Springtime in the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge

The awesome power of warm weather:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
500 AM CDT FRI APR 29 2011

...CORRECTED FOR MARION/WINSTON TORNADO LAT/LON COORDINATES...

...EVENT OVERVIEW...

THERE WERE TWO WAVES OF WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER. THE FIRST MOVED
THROUGH DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS ACROSS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL ALABAMA PRODUCING WIDESPREAD DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS
AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. THE SECOND WAVE INVOLVED NUMEROUS SUPERCELL
THUNDERSTORMS AND PRODUCED LONG LIVED...STRONG TO VIOLENT TORNADOES
ACROSS THE NORTHERN TWO-THIRDS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA...WITH WIDESPREAD
AND CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS. AT THIS TIME ALL
RATINGS ARE PRELIMINARY.

...MARION AND WINSTON COUNTIES...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS SURVEYED ACROSS MARION AND
WINSTON COUNTIES. IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT THE DAMAGE WAS
CONSISTENT WITH A TORNADO. WINDS WERE ESTIMATED TO BE AROUND 140
MPH. ALONG THE PATH...HUNDREDS OF TREES WERE DOWNED...AT LEAST 45
STRUCTURES WERE DAMAGED. AT LEAST 18 OF THESE STRUCTURES WERE
COMPLETELY DESTROYED. THIS TORNADO DAMAGE PATHS LIKELY CONTINUED
INTO FRANKLIN AND LAWRENCE COUNTIES.

TORNADO 1...SHOTSVILLE TORNADO (MARION COUNTY)

PRELIMINARY DATA...
EVENT DATE: APRIL 27, 2011
EVENT TYPE: EF-3 TORNADO OR POTENTIALLY HIGHER
ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS (MPH): AROUND 140
INJURIES/FATALITIES: AT LEAST 6 FATALITIES.
EVENT START LOCATION AND TIME: 34.1579/-88.1847 AT 357 PM
EVENT END LOCATION AND TIME: 34.3129/-87.9231 AT 420 PM
DAMAGE PATH LENGTH (IN MILES): 19.1 MILES (CONTINUED INTO HUN WFO)
DAMAGE WIDTH: 3/4 MILE

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS SURVEYED ACROSS MARION
COUNTY IMPACTING SHOTSVILLE. IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT THE DAMAGE
WAS CONSISTENT WITH A TORNADO. WINDS WERE ESTIMATED AT LEAST 140
MPH. THE TORNADO POSSIBLY BEGAN IN MISSISSIPPI AND WILL NEED TO
COORDINATE WITH MEMPHIS WFO TO SEE IF THE PATH DID BEGIN FURTHER
WEST. ALONG THE PATH...HUNDREDS OF TREES WERE DOWNED...25 STRUCTURES
WERE DAMAGED. FIVE OF THESE STRUCTURES WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED.
THIS TORNADO DAMAGE PATH CONTINUED INTO FRANKLIN COUNTY. THERE WILL
BE ANOTHER EVALUATION DONE ON THE WORST DAMAGE POINTS ON FRIDAY TO
DETERMINE IF THE RATING NEEDS TO BE INCREASED.

TORNADO 2...HACKLEBURG TORNADO (MARION COUNTY)

PRELIMINARY DATA...
EVENT DATE: APRIL 27, 2011
EVENT TYPE: EF-3 TORNADO OR POTENTIALLY HIGHER (FURTHER EVALUATION
IS NEEDED)
ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS (MPH): AT LEAST 140
INJURIES/FATALITIES: AT LEAST 25 FATALITIES.
EVENT START LOCATION AND TIME: 34.0880/-87.1328 AT 305 PM
EVENT END LOCATION AND TIME: 34.3109/-87.7858 AT 328 PM
DAMAGE PATH LENGTH (IN MILES): 25.2 MILES (CONTINUED INTO HUN WFO)
DAMAGE WIDTH: 3/4 MILE

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS SURVEYED ACROSS MARION
COUNTY IMPACTING HACKLEBURG. IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT THE DAMAGE
WAS CONSISTENT WITH A LARGE TORNADO. WINDS WERE ESTIMATED AT LEAST
140 MPH. ALONG THE PATH...HUNDREDS OF TREES WERE DOWNED...200
STRUCTURES WERE DAMAGED. 100 OF THESE STRUCTURES WERE COMPLETELY
DESTROYED. THIS TORNADO DAMAGE PATH CONTINUED INTO FRANKLIN COUNTY.
THERE WILL BE ANOTHER EVALUATION DONE ON THE WORST DAMAGE POINTS ON
FRIDAY TO DETERMINE IF THE RATING NEEDS TO BE INCREASED.

