Warm Weather

The warm weather is here and I hope it lasts. Some pop up isolated thunderstorms have been showing up on radar in eastern IL and western IN. One almost made it over here and was on track to clip the northwestern edge of Howard county but it started to lose steam entering Carroll county and by the time it exited, it was all but gone and went slightly more north into Cass county. I think it will die down over the evening.

Wednesday could be the best potential for thunderstorms. Maybe I can catch a photo or two or evening some lighting photos.

Also, welcome to the new users. I am hopeful my advertising is paying off with a few new visitors. Please share with your friends!

Slight Risk for Severe Weather

The Storm Prediction Center of Norman, Oklahoma has put this area under a slight risk for severe weather. The current convective outlooks has it for all 3 days Thursday, Friday, & Saturday. Of course the slight risk includes damaging winds, hail, possible tornados. The slight risk is 5% of anything happening anywhere within 25 miles of any point in the slight risk area.

Welcome to spring in Indiana.

NWS Spring Skywatch Newsleter Available

The Indianapolis office of the National Weather Service has posted the spring edition of SkyWatch. You can read the PDF edition here - http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/ind/spotter_newsletter.pdf

76.8°F at 5:38 PM

I imagine everyone had a case of spring fever today with the temperature hitting more than 75 degrees. It was nice to enjoy some outside time. Too bad it isn't going to last but it should be back soon.

April 20th, 2004 Tornado Revisited

I thought I would look back for a few moments on the April 20th, 2004 tornado which struck Kokomo near Morgan St and US 31. My specific focus will be on the radar images from the event. I wanted to take a look at it to help me understand what to look for when I am at the radar and not out in the field spotting.

GRLevel3 is a wonderful (and affordable) application which displays level 3 radar data from the Nation Weather Service. Besides doing real time monitoring, you can also use archived data from available from the NWS website to replay events.

In the first radar image, you can get some overall size of the storm and structure. I find it interesting out the portion of the storm which hit Howard County is an off-shoot from the main line.
The next image shows the intensity of the storm and its size in relationship to Howard County and Kokomo.We skip forward 2 radar scans and can see the back edge is still building in intensity and changing shapes. Now lets zoom in even closer and look at the storm. The true intensity is likely hidden inside the storm but you can see a weak hook. The same radar image looking instead at the base velocity shows wind (precipitation) moving away and towards the radar. You can see a winds almost rotating from this image. It is at this time when the tornado is on the ground. The final reflectivity scan shows the storm has passed and weakened. The base velocity also shows the rotation is gone. If you scroll down to the bottom of this webpage, you can see some photos of the tornado by Charlie Sponaugle.

Here is a video on You Tube by Steve Conwell.

Test Tornado Warning Conducted Today

Today was the annual test(s) of Tornado Warning for everyone.

If you wish to monitor the local Skywarn Spotter Net for Howard County, just program your radio scanner to 147.240 MHz. Almost any scanner old or new or even the inexpensive racing scanners will work just fine.

You can also catch Cass County at 147.180 MHz.

If you don't have a weather radio, you should pick one up. They can be a lifesaver.

Severe Weather Awareness Week

I would like to thank Dave Tucek from the Indianapolis NWS office. He presented to a class of nearly 60 people at the spotter training class in Kokomo on Saturday. It was an informative class. It has been 25 years since I attended a class and things sure have changed.

One thing I really liked is the use of current severe weather events to teach. A couple of storms from 2006 were diagnosed from photos, video, and radar. The radar discussion was very helpful. As a user of GRLevel3, his detailing of events showed me some of the finer points of interpreting radar data.

Severe Weather Awareness Week

This the week were everyone should take a few minutes to review their plans during severe weather. Recent (tragic) events should remind everyone that preparedness is key. You can get started with tips here.

Don't wait and get prepared!

Spotter Class on Saturday (3/3/2007)

The Howard County EMA and the Indianapolis office of the National Weather Service is holding a Spotter Training Class at 1 PM. While many spotters are Ham radio operators, you don't have to be one. Anyone can attend the training.

However, there is an upcoming class sponsered by the Kokomo Ham Club. You can get your Technician License in just a few weeks of study. Please see their website for additional details.

Also, for more information about spotters, the Skywarn network, please visit the Central Indiana Skywarn website. Also, Radio Reference has a complete listing of Skywarn/Spotter frequencies available. You can monitor these with older scanners or even inexpensive racing scanners.

(I am a ham radio operator and you can visit my website here.)

Spring Weather

The day started with Indiana looking to see some late afternoon and evening severe storms. This was part of a system that stretched across from the Deep South through Illinois and Indiana.

Sadly the southern states saw a significant tornado outbreak and several confirmed fatalities. No matter how amazing it is to see the power of Mother Nature, nobody wants what happened today to occur. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

The storms which went through Howard County spent much of the day slowly moving across Indiana. By the time it arrived, the path was pretty narrow and only produced some moderate rain and no lighting or strong winds. As if 8:30, it looks to be a quiet evening for the Kokomo area. I did take a quick photo around 6:30 of the storm front moving into western Howard County.

Friday has Howard County under a Wind Advisory with winds 30 MPH and gusting over 45 MPH.

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
438 PM EST THU MAR 1 2007

...WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR FRIDAY ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE
FROM TERRE HAUTE TO GREENSBURG...

.STRONG LOW PRESSURE OVER EASTERN IOWA WILL MOVE INTO THE WESTERN
GREAT LAKES ON FRIDAY. THIS LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MAY PRODUCE WIND
GUSTS OF UP TO 45 MPH DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY. 

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LAFAYETTE...FRANKFORT...KOKOMO...
CRAWFORDSVILLE...ANDERSON...MUNCIE...INDIANAPOLIS...TERRE HAUTE...
SHELBYVILLE

...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM TO 6 PM EST FRIDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A WIND
ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM TO 6 PM EST FRIDAY.

SUSTAINED WINDS OF AROUND 30 MPH WITH WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH WILL
OCCUR AT TIMES ON FRIDAY. WINDS MAY BE GUSTY AT TIMES TONIGHT BUT
THEY SHOULD BE GENERALLY LESS THAN 30 MPH. THE STRONGEST WINDS ON
FRIDAY WILL OCCUR FROM LATE MORNING TO MID AFTERNOON. AFTER THAT
THEY WILL DIMINISH TO 15 TO 20 MPH FRIDAY NIGHT.

A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT WINDS OF 35 MPH ARE EXPECTED. WINDS
THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT...ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH
PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION.