Thursday, October 18, 2007

TN Tornado Watch - celebrating the energy in the air


From the NWS: Tornado Watch 722 remains in effect until 1100 PM CDT for much of Middle and West TN.

Can you feel the energy in the air? The warm tropical air, the south wind, the moisture... man, I LOVE IT. Even the guitar sounds great in this weather. It's been too long since I heard that tornado siren at MTSU go off, too long since I stayed glued to my GRLevel3 radar program, the festive atmosphere that severe weather brings. Yes, I'm a weather nut, can you tell?

As a storm chaser, I've not photographed my Holy Grail, a tornado ... yet. The above photo of a wall cloud I took last year along Woodbury Highway is the closest I've come. The tornado eventually touched down and killed a man in Canon County.

I do worry about damage, I live in a house surrounded by 100 ft tall oaks and could lose my boat, vehicle, pool or part of my house if one of these trees were to fall. I know the risks but something primal gets me excited with the energy of an approaching cold front and the feeling in the air. I just love it. Seeing that there is a lake wind advisory, I wish I was out on my boat right now.

As of 4:30 pm there are sparse rotating thunderstorms developing over western KY and AL that have produced Tornado Warnings. Hold on to your hat, it should be a fun night, fellow weather nuts.

The Weather Underground provides my favorite internet nexrad radar of TN

5:00 pm UPDATE:
It looks like a significant tornado outbreak is developing. There are now several tornado warnings reported in these states - MO, MI, KY, AL, IN

The main energy producing these storms has yet to move over Middle TN. The front will pass mid day on Friday. Here is the latest NWS discussion:
BEST CHANCES FOR SEVERE WEATHER IN MID TN WILL BE THIS EVENING
FROM 8 PM CDT - 2 AM CDT WITH THE MAIN HAZARD BEING DAMAGING
STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. PARAMETERS WILL REMAIN SUITABLE FOR ISOLATED
TORNADOES THROUGH THE PERIOD. GUSTY THUNDERSTORM WINDS ALONG WITH
GRADIENT WINDS WILL LIKELY BRING DOWN A FEW TREES OR LIMBS THIS
EVENING...ESPECIALLY DROUGHT WEAKENED TREES. A LAKE WIND ADVISORY
WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM FOR GUSTY GRADIENT WINDS. WINDS
MAY BE STRONGER LATER..BUT SHOULD BE CONVECTIVELY INDUCED OR JUST
ALONG THE FRONT ITSELF. AT 2 PM CDT...THE SURFACE FRONT EXTENDED
FROM A LOW PRESSURE IN MN DOWN INTO MO AND NORTHWEST AR THIS
AFTERNOON. CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AND FILL IN
AHEAD OF THE BOUNDARY OVER WEST TN AND WEST KY LATE TODAY. THIS
FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS MID TN WITH WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND STORMS
BETWEEN 06Z- 12Z FRIDAY.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I wish you were out on your boat right now, too. Maybe you'd capsize.