2012-03-02 FCST: IL/IN/KY/TN/OH

[Dave Gallaher]

Just back home from successfully intercepting the second Madison County tornado at +/-10am as it crossed US231 just north of Bob Wade Rd. Bowl-shaped lowering to the south of the tornado almost looked like a second spinup, but appeared undercut by inflow (estimated at 60-65mph) into main circulation. Tornado was rain-wrapped, but still visible due to lack of precip south of it. Estimated width of 1/8 mile, based on my video shot from approximately 1/2 mile south of the storm.

I used PYKL3 on the intercept, but here are the GRL3 images, showing I was indeed closer than I intended to get. The TVS on the right was on the ground, while the one on the lleft was associated with the large bowl which passed almost overhead. My position is the small red dot on the N/S highway. I'm having computer issues but will attempt to upload video grabs later.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...60935392.22764.100003236868644&type=1&theater
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...60935392.22764.100003236868644&type=1&theater

 

[John Farley]

Tornado reported in Posey Co., IN - probably very near I-64.

 

[MClarkson]

The two classic hook/velocity couplet cells just north of SDF look pretty promising.

 

[MClarkson]

Debris ball on the solid lead cell just north of SDF. Possible debris ball on the second.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

LEO reported tornado on a storm headed towards Nashville metro area (south side of Nashville seems like the area that would be under the gun, tornado-wise). However, the hail core on this storm is huge -- the VIL is pegged over 80 for a huge swath of it and there is confirmed golfballs in the storm -- so Nashville is likely about to get one heck of a hail event, no matter what happens.

 

[Warren Faidley]

Unfortunately, the last radar presentation is looking more favorable for a possible tornado as it approaches Nashville.

W.

 

[MClarkson]

Decent low altitude velocity couplet on the Nashville airport tower doppler radar

 

[Jeff Snyder]

LEO reported tornado on a storm headed towards Nashville metro area (south side of Nashville seems like the area that would be under the gun, tornado-wise). However, the hail core on this storm is huge -- the VIL is pegged over 80 for a huge swath of it and there is confirmed golfballs in the storm -- so Nashville is likely about to get one heck of a hail event, no matter what happens.

KDHX has been upgraded to dual-pol, and a cursory analysis of KDP, ZDR, Rho_hv, and Z support a rather expansive area of hail associated with the storm -- at S band (where the WSR88Ds operate), areas of all hail typically are associated with high Z (though that's heavily dependent upon the number concentration and size of the hail), low ZDR (-0.5 to 0.5 dB, depending upon water coating, shape, tumbling patterns, etc), KDP near 0 deg/km, and reduced rho_hv (0.8-0.95ish). The northern part of the "core" that's evident in the reflectivity data looks to be a mix of hail and rain (KDP is relatively high, so liquid water content is appreciable in that area), but the southern part of the core looks to be almost all hail. It wasn't showing much in the radial velocity 10-12 mins ago last I looked, but it may just be cycling (it looked 10 mins ago like the primary meso was tucked well to the northwest of the large appendage, so I'd expect a new meso to be develop to the southeast).

 

[Dan Robinson]

I broke off the chase about an hour ago south of Owensboro, KY. I intercepted three mature storms, starting with the one that tracked north of Evansville, which I caught at Norris City, IL about 30 minutes before the reported tornado. The veered surface winds really kept today in check. Visually, the storms were junk, pushing rain-filled outflow with little to no structure and no evident inflow corridors at the surface. At one point I was traveling east at the 70mph speed limit on the Audubon Parkway, and the storm immediately to my south was still outrunning me with each radar scan. I would imagine the two lead supercells south of Cincy may look/have looked better, but at least my experiences weren't impressive.

 

[John Farley]

Looks very bad for West Liberty, KY right now - hook and very strong couplet moving right over the town, per Jackson, KY radar.


Edit: Tornado Emergency just issued for there eastward.

 

[Joshua Nall]

I believe West Liberty, KY was one of the towns hit this Wednesday.

 

[Fred Dearborn]

Charleston radar looks to be picking up a debris ball on cell just west of town.

 

[David Hoadley]

While scanning different networks for storm video, I happened to stop on the Weather Channel during one of the more intense moments, maybe while storms were still west of Clark County, IN (This isn’t a “biggie” but kind of funny). Vivian Brown was doing her best to emphasize the danger and let slip (approximate quote): “Now we’re not hyping this, this is really serious.” She repeated it again a few minutes later. Naturally, the follow-up question: OK, what about the other times? I didn‘t hear her say it again, probably after TWC censors decided this was a little too much candor. --Just a footnote to today’s historic storms.