Tornadoes rip Midwest, killing 9; heavy snow hits Upper Midwest
Strong tornadoes plowed through the Midwest U.S. last night and this morning, killing at least nine people. Six people died in Harrisburg, Illinois when a tornado hit near 5:37 am CST this morning, damaging or destroying 200 buildings. Another person was killed in southwest Missouri near Buffalo when a possible tornado ripped through a mobile home park. Thirteen others were injured in the mobile home park. Two others died in the Cassville and Puxico areas. A tornado also moved through downtown Branson, Missouri early this morning, causing heavy damage to the city's famous theaters, and injuring at least twelve people. A tornado plowed through the small town of Harveyville, Kansas (population 275), twenty miles southwest of Topeka, at 9:03 pm last night. The tornado destroyed 40 - 60% of the structures and injured ten, one critically. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center logged fifteen preliminary tornado reports yesterday and today.
The same storm system also brought the heaviest snows of the winter to portions of the Upper Midwest, which has received scant snowfall this winter. Blizzard warnings are posted in South Dakota this morning, where snowfall amounts of 6 - 10 inches are common. According to NOAA's latest storm summary, five states have experienced snowfall amounts of ten inches or more--Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Michigan, and Nebraska. The highest snow amount as of 8 am CST was recorded at Tripoli, Wisconsin, where fourteen inches had fallen.
Figure 1. Radar image of the squall line that passed through Harrisburg, Illinois this morning, spawning a tornado that killed three people. The position of Harisburg is marked by a circle with a "+" symbol.
Figure 2. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center logged thirteen preliminary tornado reports yesterday.
More tornadoes likely today
The powerful late-winter storm system that spawned the deadly tornadoes will move eastwards, bringing snows of 5 - 10 inches to northern Wisconsin, northern Minnesota, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and northern New England. The storm's cold front is triggering severe thunderstorms over much of Kentucky this morning, and these thunderstorms are expected to grow in severity and spawn more tornadoes this afternoon, once the heat of the day destabilizes the atmosphere. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has posted tornado watches for portions of Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio this morning, and has placed much of Tennessee and portions of surrounding states in their "Moderate Risk" area for severe weather today. Consult our Severe Weather Page and Interactive Tornado Page to follow today's severe weather.
Figure 3. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has placed much of Tennessee and portions of surrounding states in their "Moderate Risk" area for severe weather, one level below the highest level of alert, "High Risk."
Jeff Masters
Winter in Northern Minnesota
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...A Tornado Warning remains in effect until 1145 PM EST for
Claiborne...Campbell...Union and Scott counties...
At 1112 PM EST...National Weather Service Doppler radar continued to
indicate a tornado. This tornado was located near White Oak...or 9
miles northeast of La Follette...moving east at 45 mph.
Locations in the warning include...
Clairfield.
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
1129 PM EST WED FEB 29 2012
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
CENTRAL TAZEWELL COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
* UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST.
* AT 1126 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR GLEN
BURKE...OR 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF RICHLANDS...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.
* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
GLEN BURKE...
BANDY...
CLIFFIELD...
TAZEWELL...
GRATTON...
NEW TORNADO near South of JONESVILLE....take cover NOW...appears on the ground.
Tech sucks, Wa hoo wa
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
1139 PM EST WED FEB 29 2012
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
HAWKINS COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE...
LEE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...
SCOTT COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...
* UNTIL 1215 AM EST
* AT 1135 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL...AND
DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED 5 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF PENNINGTON GAP...OR 9 MILES EAST OF JONESVILLE...AND
MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.
* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...
JASPER...DUFFIELD...OKOLONA...CLINCHPORT AND MOUNT CARMEL.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
DOPPLER RADAR HAS INDICATED SOME WEAK ROTATION WITHIN THIS STORM.
If not: Link
Looks to be a hook with possible debris ball, storm now has a TVS.
This is some of strongest Rotation of the NITE....that is just occurring A NEW WARNING COMING
Yah this is ridiculous they need to issue a new watch these storms all seem to be tornadic.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
1150 PM EST WED FEB 29 2012
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
EXTREME EASTERN HAWKINS COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE...
