Severe Weather Tips

As daylight becomes longer and temperatures get warmer, we move into our yearly cycle of weather changes. Snowstorms become rain and thunderstorms, and there is plenty to take note of as we head into another year of severe weather.

As produced by National Weather Service offices around Michigan, April 7-13 is Severe Weather Awareness week!

Earlier in March, I was remembering the unique events that launched Spring 2012 into a craze. We had record temps into the 80s, and multiple tornadoes tear across eastern Michigan. It was a very interesting start to the year, and it kept you on your toes for forecasting and figuring out just what the heck is going on up there! While Spring 2013 is moving in like a lamb, that lion could be waiting right around the corner, and being prepared is a priority.

Greg’s Tips for Severe Weather

NOAA Weather Radio
This is the single most valuable thing you can have for warning during a stormy day! We absorb weather through many sources these days; internet, TV, radio, word of mouth. When the winds start brewing and the power goes out, many of these reliable sources are cut down. Even if you have a backup generator, chances are your media services(internet/cable TV) will not be powered in your area. Having a battery-powered weather radio can keep you up to the minute warnings and weather information. The warning signal usually beats web updates by a few minutes as well. Weather Radios are also a hero at night if the house is asleep and dangerous weather is near. Keep them charged with batteries nearby!

Know Your Surroundings
This goes along great with the weather radio. While forecasters may get as specific as calling out road names and cities where the storms are near, you should also know the County names surrounding your location. Storms typically move West to East, sometimes SW to NE, sometimes NW to SE. Bottom line, know where you are relative to where the storm is. If you think a dangerous storm is going to miss you, do not take it for granted. Supercell thunderstorms are known to waver on path, and sometimes can change direction. Be prepared for anything!

Skywarn Classes (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/skywarn/)
These are great chances to learn about weather a little more in detail, and refined to severe weather scenarios. They are free, and usually run by a few forecasters from your local NWS office. That means they are run by the folks that track and watch for storms on a daily basis and know what to look for. You will go over everything from how to report weather threats to authorities, to determining if that ominous dark cloud is a wall cloud or shelf cloud(important!). Usually there is a great Spotter’s Field Guide that is handed out for quick reference, there is an online PDF version available here. Once you have learned this material, you become a very valuable resource to forecasting as you are an eye witness to the weather in your area. As useful as that is, always make sure your safety is first! NEVER put yourself in danger to get a report.

Know Your Clouds
As mentioned previously, knowing the difference between clouds can mean loads for the weather to expect. Low flying scud could prompt you to call it a wall cloud(precursor to tornadoes), but is that cloud rotating as well? Is is attached to the base of cloud above it? How about those shelf clouds that take up the entire horizon? Much of this is detailed in the Skywarn classes, but this is something that can help you out in a fix, and impress others.

Example of a wall cloud just SE of CMU campus back in May 2011.

Heed Warnings
“Yea, that storm is way far from my house, I don’t need to pay attention.” Always take note of Watches/Warnings. Along those lines, know the difference between a Watch and a Warning.

Severe Thunderstorm Watches and Tornado Watches mean conditions in the atmosphere are favorable for that type of weather to develop, so be ready for storms later in the day, or within the next couple hours.

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Tornado Warnings mean a severe storm has been spotted/identified, and is tracking along the specified path.  Take appropriate action immediately if you are in the track of the storm.

Again,
Watches = be ready for storms soon/later in the day
Warnings = take action immediately if you are identified in the path of a storm

A disclaimer I must make about the blog; Greg’s Weather Blog is not a good source for immediate severe weather forecasting! Please do not rely on this page for up to the minute information on storms! Head to http://www.weather.gov for that, and type in your Zip Code to find yourself quickly and any Watches/Warnings that are in effect.

Take care out there!

Dexter Township Emergency Sirens

About a week ago, I noticed a few new additions to the side of Dexter Township roads. Sirens. Thought nothing of it while driving pass, then I spotted another, and another. Turns out it didn’t take long for preparations to get under way after an EF-3 Tornado went through part of Dexter, MI this past spring.

