Last night, a rare, catastrophic tornado outbreak occurred over portions of the Southern and Midwestern US. As of Saturday afternoon, 34 people were confirmed dead, with an estimated 75-100 deaths across Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky and potentially 50-70 deaths in Mayfield, Kentucky alone. Most deaths were due to a series of tornadoes – or […]
Juneuary Ends Wednesday and a Review of the Damascus Tornado
The weather sounds like the most inconsequential thing to talk about during these times, but if it weren’t for – you know – the global pandemic and revolution stuff – it would absolutely make front-line news. A tornado came through Damascus, OR yesterday evening! Take a look at this video from Tim Lussier… it’s not […]
Day 2: A Carousel of Mesocyclones
Tuesday was, without a doubt, the best storm chasing day of our lives. Although we didn’t see a tornado, we saw multiple incredible mesocyclones, which are the rotating updrafts affiliated with all tornadic thunderstorms. Moreover, these mesocyclones occurred within the same thunderstorm complex and were rotating in opposite directions. It was a truly incredible experience […]
Tornado Chasing Day 1: Half a Day, a Whole Lotta Storms
Our first day of storm chasing was more of a travel day than anything else, so it was icing on the cake that we were treated to some strong storms and spectacular lightning at night. We all decided to meet in Albuquerque, and although Albuquerque is hardly known for its tornadoes, it ended up being […]
Could the 2018 Tornado Drought Finally End This Week?
Hi all! I was in Seattle this weekend for yet another fantastic Pacific Northwest Weather Workshop, and I was actually lucky enough to present on some research I had done identifying substantial drops in wind power production at Avangrid! This was my first presentation at any sort of scientific conference (I was on a panel […]
Day 4: A Potpourri of Severe Weather
Our second day of storm chasing was definitely a lot more active than our first! We saw flooding rains, strong winds, lots of (presumably wind, possibly tornado) damage, a weak funnel cloud, several weakly rotating wall clouds, lots of “scud,” and even smoke from an oil tank that got struck by lightning. The storms started […]
Funnel Cloud Over Mill Creek!
Credit: NASA AQUA Satellite, ~2pm on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016 Yesterday was definitely a crazy day for weather! For much of the day, a pretty strong Puget Sound Convergence Zone set up shop in the Northern and Central Puget Sound regions, waxing and waning in intensity and shifting northward and southward as the […]
Major Tornado Near Norman
Tuesday, May 6, 2015 4:05 pm I recently posted about several massive tornadoes and hailstorms in Texas. Well, it hasn’t even been two weeks, but it looks like an even bigger tornado is bearing down on Norman,Oklahoma, a suburb 20 miles south of Oklahoma City. Norman is home to NOAA’s NSSL (National Severe Storms Laboratory), and this […]
Hook Echoes, a Strong Texas Tornado, and Softball-Sized Hail
April 26, 2015 2:34 pm SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 436 PM CDT SUN APR 26 2015 TXC143-262200- /O.CON.KFWD.TO.W.0007.000000T0000Z-150426T2200Z/ ERATH TX- 436 PM CDT SUN APR 26 2015 …A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 500 PM CDT FOR SOUTHERN ERATH COUNTY… AT 436 PM CDT…A LARGE TORNADO WAS LOCATED JUST […]
ATMOS 301 (Final) – Deep Convection and Thunderstorms
Saturday, December 7, 2013 8:38 p.m. Well, I’m back! I’ve been through heck and back over the past few weeks with schoolwork, but I now have some time to write on this blog, and write I shall. OK, well that wasn’t really true. I actually have an atmospheric science 301 FINAL on Monday, and I […]