WESTERN SULLIVAN COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE...
SCOTT COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...
* UNTIL 1230 AM EST
* AT 1145 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 11 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF PENNINGTON GAP...OR 14 MILES EAST OF JONESVILLE.
DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THIS TORNADO MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.
* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...
GATE CITY...KINGSPORT...WEBER CITY...OKOLONA...CLINCHPORT AND MOUNT
CARMEL.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
IN ADDITION TO THE TORNADO...THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
QUARTER SIZE HAIL AND DESTRUCTIVE STRAIGHT LINE WINDS.
This one is getting NASTY it appears.
A warning was just now issued....WOW we was on it very early.
...A Tornado Warning remains in effect until 1230 am EST for Scott...
extreme eastern Hawkins and western Sullivan counties...
At 1159 PM EST...National Weather Service Doppler radar continued to
indicate a tornado. This tornado was located near Clinchport...or
near Gate City...moving east at 45 mph.
Locations in the warning include...
Gate City...Kingsport and Weber City.
Precautionary/preparedness actions...
Heavy rainfall may obscure this tornado.
Smithville TN at 4:40. Warning was issued at 4:50
EDIT: Idk why my images are not showing up-Link
Those that KNOW HOW to use this GR Program is way ahead of things issued.....Amazing Technology.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
1212 AM EST THU MAR 1 2012
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
SULLIVAN COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE...
SCOTT COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...
WASHINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...
CITY OF BRISTOL IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...
* UNTIL 1245 AM EST
* AT 1208 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR WEBER
CITY...OR NEAR GATE CITY. DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THIS TORNADO MOVING
EAST AT 45 MPH.
* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...
BRISTOL TN...BRISTOL VA...HILTONS...BLOUNTVILLE AND BENHAMS.
...A Tornado Warning remains in effect until 1245 am EST for city of
Bristol...Washington...Scott and Sullivan counties...
At 1222 am EST...National Weather Service Doppler radar continued to
indicate a tornado. This tornado was located 6 miles east of
Hiltons...or 10 miles west of Bristol TN...moving east at 45 mph.
Locations in the warning include...
Bristol TN...Bristol VA...Blountville and Benhams.
That storm seems to be dying out...
110 AM EST THU MAR 1 2012
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
SOUTHERN CITY OF LYNCHBURG IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA
NORTHERN CAMPBELL COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA
EASTERN BEDFORD COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA
WESTERN APPOMATTOX COUNTY IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA
* UNTIL 145 AM EST.
* AT 108 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR GOODE...OR
NEAR FOREST...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.
* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
FOREST...
TIMBERLAKE...
LYNCHBURG AIRPORT...
RUSTBURG...
CONCORD...
SPC Day 2 Convective Outlook:
DAY 2 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1252 AM CST THU MAR 01 2012
...THERE IS A MDT RISK OF SVR TSTMS PORTIONS
MS...AL...TN...KY...INDIANA...OH...
...THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS ELSEWHERE FROM ARKLAMISS REGION
ENEWD TO CAROLINAS AND NWD TO SWRN PA...INDIANA AND OZARKS...
...SYNOPSIS...
UPPER-AIR PATTERN TRANSITION IS UNDERWAY ATTM...WITH HEIGHT FALLS
ACROSS MUCH OF WRN CONUS IN ADVANCE OF SYNOPTIC SCALE TROUGH
DEVELOPMENT. RESULT THROUGH DAY-1 WILL BE BROADLY CYCLONIC FLOW
ACROSS MOST OF WRN CONUS...MOVING EWD TO CENTRAL CONUS DAY-2. BY
START OF PERIOD...EXPECT NRN-STREAM MID-UPPER CYCLONE LOCATED OVER
ND/MB BORDER REGION...AND BASAL 500-MB SHORTWAVE TROUGH OVER
4-CORNERS REGION. DOWNSTREAM FROM THAT PERTURBATION...LOWER-
AMPLITUDE SHORTWAVE SHOULD BE MOVING ENEWD ACROSS KS. VORTICITY
FIELDS WITH LATTER TWO SHORTWAVES SHOULD REMAIN WELL-CONNECTED...