Went out to take a look at a Whelen WPS-2910 at North Territorial and Lombardy Dr (#5 on map)

The siren placement is pretty extensive and should offer a great coverage for the many residential communities in the area. The proclaimed 70dB level will hover just above normal conversation volume, enough to get your attention and administer action.

Dexter Township insert of siren locations.

The site at http://www.twp-dexter.org has been updating on the progress of the siren installation. As of December 13th, “The warning sirens are starting to go up throughout Dexter Township and testing may begin soon.”

If you haven’t searched for tornado sirens on YouTube, you are missing out on a very interesting group of people who love tracking these noise-makers down, filming their weekly/monthly tests. I enjoy a good eerie tone of siren tests now and then, but you must have a good ear to tell them apart! I found a sample of what they should sound like:

Snow n’ Cold

After a slow start to the snow season, a healthy coverage of snow has fallen. A few initial inches of snow fell for most of southern and central Michigan after a large storm moved through the Midwest on Dec 21. The winners during that storm were southern Wisconsin and Northern Michigan which picked up well over a foot of snow in parts.

Ground snow captured on visible satellite after the Midwest storm on Dec 20-21, 2012.

A day after Christmas, we received what was a glancing blow from a storm forming in the deep south and tracking up the Appalachian Mountains. These types of storms often look favorable to dump a significant amount of snow for Michigan. However, we often suffer a robbery of moisture. If conditions are favorable, the storm will redevelop off the east coast, thus displacing storm energy a few hundred miles east. This is a scenario that happens a lot, and computer models often overlook this in long-range forecasts.

Christmas storm radar imagery.

Compared to past instances if this storm type, I think SE Michigan faired well on the snow part. The deepest amounts showed up outside the  thumb as lake effect snows helped enhance snow totals. This snowfall also happened the night of Central’s bowl game at Ford Field in Detroit. That was an adventure on the roads! (CMU won, so that was icing on the cake!)

Total snow accumulations for SE Michigan.

This storm also brought storms producing tornadoes in the south on Christmas day. Luckily, no fatalities occurred, but plenty of people were injured in what could be the costliest Christmas day tornado outbreak.

The near future looks calm but cold. Overnight temperatures will start in the teens this week, but dip into the single digits by Wednesday and Thursday. Daytime highs will be in the teens. Many storm disturbances will pass well south of Michigan. These will roughly follow the jet stream as they develop in the south and exit the east coast a few days later. As these storms develop and move out to sea, it will help shift cooler temperatures south, and thus we get into stronger polar air. Bundle up, winter is here!

Southeastern MI Tornadoes

What an unusual spring! First the heat, then the sporadic severe thunderstorms spawning tornadoes left and right.

Can’t say they weren’t expected though.

Each day of severe storms the SPC had a severe risk over the area. While the zone was not a medium or high risk area, headlines still mentioned the risk of an isolated tornado.

Very pleased to see the NWS in Detroit has a nicely typed up report ready to go so soon. Very informational, and has pictures! >>>Check it out<<<

Obviously the Dexter tornado hit close to home, since it touched down no more than 3 miles from home!

Dexter, MI tornado path containing up to EF3 damage.

It was a relief to hear mom pick up the phone when I called her after the warning went up.

“What’s the weather like mom!??!”

“Oh, it’s raining.”

I told her to take a peek east and see what was going on.

“Oh…..I think I’ll stay inside.”

She was still brave and took some nice photos of some scud or possibly the formation of the wall cloud. All depends on timing and if there was rotation with these clouds.

Possible wall cloud development or scud cloud looking east from N Territorial/Stofer.

My call came right around the tornado touched down near Territorial and Dexter-Townhall Rd. Thankfully it looks like the tornado missed a large chunk of the town. However, it did hit a residential area pretty hard. My thoughts go out to them to have a speedy recovery. Dexter and Chelsea are very similar, and if the citizens are the same, they have a good attitude and will rebuild to be stronger. It will just take time.

Footage from Hudson-Mills Metro Park. Nice bike trail.

What’s miraculous is the fact no one was seriously injured or killed. I strongly believe the 33 minute warning time helped this. It saved lives.

May have a follow up post in a month or so if I can track the path myself.