Reflecting On the Moore, OK Tornado

Bryan McCormick and I sat in the Storm Center this afternoon watching this tornado unfold. We have the ability to access the Oklahoma City Doppler radar site on StormTRACK Doppler 8. The images we were seeing as the storm moved into Moore, OK were astonishing. But, they were not as horrific as the images after the storm passed. The above picture is from the AP. It shows a mother carrying her child from property of Plaza Towers Elementary.This is the site where several children died today because of this violent tornado.

I showed this image at 6:00 when the Associated Press released it on Twitter. I started my weathercast with it and a flood of emotions hit me while I was live on air.

I'm a dad. I have 4 kids and instantly I thought of them. I pictured each one of them in the arms of my wife. I pictured each one of them going through a scary moment in their life. I thought of the feeling this mother must have had when she KNEW her child was not one of the dead. I also thought about the parents that did not carry their children home tonight. That's tough to think about...

Tornadoes are real. They disrupt life. They kill people. They kill children. They are to be taken seriously.

Far too often, the meteorology community gets giddy about storms, and tornadoes. Far too often, the weather community gets excited when the ingredients are coming together for a severe weather event. I'm sure I'm guilty.... especially in my younger days.

I promise to never get giddy over tornadoes again. A colleague of mine, Dave Freeman, at KSN once reminded a group of us to never root for the tornado. ALWAYS root for people. Wise advice.

So, tonight... as I sit in the storm center watching a decaying line of storms move into Region 8, I pray for the families that lost loved ones. I'm not sure if this is right or not, but I'm praying even more for the parents that lost children. I simply can't imagine the pain.

Pause and pray for all of the victims in the Southern Plains that have been impacted over the past couple of days. Also, hug your kids.

Ryan

May 2013 and The Law of Averages

Look at how much the country has changed in less than 2 weeks! We had snow for the first time on record in May less than two weeks ago, and those same places were in the 90s today! Look at the highs today compared to the snow cover from 12 days ago:

May started out extremely cool, but we may make up for it over the next 2 weeks. Here is a graph showing the highs we saw compared to the average highs:

As of right now, the average temperature for May 2013 is 60.8 degrees. The coolest May on record was in 1976 with an average temperature of 61.4 degrees. As I look at the long range forecast, we may see temperatures above average for the rest of the month, which will raise the average, significantly. I still think this May will be in the Top 10 coolest. I'll keep you posted!

Enjoy the warm weather!

Record Breaking Snow?

If it snows in Northwest Arkansas tonight or tomorrow morning, it will be the latest snow in the state of Arkansas on record! Since records were kept, it has never snowed in Arkansas in the month of May. The latest "accumulating" snow was 0.2" at Corning on April 24, 1910 and the latest non accumulating snow was in Fayetteville, Gravette, Harrison on April 30, 1903. I did some research to actually SEE the report of the latest accumulating snow in Corning from 1910. Take a look for yourself by clicking to enlarge:

Sure enough, it snow on April 24th, 1910 in Corning, AR! While it is interesting to note that the measurement was scribbled out and changed, it shows that they had a dusting! Look at the "remarks" as well. It talks about how the farmers were WAY behind because of the rain and cool temperatures. Sound familiar?

I love looking back at old weather data. I hope you enjoy it as well. I'll be showing this on Region 8 News tonight, so tune in!

Ryan

Record Cold Start to May?

If the last three runs of the GFS are correct, we could be quite chilly on Friday and Saturday. The GFS and Canadian model show the upper-level low cutting off and going over Region 8. This would result in clouds, showers, and cool temperatures. It might result in some hail producing storms as well.

One of the most difficult things to explain on TV is a record low maximum. Friday's record low maximum is 59. Meaning, that out of all of the "high" temperatures on record, 59 is the coolest. We could easily break that record in Jonesboro on Friday. Right now, we have a forecast high of only 53 degrees. Some data suggests that we may not make it out of the 40s. That is CRAZY for May 3rd!

One fly in the ointment would be if we stay into the 60s until after midnight on Thursday night into Friday morning. In that case, the "official" high would be to warm to break a record. We will watch the track of the upper-level low closely over the next few days.

Here's a 3D look:

Are you tired of cold air?

Ryan

Region 8 Fishing Forecast

I recently talked with a gentleman in Walnut Ridge about fishing. He told me that the feeding activity of fish is largely dependent on the barometric pressure. I studied up on the subject and found out that many people believe this theory and that it's been studied enough to have thresholds on Poor, Good, and Great fishing activity. It's such a well-taken theory that many sporting goods stores sell fishing barometers like this one:

So, I took this information and made a special graphic and colortable. Next, I made a legend for the viewer. Lastly, I took the forecast pressure data for the next 48 hours, mapped and animated it to the new color table and this is what I got... 

The fishing forecast tonight was pretty good...

It's is expected to take a little dip tomorrow afternoon and evening...

But, by Wednesday, it goes back up and looks good all day on Wednesday!

So, here's my question. Is this something that people are interested in seeing? Is it worth the 30-45 seconds during my 3 minutes of weather? Should I only show it on Thursday and Friday? Or, is it worthless?

Comment on Facebook, tweet me, comment here, or email me at ryan@kait8.com and share your thoughts.

Take care,

Ryan