01/29/08 NOW: TN,MI,KY,IL,IN,AR

[Justin E. Reed]

A tornado watch, #24 to be exact, has been issued and storms are developing in the Ozark Mountains rapidly. I am starting a nowcast due to this rapidly developing situation. Quite suprised to see a MOD risk all of a sudden. This situation includes major U.S. metro areas, not saying rural is any less important.

 

[Heidi Farrar]

This is the biggest sustained-wind day I've ever seen in the 5 years I've been in AR. I was out recording with my Kestrel hand-held anemometer for close to an hour and had sustained winds of 20+ (it logs and averages speed in real-time) and had gusts to over 30, with 33 being the highest. I've been recording with this anemometer for several years, and regularly if not always have it out during any storm or wind event, and that is the highest gust I've ever actually recorded. Apparently the worst wind has yet to arrive, too! (I can only imagine what would be going down here in NE AR if we had decent CAPE!) There is no let-up in the wind - it's been like this for about 2 1/2 hrs. The wind is also undoubtedly to blame for the plummeting humidity -- it's down to 30% with the temp at 73 degrees! The SPC was talking about surfaced-based storms earlier this morning, but that does not seem likely in this area -- the small cell clusters I've seen in the last hour have all been high-based, as would be expected.

 

[Karen Politte]

I think today's severe threat for AR is pretty much over......but then again it never really existed in the first place (except perhaps for places such as West Memphis), so go figure.

On a side note - to expand on what Heidi mentioned - today sees one of the most significant non-thunderstorm wind events that AR has seen in a very long time. Across Conway, we have many trees down on power lines, utility companies out on the road trying to pick fallen limbs off power lines, our computers have only recently been restored at work here after a tree fell on a power line in Russellville where we get our connectivity from, and debris in the form of dumpters, construction site debris, leaves, branches, pine cones and trash is littering every single street in town. I had no idea this system was so wound-up. As I sit typing this, I can hear the roof joists straining and creaking, and our lights are flickering. The NWS upgraded from a Lake Wind Advisory to a plain Jane Wind Advisory for today and it's definitely warranted.

Another interesting thing to see during my excurion into the hurricane at lunch was the distinct brown tinge to the sky northwest from here. An hour or so later, the skies over Conway were slightly hazy and visiblity was reduced superficially. Our very own central Arkansas dust storm - yaay!!

KL

EDIT: Just discovered after a quick tour of NWS LIT's homepage that it may not be dust that's hanging on our western horizon, but smoke from a Civil Emergency near Fort Smith!

 

[Jared Farrer]

Up here in IN we have had gusts up around 35-40 knots! My sister and mother have 3 horses, and they reside at a stable outside of town. My mother was out taking care of them yesterday evening and said she thought a tornado was coming the winds were so strong. She said it felt like the barn was going to blow down.

I am surprised their aren't more severe reports? It seems their should at least be a few wind reports. But as of now their are only 3 reports total, and out of IL, two hail and one wind? Makes my head itch.

 

[Justin E. Reed]

EDIT: Just discovered after a quick tour of NWS LIT's homepage that it may not be dust that's hanging on our western horizon, but smoke from a Civil Emergency near Fort Smith![/QUOTE]

On the Ft. Smith radar, the smoke plume is clearly visible, not so much on the visible satellite due to a strato deck, but is moving out quickly, so maybe! It is several wildfires on Fort Chaffee, and has burned several buildings, including an abandoned barracks. Anyways, yeah a bust for MDT for sure, unless something blows over TN, which could happen.

 

[Brian Emfinger]

Another interesting thing to see during my excurion into the hurricane at lunch was the distinct brown tinge to the sky northwest from here. An hour or so later, the skies over Conway were slightly hazy and visiblity was reduced superficially. Our very own central Arkansas dust storm - yaay!!

KL

EDIT: Just discovered after a quick tour of NWS LIT's homepage that it may not be dust that's hanging on our western horizon, but smoke from a Civil Emergency near Fort Smith!

Yep, a large fire is still ongoing in Fort Chaffee (just SE of Fort Smith). I saw the fire plume on radar and it did eventually pass right over Conway. Here is what it looked like earlier:


Here is the news story about it and here is video.

