• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

1/29/08 NOW: Winter Weather

This was a pretty fun little surprise this morning into the afternoon. It was around 59 around Omaha yesterday afternoon, by mid-day today it was low single digits with winds gusting up to 50(guessing there were bouts sustained over 40...at least out in the middle of the flats of western IA where I was). The 3 degrees or so with high winds felt worse than the -20 the other morning. If I took my hand out of the glove to mess with the camera, it was quickly toast and in serious pain(I really need to stop doing that..grabbing the metal tripod legs doesn't help). There were some fun whiteout conditions on this gravel road where I estimate the viewing distance was about 3 car lengths at times. While shooting cars on highway 30 I about had a big accident happen next to me off the shoulder. There was a turning lane and then a decent shoulder, so I felt it was safe enough. That was till some semis and cars about crashed right there. 3 miles or so to the west at the bridge I guess a semi smashed into a van. Sounds like there were likely fatalities there. Pretty amazing what about 1 inch of snow can do in the open. Will post a report later. It's largely being a retard playing "hurricane chaser" standing in the wind. That along with highway near whiteout scenes and some decent sundogs.
 
Yeah the storms most impressive features by far in this area was the rapid and amazing temperature differential /fall and wind increase.. Winds here gusting to near 45mph..and 53 at DVN earlier..
We lost over 40 degrees from the high today of 48.
Yeah Joel called it..the Blizzard Warning although maybe merited by forecast criteria probably shouldnt have been used it seems. Although the impressive T-storms stayed well south it kind of gears one up for Spring. But in anycase at least the predicted wind and temp fall materialized..
 
Sustained winds and gusts getting pretty high over IL:


Wow. Some other sites in IL and IN are pushing 60 as well. Pontiac IL, Muncie IN, Gary IN, for example. Surface low is down to 977 now over northeastern lower-Michigan.

Power went out here for a few minutes earlier. Winds have been gusting between 40-55mph since mid-afternoon. Haven't been out to see if there's any damage, but here in my yard there doesn't appear to be anything. At least not yet lol.

Looks like MI and OH will be getting in on the high winds here very shortly.
 
We're receiving high winds, light-to-moderate snow and reduced visibilities up in Mount Pleasant, MI on the main campus of Central Michigan University. Reports from friends and other residents indicates that the roads were rather bad starting around 8pm, and conditions have deteriorated.

BTW, it was around 45 degrees today in Mount Pleasant... and now its 23 degrees with 53 mph wind gusts... and I've just learned that the Winter Storm Advisory has been upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning.

We're in for the rough of it here in Central Michigan.
 
APX has passed along a Civil Emergency Message alerting people to stay off the roads until further notice due to blowing snow and Central Michigan University is closed until noon. I'm not seeing that much snow on the ground, so I'm assuming its an ice nightmare right now.
 
Mackinac Bridge is partially closed due to blowing snow and winds in excess of 50 mph. The Winds are out of the West-undoubtedly channeling/accelerating through the Straits. The webcam view for the bridge is impressive.....

http://www.mackinacbridge.org/

"Currently we are experiencing winds of sufficient force in the Straits area to close the Mackinac Bridge to all vehicles except passenger cars, passenger vans, and empty pickup trucks. Winds are blowing across the bridge surface in excess of 50 miles per hour.

Motorists are being instructed to reduce their speed to 20 miles per hour as they approach the bridge and be prepared to stop. Bridge personnel are stationed at both ends of the structure to provide instructions regarding how and when to proceed across the bridge.

Passenger cars, passenger vans, and pick-up trucks without campers are being permitted to cross, but drivers are asked to exercise appropriate caution. Strong winds are blowing across the surface of the bridge. Motorists are asked to drive 20 miles per hour or less."
 
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