EFFECTIVELY RESULTING IN POSITIVELY TILTED TROUGH FROM ERN IA/NRN IL
REGION TO ERN NM BY 3/00Z. BY 3/12Z...EXPECT MID-UPPER LOW OVER LH
OR ADJOINING PORTIONS ONT...WITH TROUGH SWWD OVER LOWEST SEGMENT OF
OH RIVER...OK...AND SRN NM.
AT SFC...COLD FRONT NOW IMPINGING ON SWRN APPALACHIANS/TN VALLEY/NRN
LA SHOULD MOVE BACK N AS WARM FRONT THIS PERIOD...WRN PORTION OF
WHICH WILL ATTACH WITH SFC FRONTAL-WAVE LOW OVER MO BY 2/12Z. LOW
WILL DEEPEN AND MOVE NEWD TOWARD SRN LOWER MI BY 3/00Z...THEN
OCCLUDE AND BECOME STACKED WITH MIDLEVEL VORTEX BY END OF PERIOD.
WARM FRONT SHOULD MOVE NEWD OVER MID-UPPER OH VALLEY AND CENTRAL
APPALACHIANS THROUGH PERIOD. COLD FRONT TRAILING SFC LOW SHOULD
START PERIOD OVER OZARKS...SERN OK AND W-CENTRAL TX. BY
3/00Z...COLD FRONT SHOULD REACH ERN INDIANA/WRN OH...SERN AR...AND
MIDDLE TX COASTAL PLAIN. BY 3/12Z...COLD FRONT SHOULD REACH
CENTRAL/ERN PA...WRN VA...NRN GA...AND SRN AL.
...OZARKS...LOWER MS/TN VALLEY AND AL TO OH VALLEY STATES...
SCATTERED ELEVATED TSTMS IN CLUSTERS MAY BE CARRY OVER FROM LATE
DAY-1 PERIOD OVER PORTIONS OZARKS...LOWER OH VALLEY AND MID-SOUTH
REGIONS...WITH FAVORABLE CAPE ALOFT AND DEEP-LAYER SHEAR FOR HAIL.
SOME OF THIS ACTIVITY MAY PERSIST LONG ENOUGH TO BECOME SFC-BASED BY
MIDDAY AND EARLY AFTERNOON IN INCREASINGLY FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR
SVR. OTHER SCATTERED-NUMEROUS TSTMS SHOULD DEVELOP ALONG/AHEAD OF
COLD FRONT. TSTMS SHOULD BE FAST-MOVING...COVERING LONG SWATHS WITH
THEIR SVR THREATS OVER ANY GIVEN PERIOD OF TIME.
AIR MASS AHEAD OF SFC COLD FRONT AND IN WAKE OF MORNING CONVECTION
SHOULD DESTABILIZE FAVORABLY AMIDST STG LOW-LEVEL WAA/MOISTURE
TRANSPORT. INTENSE DEEP-LAYER SHEAR AND LOW-LEVEL HODOGRAPHS WILL
SPREAD OVER MUCH OF WARM SECTOR...ALONG WITH SFC DEW POINTS
INCREASING FROM MID 50S OVER OH TO MID 60S OVER PORTIONS MS/AL. IN
TANDEM WITH DIURNAL SFC HEATING...THIS SHOULD SUPPORT MLCAPE 250-500
J/KG OVER PORTIONS OH/INDIANA...TO 1500-2000 J/KG RANGE OVER
PORTIONS TN/KY...THEN DECREASING SOMEWHAT FARTHER S DUE TO
INFLUENCES OF STABLE LAYERS ALOFT. DESPITE UNCERTAINTIES REGARDING
EXTENT/COVERAGE OF VARIOUS CONVECTIVE MODES THIS FAR OUT...EXPECT
WEAK CINH...BROADLY FAVORABLE CAPE/SHEAR PARAMETER SPACE...AND
RELATIVELY DENSE COVERAGE OF CONVECTION LIKELY TO IMPINGE ON THAT
SETTING. AS SUCH...NUMEROUS SVR WIND EVENTS ARE POSSIBLE ALONG WITH
POTENTIAL FOR STG TORNADOES FROM EITHER SUPERCELLS OR QLCS-VORTEX
MECHANISMS. AT LEAST A FEW WIND EVENTS AOA 65 KT AND
LONG-TRACK/SIGNIFICANT TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE. THEREFORE...
