules.  You probably have the safety tips for humans stuck in your head pretty well by now.  But how about for your pets?  What types of things do you need to have in place to keep them as safe as possible when a bad storm hits?  How about for caring for them in the aftermath?  The Humane Society of the U.S. has put together a comprehensive plan for pet owners.  You should definitely take a good look at this as there is much to learn on how to keep you precious animal friends cared for.  You will find it printed below.

• Put a collar with visible identification on your pets, including indoor-only pets.
• Keep pictures of your pets on hand for identification purposes. Ideally, you should also be in the photo.
• Create a pet emergency kit (see below). Items should be refreshed every few months.
• Talk to your neighbors about how they can help your pets if you are not at home if disaster strikes.
• Create a list of hotels that allow pets. Know where you can take your horses: Make arrangements with a friend or another horse owner to stable your horses if needed.

• Three-or-more-day supply of food in airtight, waterproof container, and drinking water.
• Bowls for food and water.
• Current photos and physical description of your pets, including details on markings.
• Medications, vaccination records and pet first aid supplies.
• Comfort items such as a toy and blanket.
• Small garbage bags.
• For dogs include: leash, harness and a sturdy carrier large enough to use as a sleeping area.
• For cats include: litter and litter box and a sturdy carrier large enough for transport.
• For horses include: Coggins tests, veterinary papers, identification photographs and vital information such as medical history and emergency phone numbers.

Posted under Education, Severe Weather, Storms, Tornadoes

Researchers at NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory and the University of Oklahoma have made some exciting new advances in tornado research.  They have found a strong relation between something called updraft helicity and and tornado track length.  Updraft helicity is essentially a measure of how fast the air is spinning in the rapidly rising column of warm moist air that feeds tornadic thunderstorms.  It can be inferred from the wind direction and speed at different heights in the atmosphere near the thunderstorms.  These researchers have improved their high resolution computer models enough to produce timely, small scale predictions of updraft helicity.  While the models can’t actually predict the tornado, they can with improved confidence show where the likelihood of a strong one forming will be.  As such it will be another handy tool for forecasters to use to help keep the public safe.

You can read a press release from NOAA on this topic from the following link.  http://researchmatters.noaa.gov/news/Pages/NSSLpredicting.aspx

Posted under Severe Weather, Storms, Tornadoes, Weather NEws

Years ago the standard line for what you should do if you were in an automobile and a tornado was approaching was to get out of the car and go crouch down in a ditch or ravine and cover your head.  A second train of thought told people to drive away from the tornado at right angles if you were comfortable with the roads and they were in safe condition yet.   Now things have changed.  Research and case studies over the past decade indicate that in many cases if you are caught away from shelter near a tornado, the automobile may offer some protection even just sitting it in while not moving.  With this in mind the National Weather Service and American Red Cross have released a joint statement in this matter.  Below is a summary of the important points.

Posted under Tornadoes, Weather NEws, Weather Safety

The Skywarn Spotter training program is in high gear right now as we prepare for the severe thunderstorm season.   The National Weather Service is holding numerous sessions around the area for those interested in learning about severe weather and how to report on it.    They include:

• April 2nd:  Wood County Courthouse in Wisconsin Rapids, 6:00 p.m.
• April 10th:  Waushara County Courthouse in Wautoma, 6:00 p.m.
• April 11th:  Antigo High School, 6:00 p.m.
• April 15th:  Law Enforcement Center in Adams, 6:30 p.m.
• May 22nd:  Oneida County Law Enforcement Center in Rhinelander, 6:00 p.m.

Several live webinars will be held as well.  You need to have high speed internet and phone to take part in these. 

• March 28th:  7:00 p.m.  Conducted by the Green Bay National Weather Service (you need to live in their county warning area-covers much of the TV-9 area)
• April 9th:  2:00 p.m.  Conducted by the La Crosse National Weather Service ( includes Taylor, Clark, Jackson, Monroe, Juneau, and Adams Counties)

A third option to become Skywarn certified is to take an online self study course.

• Please go to the following link to learn more about the online self study.   https://www.meted.ucar.edu/training_course.php?id=23

There is a wealth of information online regarding severe weather information, spotting, and safety.  Please visit the Green Bay National Weather Service Skywarn page, http://www.crh.noaa.gov/grb/spotters.php

Another great link is the National Skywarn Homepage.  http://skywarn.org/

Spotters, thanks for all your hard work and dedication.  You really help keep the public as safe and informed as possible during severe weather.  Keep up the good work!

