We had A LOT of phone calls this morning before the show began. Most between 3:30am-4:30 am. Everyone was worried about the wind! At one time, winds were gusting to 47 mph in Montgomery! There were no Severe Thunderstorm Warnings or Tornado Warnings, just a Wind Advisory. Numerous trees have been reported down and we have even had some power outage reports! So what was going on?
Well... I could have easily gone in front of the camera this morning saying that the thunderstorms caused the damage, but it wasn't (exactly) the storms. The winds were on the back side of the thundershowers. In fact, the strongest winds were miles away from where the lighting strikes were! Therefore, I believe we were experiencing something called a "wake low" or "gravity wave". I mentioned this on-air this morning, but I would have had to spend WAY too much time explaining it.... so I moved on! I would have also sounded like a big weather geek. I am a big weather geek, but I don't want everyone to catch on to that fact! If you are interested in "wake lows" or "gravity waves", check out this case study on some events from 1995 and 1996 by clicking here. By the way, notice how drastically the winds went down after the disturbance moved through (see picture) Winds went from gusting to 47 mph to 0 in 35 minutes in Montgomery!
So what do you think about weather folks getting scientific on-air? Do you just want to know what the weather will be like or do you occasionally want a little science thrown in? Tell me your thoughts.... email me at rvaughan@wsfa.com Have a great Tuesday! Don't let any gravity waves slow you down! (I am a geek, ain't I!)
PS- My cat has been missing for almost a week now. His name is Sheriff. I've had him since college! My oldest son keeps looking around for him and I must admit... I'm a little depressed too. I hope to get some signs around the neighborhood tomorrow and a picture on the blog too. I'll have to see if I have a digital picture to post on here. Wish me luck....
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