1/10/08 NOW: LA / MS / TN / AL / KY

[Chad Cowan]

Monster storm in west-central MS continues to deviate to the east and show strong couplet. Hopefully it will push north, but Columbus, MS could be affected by this in the next 30 min.

Are there any Tuscolusa or Birmingham TV stations streaming?

 

[Sam Sagnella]

Wow, sorry to keep posting radar images, but holy crap; the cell in southern MS, in Marion County, has a spotter indicated funnel cloud to go along with one of the more impressive radar signatures of the day. LOOK OUT COLUMBIA, which is, very thankfully, certified as StormReady.

1909z

EDIT: to trim first radar image, and add an update (below)
1914z

 

[Dave Gallaher]

Starkville cell looks to be cycling down a bit--hopefully it will hold this way across town...

 

[Sam Sagnella]

The Columbia cell appears to have held together as it entered town.

smoothed:

Keep your fingers crossed for the people of Columbia, folks.

 

[Scott Lincoln]

I'm even more worried for Starkville, MS. Storm looks almost as impressive and Columbia, MS, storm, and Starkville has a larger population. Is MSU still on winter break? If the storm does have a tornado and hits campus... it would be better if most students are not there...

 

[Sam Sagnella]

I'm even more worried for Starkville, MS. Storm looks almost as impressive and Columbia, MS, storm, and Starkville has a larger population. Is MSU still on winter break? If the storm does have a tornado and hits campus... it would be better if most students are not there...

The campus of MSU is in emergency mode and all campus personnel are hunkered down; this is a bad situation.

Current Status: Emergency

We are currently operating under emergency conditions since 1/10/2008 11:08am.
This page will automatically refresh every minute.
If this emergency is weather-related, you may find additional information here.
1:26pm: At approximately 1:25 p.m., a tornado was reported less than 5 miles away on Highway 12 moving toward the Starkville campus. Seek a safe location immediately.

http://www.emergency.msstate.edu/

EDIT: Classes began yesterday
http://www.msstate.edu/dept/registrar/calendar/calspring08.pdf

 

[Heidi Farrar]

http://www.wapt.com/video/4906971/index.html

Live stream from WAPT ABC, Jackson MS.

 

[Justin E. Reed]

Are there any Tuscolusa or Birmingham TV stations streaming?[/QUOTE]

ABC 33/40 in Birmingham goes streaming when a tornado warning is issued for their broadcasting area, which is much of the BHAM CWA, so watch carefully. They are one of the premier stations in the nation for tornado coverage outside the Plains.

 

[Scott Lincoln]

I think the next area to watch would be the two storms near Hattiesburg, MS. There are almost 150,000 in that metropolitan area. The southern half of the city looks to have the biggest threat. That area includes the airport and a small residential area. It is unfortunate that there really isnt a particularly close radar to that area. The beam height is about 7,000ft there.

 

[stephanieschweitzer]

Live DOT camera feeds to Columbus and other areas around Mississippi.
http://www.mstraffic.com/#

 

[Rob Lightbown]

Actually, it looks like ABC 33/40 is streaming live on the internet and can be accessed at http://www.abc3340.com/weather/

 

[Justin E. Reed]

Columbus AFB is in the cross hairs right now of the storm that has been a prolific tornado producer, especially back in Goodman along I-55. Also, Hattiesburg is under the gun with a well defined hook echo supercell and has very strong rotation at times. Storm have exploded over Middle TN, near Hohenwald, SW of Nashville. Columbus is being hit right now, say your prayers, well mainly for the Air Force Base, it'll miss the center of town, but KCBM is going to get the brunt of the blow.

 

[Sam Sagnella]

The MSU Campus radio station, is back up and running; they just issued a severe weather update, which says that the campus emergency level has been lowered from "three" to "two." This means that students and faculty are now permitted to leave the rooms in which they sought refuge, though no one is yet permitted to leave campus.

http://www.emergency.msstate.edu/

While I haven't got any specific information other than what is said above, it doesn't sound as though there is significant damage to campus, as the radio station has already gone back to regular programming.

 

[Justin E. Reed]

Pressure is falling rapidly at KCBM ASOS. and winds are from the W. It should be passing almost directly on top of the base right now, still a very strong couplet, probable on the ground right now, and lightning count is racing back up.

UPDATE
It's very close by if not on the ground.
KCBM 102006Z 28039G54KT 1/2SM R13C/0600VP6000FT TSGS +RA FG SCT001 OVC012 18/17 A2973 RMK AO2A PK WND 29054/2004 GSB2005 VIS 1 3/4 RWY31C LTG DSNT S - E CIG 009V060 PRESFR SLP068 $

UPDATE
Apparently it passed by, possibly just north of the ASOS, it was probably the RFD winds on here.
KCBM 102011Z 28013G54KT 250V320 1/4SM R13C/0600V5500FT TS +RA FG OVC007 17/15 A2974 RMK AO2A PK WND 29054/2004 VIS M1/4V5 LTG DSNT S - E CIG 001V016 PRESRR SLP071 $

 

[Scott Lincoln]

Caledonia, MS, might have just been hit. GR2AE just bumped up to Yellow TVS, shear is now 130-140kts, ROT product is 2.59 and there is a spectrum width spike in the middle of the rotation - beam height <900ft. This could be similar to the OKC case where the radar was actually sampling the tornado itself or just above it.

EDIT: Should also be noted that this spike in radar sampled rotation seem to coincide with the filling in of the hook. Either it quickly curled into itself and became rain wrapped, or maybe debris is being detected. The beam height is definitely low enough in this case to see it if significant amounts of debris were lofted into the tornado, but only time will tell if the town was actually hit.