Posted under Seasonal Items, Severe Weather, Storms, Tornadoes, Weather NEws, Weather Safety

2012 certainly did not have any shortage of extreme weather events across the United States.  In fact according to NOAA, there were 11 weather disasters that caused at least one billion dollars worth of damage.  Hurricanes, fires, droughts, floods, and tornadoes all made the list.  I suspect the greater our population becomes, and the more people that live along the coasts and in fire prone areas of the west and southwest, the greater the disaster potential will be in upcoming years.  The news article from NOAA printed below is a good summary with additional links if you want to dig in deeper to what happenned in 2012 and even prior years.  Keep in mind the NOAA article was written before the destructive storm that hit the southern and eastern U.S. on December 25th and 26th.

Preliminary Info on 2012 U.S. Billion-Dollar Extreme Weather/Climate Events

(source:  NOAA)

 

Today, NOAA released preliminary information on extreme weather and climate events in the U.S. for 2012 that are known to have reached the $1 billion threshold in losses. As of December 20, NOAA estimates that the nation experienced 11 such events, to include seven severe weather/tornado events, two tropical storm/hurricane events, and the yearlong drought and associated wildfires.

These eleven events combined are believed to have caused 349 deaths, with the most significant losses of life occurring during Sandy (131) and the summer-long heat wave and associated drought, which caused over 123 direct deaths (though an estimate of the excess mortality due to heat stress is still unknown).

The eleven events include:

• Southeast/Ohio Valley Tornadoes — March 2–3 2012
• Texas Tornadoes — April 2–3 2012
• Great Plains Tornadoes — April 13–14 2012
• Midwest/Ohio Valley Severe Weather — April 28–May 1 2012
• Southern Plains/Midwest/Northeast Severe Weather — May 25–30 2012
• Rockies/Southwest Severe Weather — June 6–12 2012
• Plains/East/Northeast Severe Weather (“Derecho”) — June 29–July 2 2012
• Hurricane Isaac — August 26–31 2012
• Western Wildfires — Summer–Fall, 2012
• Hurricane Sandy — October 29–31 2012
• U.S. Drought/Heatwave — throughout 2012

Economic losses for two events, Sandy and the yearlong drought, are the big drivers this year in terms of costs and are still being calculated. It will take months to develop a final, reliable estimate for each. Given how big these events are likely to be, NOAA estimates 2012 will surpass 2011 (exceeding $60 billion, CPI-adjusted to 2012 dollars) in terms of aggregate costs for annual billion-dollar disasters, even with fewer number of billion-dollar disasters. The greatest annual loss to date was 2005 when Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma and Dennis struck Florida and the Gulf Coast states (costs exceeded $187 billion, CPI-adjusted to 2012 dollars).

Further information about each of these eleven events can be found at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events.

The impacts of natural disasters, as seen this year, are a stark reminder of how deadly and destructive weather can be and how important it is to be prepared. Through NOAA’s Weather-Ready Nation initiative, we are taking steps to lessen the impacts of extreme weather on our communities and our nation’s economy. To learn more, visit http://www.nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation/.

Posted under Flooding, Hurricanes, Natural Disasters, Severe Weather, Storms, Tornadoes, Weather NEws

Christmas isn’t exactly what comes to mind when you think of tornado season in the U.S. However a vigorous storm system passing through the Southern Mississippi Valley Tuesday afternoon will gather many of the necessary ingredients to produce supercell thunderstorms in a strip from Texas to Georgia and Tennessee. Damaging straight line winds, large hail, torrential downpours, and tornadoes are expected. In fact the Storm Prediction Center believes that some of the tornadoes could be strong, long lived, long tracked twisters with winds over 150 mph. That part of the country has a moderate risk from the Storm Prediction Center for the dangerous conditions Christmas Day.

The peak time for this activity would be around the mid to late afternoon before the atmosphere starts to cool off in the early evening. Warm and humid air will be flowing north from the Gulf of Mexico and will collide with cold and dry air punching south across the Plains. It will clash near the low pressure system moving northeast from Arkansas. Our thoughts and prayers go out to that region that hopefully nothing to devastating happens.

Meanwhile on the north side of the storm track, heavy snow will be the main concern from Oklahoma all the way up toward Ohio and Pennsylvania by Tuesday night. Widespread 4 to 8″ snow amounts are expected with a few strips getting clobbered with up toward one foot of heavy wet snow. This will cause major travel disruptions in places like Tulsa, Paducah, Indianapolis, Columbus, and Erie, PA. It will continue to cause trouble by late Wednesday up into New England as well.