TORNADO 3...HALEYVILLE (MARION/WINSTON COUNTIES)

PRELIMINARY DATA...
EVENT DATE: APRIL 27, 2011
EVENT TYPE: EF-3
ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS (MPH): AROUND 140
INJURIES/FATALITIES: 10 INJURIES.
EVENT START LOCATION AND TIME: 34.0289/-87.9421 AT 510 PM
EVENT END LOCATION AND TIME: 34.3057/-87.4973 AT 551 PM
DAMAGE PATH LENGTH (IN MILES): 31.8 MILES (CONTINUED INTO HUN WFO)
DAMAGE WIDTH: 1/2 MILE

...ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...

SURVEYS WILL CONDUCTED ONCE AGAIN ON FRIDAY AS WELL SATURDAY. THE
ENTIRE PROCESS MAY TAKE UPWARDS OF TWO WEEKS. ANOTHER PLAN OF THE
DAY WILL ISSUED EARLY FRIDAY MORNING.

MEDIA INQUIRIES CAN BE DIRECTED TOWARD WARNING COORDINATION
METEOROLOGIST JOHN DE BLOCK AT 205-664-3010...OR METEOROLOGIST IN
CHARGE JIM STEFKOVICH AT 205-585-8635.

A MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO THE SUCCESS OF OUR SEVERE WEATHER WARNING
PROGRAM IS THE RECEIPT OF STORM REPORTS FROM ALL OUR CUSTOMERS AND
PARTNERS ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA.

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=BMX&product=PNS&issuedby=BMX

My friend Paul's turkey that he bagged this evening.

My friend Mike's turkey that he bagged this morning.

Today is my dad's birthday. Even after all these years I still think of him often. He had such an uplifting spirit and calm wisdom which was different from the norm, and would be especially so in today's world full of doomsayers. I miss my dad.

ATTENTION STORM SPOTTERS: never estimate those wind speeds again! A cheap Walmart weather station, 87 cents worth of PVC pipe, and a magnet from an old CB antenna.

My yellow....and white....bush!

Jerry Seinfeld

"George Costanza: Jerry, what gives you pleasure?
Jerry: Listening to you. I come in here, I listen to you, I feel better. Your misery is my pleasure."

How true that is Jerry Seinfeld! I see everybody whining, crying, doom-saying, and carrying-on about how miserable their lives are because of the weather and everything else under the Sun and it makes me feel pretty good; because I don't have all those problems with my life.

A true friend sees the good in everything, and brings out the best in the worst of things.

April showers bring May flowers.

Wow, the awesome power of warm weather. It takes less than 5 minutes for a summertime thunderstorm to dramatically remind us of how fragile our existence really is.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/?n=apr1011

Excellent! Winter is over and warm weather has arrived. It's time to practice my lightning and severe weather photography:

TWO ROUNDS OF SEVERE WEATHER ARE PROBABLE THIS WEEKEND.

SATURDAY NIGHT...A WARM FRONT WILL MOVE NORTH THROUGH THE
REGION...TRIGGERING THUNDERSTORMS. LARGE HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN WILL
BE THE MAIN SEVERE THREATS...BUT ISOLATED TORNADOES AND DAMAGING
WINDS NEAR THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY CANNOT BE RULED OUT. ANY SIGNIFICANT
RAINFALL COULD LEAD TO RAPID RISES IN SOME RIVER BASINS.

MORE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND
EVENING AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES EAST ACROSS THE REGION.
THUNDERSTORMS SPAWNED BY THIS SYSTEM WILL BE CAPABLE OF DAMAGING
WINDS...LARGE HAIL...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

IF YOU HAVE OUTDOOR PLANS THIS WEEKEND...PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE
LATEST FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS. BE PREPARED TO CHANGE OR ALTER
YOUR PLANS BASED ON THE SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL.

FLOODING WILL REMAIN A CONCERN ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
THROUGH APRIL. THOSE WITH INTERESTS ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI NEED TO
MONITOR THE LATEST RIVER STATEMENTS AND FLOOD FORECASTS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED SATURDAY NIGHT AND LATE SUNDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

.EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION...

A WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED FOR 1 PM SATURDAY.

Yesterday the snow came down fast and furious, but it didn't last long and didn't add up to much. Firewood sales are remaining steady, 1 or 2 loads a day on average yet. Any day now the warm weather should arrive and then it will be just an occasional campfire customer after that.