3/22/05 NOW: AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, TN, FL, SC, NC, KY

[George Tincher]

Storms ongoing this AM across much of the southern US. The first two tornado warnings for the day came out around 7 am EST. There appears to be an embedded supercell moving through Lincoln County, MS at this time. Tornado warning is in effect and radar is showing some rotation with that storm. Also of interest are two isolated cells that have just formed in the Florida Panhandle. At least one those those has already prompted a severe warning. Tornado watches #62 and 63 are in effect and a moderate risk of thunderstorms exists today for much of the south.

 

[George Tincher]

Numerous individual cells now forming ahead of the main line out into the SRN half of Alabama and in the Florida Panhandle. Tornado watch #64 is now in effect for this area.

 

[George Tincher]

Here's a report of significant damage from the NWS in Jackson, MS:

0708 AM TSTM WND DMG RUTH 31.38N 90.32W
03/22/2005 LINCOLN MS EMERGENCY MNGR

EOC REPORTED ROOVES OFF HOUSES ALONG WITH SEVERAL TREES
AND POWER LINES DOWN...SOME BLOCKING STREETS IN THE RUTH
AREA.

FWIW, there was a tornado warning issued on that cell at 6:58 AM CST and I saw some indications that there was some rotation present using GR Level 3. It will be interesting to see if this turns out to be tornado damage or straight line winds. I would imagine with the time of day and the nature of the storms, visibility was likely too poor to get much of a visual confirmation if there was a tornado there.

I also saw a report out of the Quentin, MS area (that's Franklin County) made around 6:37 AM of 1" diameter hail piled 6" deep!

Also, this is my 2nd reply to my own post. Hopefully I am not the only individual among the group with an interest in what's going on down south today. Hehe.

-George

 

[Glen Romine]

I'll rescue you George . I like the cell in the FL panhandle north of Mariana, about to slide into extreme SW Georgia. Adjusting the TLH sounding for the surface conditions in that area gives at least limited low-level buoyancy and modest helicity, and the current radar presentation is quite impressive.

Glen

 

[George Tincher]

Morning Glen! Yes, that cell is looking very impressive. It's starting to form a hook-like appendage and had a low level shear marker pop up but went away this last scan. However, it very much has the appearance that it may produce soon. The dangerous portion of the storm (were it to become tornadic) is crossing into Seminole County at this time.

 

[George Tincher]

Whoa! Major league storm now with a hook echo and strong signs of rotation over ERN Geneva County in SE AL, just SW of Dothan. Last update shows 100 knots gate to gate shear on that TVS. Here an image:



That's an impressive a signature as I've seen all year.

 

[George Tincher]

PDS tornado watch now for the FL Panhandle and SW Georgia. There are also quite a few damage reports coming in now from Alabama and Georgia. People are reported trapped in buildings damaged by a tornado on County Road 81 just outside the town of Gordon in Houston County. Seems this is pretty serious situation. I'll post more details if I come across anything.

-George

 

[Sam Sagnella]

[Broken External Image]:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v699/sammysags/104ktmaxdv.jpg
[Broken External Image]:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v699/sammysags/104ktmaxdv_srv.jpg

This could get bad for camilla again very soon.[/img]

 

[George Tincher]

Sam, 3:06 PM EST radar update shows a TVS with 111 knots of gate to gate on it. The main couplet is now just E of Camilla and should pass just to the N of Moultrie...at least I hope it passes to it's N.

 

[Robert Dewey]

This could get bad for camilla again very soon.

That cell looks like it's wrapping in, and now has 110KNT gate to gate shear :shock: Moving up from the .5 deg to the 3.5 deg tilt shows a nice BWER as well. SPC Mesoanalysis shows low LCL's across that entire region, so it would be pretty easy for a TOR to drop.

Latest scan just came in, and it has backed off of the inbound velocities - Now at 15knts... Outbound still strong at 55knts in the downdraft region of the storm...

 

[Robert Dewey]

The storm will likely be bowing out... Most of the convection is lenear, as deep layer convergence is rather strong over a widespread area. Shear is excellent, but with that much convergence, it would be hard to keep everything "isolated". That storm also appears to be moving away from the best instability located just to the south...

It's interesting to see that storm with 110knt gate to gate shear in a 65/62 T/Td environment...

 

[beaudodson]

That was an amazing storm on radar down there. I would imagine some serious damage reports will be coming in. At one point it had 140 on the shear.

 

[George Tincher]

New LSR reporting a confirmed tornado in the Donaldsonville, GA area (Seminole County) with multiple injuries, the number of which they are unsure attm.

**updated to reflect EMA confirmation of 1 fatality in this area.**

 

[Sam Sagnella]

MONSTER supercell in Wayne Co, GA about 5 mi SW of Jesup. Storm attributes indicate up to 3.75" hail, with well defined hook visible.

 

[George Tincher]

Tornado on the ground in Wayne County, GA 5 miles S of Jesup. There has already been 3 businesses destroyed in Screven in Wayne County, along with camper trailers, either from this same or another tornado at 4:30 PM.

Also, Enterprise, GA has been hit by a possible tornado. There are 5 injuries being reported there, some of which are critical. Mobile homes as well as brick houses destroyed. Powerlines and trees down countywide.

Man, this day has took the kind of turn you never want to see. My thoughts are with the people of Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

-George