SIGNIFICANT-SVR AREA IS BEING INTRODUCED...DRIVING CATEGORICAL MDT
RISK WHERE OVERLAID WITH RELATIVELY DENSE 45% TOTAL-SVR PROBABILITY.
...CAROLINAS...
INITIALLY SEPARATE SVR POTENTIAL MAY DEVELOP OVER THIS REGION DURING
AFTERNOON/EVENING...WHICH MAY CONNECT WITH ERN FRINGES OF LARGER SVR
AREA LATE IN PERIOD AS LATTER REGIME SHIFTS EWD. SRN BRANCH OF STG
MID-UPPER LEVEL FLOW WILL SPREAD OVER INCREASINGLY FAVORABLE
BOUNDARY-LAYER THETAE ASSOCIATED WITH RETREATING WARM FRONT.
PRIMARY UNCERTAINTIES ATTM RESIDE IN STRENGTH OF LOW-LEVEL
LIFT...AND THEREFORE CONVECTIVE COVERAGE. HOWEVER...DIURNAL
HEATING...PRESENCE OF REASONABLY WELL-DEFINED FRONTAL ZONE...AND
WEAK MLCINH SHOULD PERMIT WIDELY SCATTERED TO SCATTERED TSTMS TO
DEVELOP IN REGIME OF 60S F WARM-SECTOR DEW POINTS. ACCORDINGLY
ADJUSTED FCST SOUNDINGS SUGGEST 1000-1500 J/KG LATE-AFTERNOON MLCAPE
POSSIBLE...JUXTAPOSED WITH 50-60 KT EFFECTIVE SHEAR MAGNITUDES.
MAIN THREAT MAY BE DAMAGING WIND...WITH ISOLATED HAIL ALSO EXPECTED.
FCST HODOGRAPHS ALSO ARE FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELL/TORNADO RISK...MAIN
QUESTIONS BEING COVERAGE/DURATION OF FAVORABLE STORM MODES.
..EDWARDS.. 03/01/2012
So tell me... why do you look like MALWARE ?
Florida Woman Admits to Burning Down 3,500-Year-Old Tree
By Alexandra Ludka | ABC News Blogs – 13 hrs ago
Twenty-six-year-old Sara Barnes was arrested in Seminole County, Fla., after she admitted to setting fire to one of the oldest trees in the world.
The 118-foot, 3,500-year-old bald cypress tree, located in Big Tree Park in Longwood, Fla., mysteriously burned to the ground on Jan. 16, 2012.
The Department of Forestry suspected foul play at first, but the fire was treated as an accident until crime line tips led them Barnes.
"We received a tip through our crime line on Jan. 17," said Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture. "We interviewed some friends of Ms. Barnes who said that she admitted to setting the fire and had pictures and video of the fire when it started."
According to Ivey, while authorities were serving a search warrant of Barnes' house, she admitted to starting a fire at the base of the tree as a light source so she could see what she was doing.
She was then charged with intentional burning of land, which is a third-degree felony in the state of Florida.
Barnes was also charged with possession of methamphetamine with the intent to sell and possession of drug paraphernalia by the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.
The tree, nicknamed " The Senator," is a historic landmark. It was donated to Seminole County by Sen. M.O. Overstreet in 1927 and was dedicated by Calvin Coolidge as a national historic landmark two years later.
Beyond the history of the tree, The Senator was a part of the culture of the area.
On the day in January when the tree burned down, many locals were devastated.
"I heard it on the radio this morning and I cried," said Donna Williams, a longtime Seminole resident. "Anyone who has lived in this area, not to mention those who were born here, it's part of your life because it's so gorgeous and awesome. I got a chill."
1 hour school delay for me :D I only got a couple inches but there's a lot of sleet also.
Also: You know it's serious when the SPC issues a moderate probability on a 2 day outlook in the beginning of March,
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