Bad Weather.....and weather reports(Straight from a trained spotter)

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
Tornado reported in Stapleton Nebraska, First tornado in Feb since the 50's!
Heavy snow and ice at .25 inches from Minnesota to New York.


Hoping you all are staying safe. Weather radios should be turned on at all times!! Gas in the trucks, extra water on hand.
 

DJones

Member
Jan 21, 2012
701
St. Petersburg, Florida
Weather radios should be turned on at all times!!

:iagree:

I'm a trained spotter too, and have the SKYWARN window cling inside my front window. Training is available now.
 

STLtrailbSS

Member
Dec 4, 2011
1,617
This Weather is insane , last year our most devastating tornado was in ...DECEMBER!
 

BOOMERZ

Member
Dec 5, 2011
94
They are calling for wintery mix for tomorrow and thursday ... this time last year we were scrambling to find places to stick all the snow , all we got this year was about an inch
 

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
BOOMERZ said:
They are calling for wintery mix for tomorrow and thursday ... this time last year we were scrambling to find places to stick all the snow , all we got this year was about an inch

Don't speak so soon. Buffalo NY will be seeing Ice and anywhere between 10-12 inches of snow with this storm system. So just keep an eye out. And I really stress to everyone who does not have a NOAA Severe Weather Alert Radio to go out and get one!!! They can be found at Wal-mart for $20.00. I know $20.00 can seem to be a lot for some people but that $20.00 could save your life one day. And those who have radio's need to turn them on!!
 

BOOMERZ

Member
Dec 5, 2011
94
im in the NYC area and if we get what your getting it will be NICE overtime for me :wootwoot::biggrin: and give me a chance to play in the snow with the lifted TB , but on a serious note if i dont have to work i will have my scanner on listening , and telling ppl to stay clear of the roads
 

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
BOOMERZ said:
im in the NYC area and if we get what your getting it will be NICE overtime for me :wootwoot::biggrin: and give me a chance to play in the snow with the lifted TB , but on a serious note if i dont have to work i will have my scanner on listening , and telling ppl to stay clear of the roads

I WISH we were getting 10-15 inches of snow!! I would be in a winter bliss...It just needs to wait until NEXT weekend when I don't need to change spark plugs or brakes lol

I'm in SE Iowa, we have close to 60 degree temps now, high winds(Active wind advisory) rain and possible thunderstorms. Kansas, Missouri, and southern Illinois are all in RED on my map for possible severe storms and tornadoes. Large softball sized hail has been reported in Kansas too.

And :thumbsup: for having your scanner on!!! I take my spotting extremely serious. I have been put in some situations where the weather knowledge would have helped out a lot, including being stuck horseback in a field while a tornado was less than a mile away....I was 15 and clueless!! So this is very important, and I LOVE knowing that I could save someone one day. I have actual certificates for my weather knowledge and training so I'm not just some lady who sits on the couch watching the weather channel...although it is on :biggrin:
 

Mark20

Member
Dec 6, 2011
1,630
And gas for your generator if you have one. My daughter goes to State University of New York at Buffalo. Hope she makes it home for spring break.
 

DJones

Member
Jan 21, 2012
701
St. Petersburg, Florida
Voymom said:
I have actual certificates for my weather knowledge and training...

That's something I don't have. Maybe I should...

57° tomorrow after freezing rain starting around 1am.
 

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
DJones said:
That's something I don't have. Maybe I should...

The classes are free. You do them all online and take all the tests online as well. I can send you the link if you would like? It's slammed full of GREAT meteorology information. I am also FEMA Certified :biggrin: and THAT took a very long time to do.



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I covered up my last name on those :biggrin:

I still go to training every year....But I do these every year as well as a refresher course.
 

High Voltage

Member
Nov 18, 2011
462
I never worry or pay attention to the weather. If the weather is bad I'm out in it working. Had straight line winds hit us in 98 and worked 32 hours straight. Didn't get home to check my house till after that. I've worked many tornado and ice storms for weeks.
 

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
High Voltage said:
I never worry or pay attention to the weather. If the weather is bad I'm out in it working. Had straight line winds hit us in 98 and worked 32 hours straight. Didn't get home to check my house till after that. I've worked many tornado and ice storms for weeks.

I think your job qualifies as being JUST as dangerous if not as dangerous as weather itself....I wouldn't/couldn't do your job but appreciate it lots :thumbsup:
 

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
Barton County Missouri is in a Tornado warning!
 

Wyle

Member
Dec 4, 2011
200
You guys keep all the bad weather. I don't want it because I'll be spending 3 days canoeing down the Colorado this weekend. :wootwoot:
Forecast: mostly sunny, sunny and ... sunny with highs near 64, 68, and 72. :raspberry:
Might have to take a jacket for those 50 degree lows at night.

