CELL/PDA PAGE UPDATE

I changed out the Wind Chill Index for the Heat Index on the CELL/PDA web page. I guess now that summer is in full swing, it was about time.

Rain Total Over an Inch

The rain total for May has finally topped an inch. However we are still behind for average rainfall. Of course we also don't want it on the holiday weekend but I guess we will take it when we can get it.

The severe potential for Indiana has all but went away. Only a very, very slight chance remains for a severe thunderstorm.

Memorial Day Weekend - T'Storms Possible

Things are looking towards thunderstorms, some significant, on Saturday and Sunday. Rain also is possible on Friday and Monday. The SPC does have a an extends D4/D5 (Saturday/Sunday) outlook that has most Indiana seeing possible sever weather. Now we just need to wait and see the forecasts as we get closer to the weekend.

More Dry Days Ahead

May usually has four to five inches of rainfall but this month had less than one inch of rain. More dry weather is ahead for the week with above normal temperatures. I hate to water my lawn but it might be necessary.

Storms Fizzle in Howard County

It looks like some modest winds 20 to 30 MPH and rain hit Kokomo and Howard County during suppertime. Spotters were out but saw nothing. I stayed home except for a trip out to the NYO ball diamonds where I expected to find the games cancelled. I was correct.

More rain should be expected later but nothing significant. The cold front did make for a 20+ degree temperature in 2 hours.

Why not to reply solely on Internet Weather Data...

As mentioned a couole of times on this website and many others dealing with weather, Internet Weather Data can sometimes not be accurate. Right now Howard County and most surrounding counties are under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch and the data stream from the National Weather Service doesn't show anything for our area. So if you were to check Kokomo-Weather.com, you would see no alerts. That could be bad in a real crisis. So my advice is to keep checking here but always rely upon live media (radio or television) for the most accurate information. Those places have humans in the warning chain and can check multiple sources and relay what is correct.

Storms Today (Tuesday 5/15)

It looks like the cold front will push through this evening and will bring with it a squall line storms which should cover all of Indiana. The storms will be from the NW and go to the SE. Cooler temperatures will follow for the next couple of days.

While an isolated storm might brew up ahead of the front and produce a tornado, expect the action to be hail and winds across most of the area.

Spotter activiation will used this afternoon so anticipate hearing some action on the 2 meter Skywarn nets.

DSL Problem FIxed

Thanks to the repair fellow from AT&T that made it here when the service was down and found and fixed the problem. I hope things remain stable now.

Outages (DSL Down)

I have had a couple instances of DSL and telephone service being down for 4 to 6 hours. During these times, the weather station is not able to update. Sorry for the downtime and I hope AT&T gets the problem solved soon.

After a few more outages over the weekend, I havd AT&T coming out to check it out. I hope they find something...

…A TORNADO EMERGENCY FOR GREENSBURG….

OK, this isn't about Kokomo, Howard County or even Indiana. However I felt this was worth mentioning on my blog. Mike Umscheid is your everyday National Weather Service Forecaster. I say everyday as there are guys like him on every shift in every office.

However Mike did something a few days ago that reminds us how valuable guys like him our to the safety of the public at large. May 4, 2007 was a High Risk day for the breadbasket states and Mike was on the evening shift in the DDC office (Dodge City, KS). I won't detail Mike's story since it is his story. Instead you can read it here. (It is an excellent read.)

But to cut to the chase, Mike put out not a routine TOR (Tornado Warning) if there ever was such a thing but used the words "TORNADO EMERGENCY FOR GREENSBURG" in reference to a monster wedge tornado heading directly to Greensburg, KS. This was 20 minutes before the town of 1500 was struck.

That stern text plus ample time was enough to have the people of Greensburg take cover. A few short minutes after the tornado passed, reports came in that Greensburg took a direct hit. Everything was gone.

Mike deserve credit for issuing a warning that saved lives. The death toll is about 10 as of this writing. That is a small number when compared to the significant damage that resulted. You can see Mike's Interview on Good Morning America.

Below, I have saved the TOR Mike sent out and I will finish by saying thanks Mike.

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
941 PM CDT FRI MAY 4 2007

KSC097-050300-
/O.CON.KDDC.TO.W.0025.000000T0000Z-070505T0300Z/
KIOWA KS-
941 PM CDT FRI MAY 4 2007

…A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT FOR CENTRAL KIOWA COUNTY…

…A TORNADO EMERGENCY FOR GREENSBURG….

AT 937 PM CDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS AND STORM SPOTTERS WERE TRACKING A LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO. THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED 5 MILES SOUTH OF GREENSBURG…MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH. A VIOLENT TORNADO WAS ON A DIRECT PATH FOR PORTIONS OF GREENSBURG…ESPECIALLY THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF TOWN. TAKE IMMEDIATE TORNADO PRECATIONS…THIS IS AN EMERGENCY SITUATION FOR GREENSBURG!!

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CDT SATURDAY MORNING FOR SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS.

LAT…LON 3749 9936 3745 9929 3760 9901 3764 9936

$$

UMSCHEID

May Storms Arrive

Today looks to being afternoon storms of which a few will be severe. A weak low pressure with a cold front could bring some linear (squall line) storms across northern Indiana beginning mid to late afternoon. Possibility of an isolated storm cell could produce a small tornado in northern Indiana and Ohio. Dew points are excellent at 60+ for such action.

Another update after lunch when things start to form.

Afternoon Update

The low seems to be tracking north and I expect a watch to be issued for northern counties and into Michigan before 3 PM. Things might skirt over us today and we might even remain clear except for a late evening shower.

Bottom line - keep doing what you are doing and check back around quiting time.

Evening Update

I missed the boat calling for clear weather. We had some light storms with a couple of quick bursts of hail ranging from pea to nickle sized hail. No winds to speak of followed these storms. About 4/10 of an inch of rain fell. As I suspected, things went north near the IN/MI border and into OH. There was some good lighting and had it been night, some good opportunities for photography. Oh well, maybe next time....