 

[Heidi Farrar]

Interesting about the fire -- we noticed the same thing here in Izard Co, in fact I could SMELL smoke. I have to think that the smell had to be from a fire somewhere closer-by, though (right??). Before we knew about that fire, my husband and I were describing the appearance of the horizon and the air as looking like there had been a volcanic eruption nearby!

Also, KAIT-8 Jonesboro is struggling to send out a signal. They've gone blank a few times during this broadcast due to power outage. They are reporting 21,000 people in Arkansas without power; a roof blown off the gym of a high school in Randolph Co; hwy 63 closed in Lawrence Co. due to "so much debris," 18-wheelers blown off the road.

 

[Justin E. Reed]

The cold pocket aloft finally has slammed into the front, initiating explosive storm development. Many, many reports of damaging winds, many over 60mph. A few tornadoes have spun up as well, and tornado warning are currently active in Indiana and Tennessee. Indianapolis in about 50 minutes, Nashville in 1hr 45 min, Louisville in 2hrs 15min, Owensboro in 20min. The line is crossing the TN River into Middle Tennessee, and the whole line is moving at 60 to 70 mph! Winds were clocked at 62 at Cape Girardeau Airport, 64 in Paducah, and estimates of 70 and over in many locations, including Evansville. Not to mention, the winds behin the front are sustained 30-40 and gusting up nearly 60mph in AR, MI, TN, and KY as it pushes behind the front.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/model/displayMod.php?var=ruc_sfc_wind&hours=hr03hr06hr09hr12


Talk about tightly packed isobars.

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/mesoanalysis/s2/pmsl.gif

 

[Justin E. Reed]

24 counties in centrl Indiana are all under THE SAME Severe Thunderstorm Warning! Definetly the largest blanket warning I've seen in a long time. It includes Indianapolis. High Wind Warnings continue to move east, into Middle Tennessee and Northern Alabama. If you don't see damage from the storm line, liable to see it from the post frontal winds.

Hopkinsville/Fort Cambell, KY
KHOP 300014Z 28045G60KT 1/8SM +TSRA OVC015 16/14 A2932 RMK AO2A PK WND 28060/0014 LTG OHD TSB0009 PRESFR SLP929

60KTS equals 69mph!

 

[rdale]

The issuer had the wrong speed in for the storms, which caused the warning size to be WAY too big. It had to be replaced when the "real" storm motion caught up with it.

 

[Justin E. Reed]

Huh, well, with all the reports coming in, it seems actually fitting to issue a large watch. Ohio is fixin to go under a watch, as well as the remainder of Kentucky.

 

[MClarkson]

KBMI dropped 14 degrees C in less than an hour and 27C in the last 6 hours. Not bad. Went from thunderstorms and hail to really cold in a couple hours. Its now minus 14C. Im sure there are better examples too, thats just one I happened across at work.

 

[Bob Hartig]

Just clocking in, and, without reviewing all the previous posts, I'll just give a few impressions. First, I've been struck by the abrupt change in wind directions that have been consistently indicated by metars pretty much throughout the north-south range of this cold front. Ditto the temps. Not terribly long ago, temps and dewps were in the mid-forties here in Caledonia, MI, a stone's throw from KGRR. Currently, 2:42Z reading is showing a strong W-NW wind, with both temp and Td at 35 degrees F. And just across the lake, I see temperatures of three freakin' degrees heading my way. Three degrees! Aaaah! I do NOT look forward to tomorrow morning.

 

[Justin E. Reed]

Much damage over many states

From Missouri to Ohio, down to Tennessee, the storms continue to barrel along. Numerous reports of roofs of homes and businesses, atleast 2 reports of school roofs off, a football stadium heavily damaged in Illinois. Windows blown out and roof damage to the mall in Hopkinsville,KY with injuries reported. Hundreds of reports of trees and power lines down. Several reprts of winds over 70mph, and many reports of semi thrown off or blown off roadways. For such a thin line, it has packed an amazing punch, especially in Indiana, where 45 minutes after passage, one town was reporting snow, wow!