PS. I grew up in Buffalo NY. Bailed on that weather ASAP.
 

djthumper

Administrator
Nov 20, 2011
14,956
North Las Vegas
Voymom said:
The classes are free. You do them all online and take all the tests online as well. I can send you the link if you would like? It's slammed full of GREAT meteorology information. I am also FEMA Certified :biggrin: and THAT took a very long time to do.


I covered up my last name on those :biggrin:

I still go to training every year....But I do these every year as well as a refresher course.
Some of us already know your last name. :wink:

I have those certs along with a few other ICS courses. I have done some other FEMA stuff. I will end up with more ICS and NIMS courses since I am working with starting a SAR team and am their communications officer.
 

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
djthumper said:
Some of us already know your last name. :wink:

LOL I know Mark20 already told me in an e-mail :biggrin: However my last name on the site is not my last name, I'm married :yes:
 

Matt

Member
Dec 2, 2011
4,035
Listening to the radio back home yesterday (Sydney) they were expecting up to 12" of rain that day and 12 months worth in the next 3 days. From a drought and the main water supply dam at less than 40% capacity and dropping to it overflowing in 3 years.
 

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
Matt said:
Listening to the radio back home yesterday (Sydney) they were expecting up to 12" of rain that day and 12 months worth in the next 3 days. From a drought and the main water supply dam at less than 40% capacity and dropping to it overflowing in 3 years.

That is a lot of rain!
 

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
jbones said:
Just a touch of snow in my area.
View attachment 4517

But your in Washington lol when I lived there for 4yrs we hardly had any significant snow but the wind storms were crazy as all get out. I lived in both Tacoma and Olympia. I liked it there as it was beautiful but I really missed hearing thunder and shoveling myself out of feet of snow lol

Glad your doing good though!!

Harrisburg Illinois didn't fair very well. They had an EF4 touch down and it killed 9 people including some children. We had a small t-storm come through here at about 1am. It was windy with some front line gusts of about 60mph and small hail. It didn't last very long as it was moving pretty fast.
 

kardain

Member
Dec 16, 2011
557
Voymom said:
But your in Washington lol when I lived there for 4yrs we hardly had any significant snow but the wind storms were crazy as all get out. I lived in both Tacoma and Olympia. I liked it there as it was beautiful but I really missed hearing thunder and shoveling myself out of feet of snow lol

There hasn't been significant snow over the last 15+ years I've lived out here... A week or two of it, at most.

I've only had to use chains once, ever. That was due to getting stuck in my driveway. 6" of snow + car with less than 4" ground clearance... You can fill in the rest.
 

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
kardain said:
There hasn't been significant snow over the last 15+ years I've lived out here... A week or two of it, at most.

I've only had to use chains once, ever. That was due to getting stuck in my driveway. 6" of snow + car with less than 4" ground clearance... You can fill in the rest.

I guess it's not all that bad not getting a crap load of snow, depends on how you look at it lol I LOVE winter simply because I like snow, skiing and the like. I miss Washington, wish I could have seen more of it when I lived there but I wasn't able to due to the military. It was my Grandma's favorite state, and she had been to all 50 of them before she died. I lived out there from 04-08.
 

jbones

Member
Dec 5, 2011
658
Voymom said:
But your in Washington lol when I lived there for 4yrs we hardly had any significant snow but the wind storms were crazy as all get out. I lived in both Tacoma and Olympia. I liked it there as it was beautiful but I really missed hearing thunder and shoveling myself out of feet of snow lol

Glad your doing good though!!

Harrisburg Illinois didn't fair very well. They had an EF4 touch down and it killed 9 people including some children. We had a small t-storm come through here at about 1am. It was windy with some front line gusts of about 60mph and small hail. It didn't last very long as it was moving pretty fast.

We've had a few good snows since I've been here, "04". Two years ago 18" at my house, last month 11". Not the norm.

Them Tornado's are no bull, I was glad to have survived, Kalamazoo, MI, 1980. We heard it was coming and climbed to the roof of the car dealership I worked at, Jim Gilmore Cadillac Pontiac. We watched it coming down the hill on West Main St., and barely got down and under cover before that bad boy hit us. Turned out to be an F3, killed 5 in the county. Was no fun huddled in that bathroom, I remember its roar, dirt and dust in the air, watching walls crack, toilet water bursting into the air, that old building was alive with motion, seemed like forever. I was amazed at the destruction around us when we went outside. Shortly after we learned when it hit the tall bank building and had split into two Tornados, continuing two paths of destruction through the city and county. Still have my newspaper and my Disaster pass needed to get to work.
 

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
jbones said:
We've had a few good snows since I've been here, "04". Two years ago 18" at my house, last month 11". Not the norm.

