Weather!

[orin stepanek]

Our April has had it's share of plentiful rain; so the ground is pretty saturated right now. It's been very chilly and damp most of April. I'm glad for the warmer forecast for the next week. Showers are forecast for one or two days; but the temperature calls for mid 50's and 60's which is better than low 40's and the wet and windy days we have been having.

[owlice]

Tornado watch until 8 PM. Still haven't changed the front tire on the bike, so I suppose the weather doesn't much matter....

[orin stepanek]

Tornado watch until 8 PM. Still haven't changed the front tire on the bike, so I suppose the weather doesn't much matter....

Sounds like yesterday's weather was pretty rough for some states. I hope that Tornado watch didn't turn out to be anything.

[neufer]

Alabama tornadoes: Why was state's tornado death toll so high? (video)
By Patrik Jonsson, CSM Staff writer / April 28, 2011

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7T7GYl0 ... r_embedded[/youtube]

GOES Water Vapor Channel

---

<<On Thursday, state officials expected the casualty toll to rise higher than the 131 deaths reported, as daylight allowed a more thorough search for the missing in vast areas of destruction. Governor Bentley reminded reporters on Thursday that Alabama has a long history of deadly tornadoes. "We were very prepared,... but it was just the force of the storms," Bentley said. "When a [large tornado] hits a highly populated area like Tuscaloosa, you cannot move thousands of people in five minutes. When an F4 or F5 tornado hits, there's not much you can do to change the outcome of that." As measured by a tornado ranking system, F4 and F5 tornadoes are the most intense, rated by the damage a tornado causes after passing over a manmade structure.

A system that spawned 137 tornadoes before moving toward the East Coast bore down on several Alabama cities Wednesday, including Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Huntsville, the state's aerospace capital. It forced the Tennessee Valley Authority to power down three nuclear reactors in Alabama as a precaution, as a plant in northern Alabama lost offsite power. As many as 1 million residents are without power – and hundreds, if not more, are without homes. Though outside the western Plains area called "Tornado Alley," the South has its own "Dixie Alley" that has seen some of the largest long-track tornadoes on record, FEMA's Mr. Fugate said Thursday. In 1936, Mississippi and Georgia both saw death tolls rise above 200 after a tornado outbreak. Tornado death tolls have continued to drop as forecasting and warning technology has improved. But as was the case two weeks earlier when a tornado outbreak killed 22 people in North Carolina, the strength, width, and mile-long-tracks of Wednesday's tornadoes overwhelmed the ability of the warning systems to safeguard residents.>>

[orin stepanek]

The devastation in Alabama is formidable; and the loss of life very sad! I wish them well!

[owlice]

The sun is out! Yay!!

[orin stepanek]

The sun is out! Yay!!

There too? The last week was really chilly here. Today is the first it's been above of the 40's for a while. On the brighter side, warmer weather approaches.

[owlice]

Well, it was out...

Glad it's sunny for you, Orin! I hope it stays that way.

[owlice]

And now, thunderstorms!!

[orin stepanek]

We had a downpour overnight. Our dog gets real fidgety when there is thunder and lightning; and she kept me up for a while.

[billinger]

All of these windy monsters makes me restless. I know that whirlwind, cyclone or some hurricane is not rare phenomenon on the North America continent. For me, such a mass of air is unusual manifestation of nature (Mid-Eastern Europe). But last 5-10 years terrible winds shows destructive power more and more frequently. Yesterday, menacing wind crossed Słupca (Wielkopolska, Poland); it`s strange and disturbing.

http://kontakt24.tvn.pl/temat,traba-pow ... =najnowsze

I hope those attractions shows never again.

[geckzilla]

Aw, a little baby tornado. I can't read. Did it do much damage? Looks like the kind to uproot a few trees and blow off a few shingles but nothing major.

[billinger]

Oh, forgive me that I added foreign signs (non-english text).

" (...)

but nothing major

(...)" - in comparison to the rest of the world where more serious winds are part of everyday life it`s insignificant fact. Luckily, "monster" don`t visited town and nearest villages that:

" (...) Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air. (...)" - "Macbeth"

Sometimes the Nature plays "fair".

[orin stepanek]

I could never do it now; but was a lot of fun in my younger day.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

[owlice]

Orin, that's similar to the Tilt-a-Whirl of my youth and not-so-youth. I love them, and now have the urge to seek out a carnival so I can ride one again!

[orin stepanek]

Orin, that's similar to the Tilt-a-Whirl of my youth and not-so-youth. I love them, and now have the urge to seek out a carnival so I can ride one again!

Ahh! The Tilt A Whirl! It's been a while on that fun ride also. You couldn't get me on one now though.

Click to view full size image

[Beyond]

I was wondering what amusment park rides were doing in the weather thread. I guess it comes down to 'whether' or not you ride them out, eh??

[orin stepanek]

I was wondering what amusment park rides were doing in the weather thread. I guess it comes down to 'whether' or not you ride them out, eh??

It started out by my showing an alternate to "Twister". A tornado is sometimes called a twister.

[Beyond]

Hey Orin, a tornado is sometimes called lots of things that we can't say here!

[bystander]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... rt-closed/

[orin stepanek]

Tornados hit in Oklahoma! Seems like a lot of twister activity lately. The one in Joplin Missori was real nasty. Looks like more storms are likely.

Severe Weather Outlook National Forecast

May 25, 2011 5:31 am ET
- The latest powerful spring storm to roll out of the Rockies and across the Plains moves from Kansas toward the lower Ohio Valley today

- Strong tornadoes are possible today in eastern Missouri, eastern Arkansas, northwest Mississippi, western Tennessee, western Kentucky, southern Illinois and southwest Indiana

[bystander]

EF-4s North and West, and South and East of me. Some exciting weather yesterday.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43159589/di ... ebookvideo

[billinger]

The true is that people changes climate but the scale of human`s activity is hard to measure. Not only Micronesia vs. Czech Republic. I know these lands divided by atomic problem. Every atomic power station in Eastern Europe gives occasion to controversy.

"Climate change will bring more extreme precipitation and floods" by David Biello:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/sciam ... ts=2011-05

It`s really very interesting notice.
Besides, world, universe and unknown is beautiful although not ever. When I was 10 or 12 I had strange Zeiss telescope and some binoculars (opera, russisch "s**t" and others), now I have to wait for opening new local observatory. It`s wonder idea I hope will be resists for bad weather and time more than new soccer-fields.

[orin stepanek]

The sun is shining; things are better!

[Orca]

We had a couple of really nice days; I sat out on my patio reading. Finally it felt like spring was here and summer was not far away.

Then the weather turned on a dime - as it often does this time of year - and the now the extended forecast says, "Now: 50, rain. Tonight: 44, rain. Thurs 59, rain. Fri 59, rain. Sat 61, rain."

I say (in a Luke Skywalker sort of way), "nnnnnNNNOOoooo...that's impossible..."