Posted under Severe Weather, snow, Tornadoes, Travel, Winter Weather

A pair of rare Upper Midwest November tornadoes struck the south side of the Twin Cities Metro area Saturday night.  The line of storms that produced the twisters formed just ahead of the powerful cold front which plowed in from the west.   Both tornadoes were fairly weak, EF-0 strength with winds around 75 to 80 mph.  The first hit Burnsville and was on the ground for a total of 2.6 miles.  The second twister passed just north of Eagan with a path length of just one-half mile.  It is quite rare to have tornadoes in November this far north in the country.  But in this case, there was enough warm and humid air feeding north ahead of the cold front to make the atmosphere unstable.  Strong winds all the way from the ground to the middle atmosphere helped set the stage for the tornadoes as well.

Some modest damage was noted.  You can learn much more about this unsual November tornado outbreak by checking out this link below from the National Weather Service Office in the Twin Cities.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=mpx&storyid=89269&source=0

Posted under Severe Weather, Tornadoes

Tornadoes are not unheard of in the northeastern United States, but they are rare. 

And in September, they are extremely rare. 

Nonetheless on Saturday, Sept. 5th a powerful cold front moving from the Great Lakes through New England spawned areas of torrential rain, strong wind, hail and isolated tornadoes in some unlikely places.   

Confirmed so far by the National Weather Service includes an EF1 tornado in Canarsie, New York, and an EF0 in Breezy Point, New York.  Both are inside the Greater New York City metropolitan area, the largest city in our country. 

There have been no reports of any injuries associated with these twisters. 

This photo of radar imagery shows the line of thunderstorms that spawned the tornadoes moving off shore over the Atlantic Ocean. 

The tornadoes this weekend become the latest on a list of notable weather features from 2012.  The year has been interesting in what has been and what has not been occurring. 

Rain has been very limited this year, with much of the country in severe drought.  Wisconsin, that averages around 21 tornadoes a year but has seen only two in 2012.  Ironically the same number seen in the NYC metropolitan area Saturday alone. 

With the unusual weather we’ve seen today, let it serve as a reminder on two fronts.  1) Don’t put down your guard when it comes to severe weather.  It’s easy to get lulled into a false sense of security when weeks go by without it occurring.  2) Know your surroundings.  People in New York City aren’t accustomed to tornadoes like Wisconsinites are.  Visitors to New York City were probably even more off guard. 

Keep up on the latest when it comes to the weather.  It can (and will always) have some degree of unpredictability.  Don’t let it catch you!

Posted under Natural Disasters, Nature, Science, Seasonal Items, Severe Weather, Storms, Tornadoes, Weather History, Weather NEws, Weather Safety, Wind

2012 has been really slow when it comes to tornadoes in the state of Wisconsin.  Through August 14th, we have had just 3 confirmed tornadoes.  Average for a season in Wisconsin is 23.  The most we have ever had in one year is 62 (back in 2005).  If we don’t get any tornadoes for the rest of August, the first eight months of 2012 would be tied with 1961 for the third fewest twisters to this point in the year.  1952 had 2 tornadoes in the first eight months while, 1952 had the fewest with 1.  The three twisters confirmed so far in 2012 in the Badger State are listed below.  By the way there has been no fatalities or injuries, thankfully.

1. May 24th – Marathon County – EF0 (701-707 pm) – 3.7 SSE Marathon to 4.8 ENE Marathon.  Path length 5.94 miles and max width 75 yards.  Damage to trees only.

2. May 27th – Polk County – EF0 (813-815 pm) – 1.8 NNE Luck to 2.0 NE Luck.  Path length 0.19 mile and max width 25 yards. No damage – it was in a marsh.

3. Aug 9th – Douglas County – EF0 (1111-1120 am) – Duluth/Superior Harbor Airport area and Barkers Island.  To read story and see pictures click here.

Below is a simple plot of 2012 tornado positions in Wisconsin.  Click on image for larger version.

Of course drought and lack of tornadoes go hand in hand.  We just haven’t had as many thunderstorms as usual rumbling across the state to potentially produce a tornado.  While we have already passed the peak of tornado season in Wisconsin (June and July), it is not too unusual to have a few pop up yet in late August and early September.  As the sun gets lower in the sky though heading toward autumn there is less heat available and the atmosphere doesn’t usually get quite as unstable.  As such it is harder for strong thunderstorms to form.  However the wind fields in the atmosphere generally start strengthening toward Autumn which means that any storms that do form could find themselves in a more favorable environment for rotating.  You can see more interesting Wisconsin tornado statistics from the following link from the National Weather Service Milwaukee-Sullivan.   http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=mkx&storyid=85908&source=0

Posted under Records, Severe Weather, Storms, Tornadoes