Them Tornado's are no bull, I was glad to have survived, Kalamazoo, MI, 1980. We heard it was coming and climbed to the roof of the car dealership I worked at, Jim Gilmore Cadillac Pontiac. We watched it coming down the hill on West Main St., and barely got down and under cover before that bad boy hit us. Turned out to be an F3, killed 5 in the county. Was no fun huddled in that bathroom, I remember its roar, dirt and dust in the air, watching walls crack, toilet water bursting into the air, that old building was alive with motion, seemed like forever. I was amazed at the destruction around us when we went outside. Shortly after we learned when it hit the tall bank building and had split into two Tornados, continuing two paths of destruction through the city and county. Still have my newspaper and my Disaster pass needed to get to work.

Wow...I'm glad that you made it out! I have been in 2 tornado's and had several close calls, especially now as a spotter but I am definitely more educated too. It's scary. I survived Hurricane Andrew in Dade County FL THAT was scary. Warning systems I can imagine are a lot better than what they were in the 80's. The way you describe your experience I can tell it's still pretty vivid.

I hear all these stories like the 9 dead in Harrisburg Ill, and I can't help but to feel absolutely horrible for the ones who have been affected by last nights storms. Now Kentucky is being slammed hard and I just hope and pray that they get significant warning and time to find cover. Especially at night when these storms are hard to see, that's why I always stress the use of a NOAA weather radio or any weather radio that will alert you and wake you up in the middle of the night. And Friday will be another chance of Severe Weather. I know a lot of my friends think I've fallen off my rocker because I take this so seriously, but what they don't realize is that us spotters are the ones out in this crap risking our lives to save the lives of others. We are the ones who sound those Tornado Sirens, and call in to issue Tornado warnings. The weather radars don't show tornado's, they can show rotation and possible debris balls, but not tornado's. They rely on people like spotters and law enforcement to spot these things so that the warnings can be issues in time to save lives.
 

jbones

Member
Dec 5, 2011
658
Voymom said:
The way you describe your experience I can tell it's still pretty vivid.

Just intense enought to never forgot, just like the live visuals I had at Banda Aceh, Indonesia, days after the Tsumi.
 

rcam81

Member
Dec 3, 2011
209
Onsted, MI
I have been a spotter since 1999. I also do the winter spotter training. Both of my kids are trained spotters. I have 3 different apps on my Droid phone that keep me informed. One of the apps is live radar.
 
Feb 16, 2012
202
Lol, yea, I see nasty weather means I will either be busy with the Fire Dept, or get called into work @ 9-1-1.

$$$$$$$$$
 

blazinlow89

Member
Jan 25, 2012
2,088
Bad weather for us means, watch the radar. Have SAR on the line and anything none essential inside, and when we go into thunder one (storm within 10 miles, I believe) that means get everything inside asap and stay off the flight line if thunder/lightning are present. We race the weather all the time, especially during the spring months. I have been stuck outside in hail, lightning, tornado warnings, high winds (70+ mph), extreme burst of rain (seen it rain 3 inches in 15 min/ locally). Same goes with winter.

I still love my job, not sure if i could things like the linemen or rescue workers though, I have an extreme respect these people.

Side note today it was 75*, Monday morning it was 28*. I do hope the early spring weather sticks around, I dislike cold weather.
 

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523
http://news.yahoo.com/forecasters-saturday-storms-life-threatening-190840695.html

I just wanted to post this article for those in this severe outlook tomorrow. Please please please take this seriously. Keep your weather radio's on, survival kits packed and have a safety plan. Make sure if your outdoors tomorrow you keep an avid watch on the skies and the weather through your phones, computers, TV whatever you have, and make sure you mark out your area of shelter in case you are outdoors/driving when bad weather hits.

IF you don't have a weather radio, take $20-$40 bucks out of your trucks mod money and go buy one at wal-mart, this is way more important than any modification as it could save your life and your family's life. I know a lot of people say it won't happen to them, and a lot of people have lost faith in the weather warnings, but please take this to heart...I'am pleading with you!

Stay safe everyone. I won't be posting much as I need to get my safety plan routed out, plus I will more than likely be on call for spotting. But if I am home bound I will try to update this with weather warnings as often as I can. Just think of Joplin Missouri.....IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!!
 

STLtrailbSS

Member
Dec 4, 2011
1,617
I have always had a huge interest in weather past 3 weeks I have been looking into Wind&Height in Mb. Shear,Cape and Hodographs. Im actually hoping to see the cell in STL today.
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,258
Brighton, CO
Holy old thread BatMan...

Whats up STLTrailBSS...
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
For weather I just call the wife's step brother that works for the National Weather Service. He seems to be pretty good.
 

Voymom

Original poster
Member
Feb 3, 2012
2,523

Conner299

Member
Jan 16, 2013
279
Tried switching to it to public, but will have to wait till I can make it to the PC.

Edit: Video should now be public.
 

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