Where you go to school.... hang out... play softball, swim on the swim team. A rival's stadium... My niece's senior night and her graduation on the football field.
I have been devastated. Words don't even express the way I have felt over the last few days. My brother's home was damaged by the storm, but thank GOD that it wasn't as bad as I imagined. They were very lucky. I hate to say things like "God was with them" because that is to say God wasn't with the other people who weren't as lucky, and we know.. that just isn't true.
What I am doing tomorrow is going to church and counting EVERY single one of my blessings, because there are so many!
I have AMAZING friends and family.... Everyone has been hugely supportive. I can't begin to explain to you all the help that I have recieved.
A friend from TVN has put me in touch with some other storm chasers who are coming down to help with the relief effort. I can't wait to get my hands dirty and help out!!!
As we speak, I'm trying to get everything finished so that I may help even as soon as tomorrow!!!!
And all I can say is.. God Bless Ringgold! We are a great community and WE WILL BE BACK!!!
This isn't going to be an easy post for me, but I need to write it. I think it will help me heal a bit.
I'm first going to start with my Chase Log for April 26, 2011.
Wes C. and I met up at 7am CDT and headed towards our initial target of Corinth, MS. We examined the models, and saw we should move just a bit further west for our best potential before dark. We got to Holly Springs, MS, and saw some creepy abandoned buildings and took a few photos, because honestly.. we were beginning to think we were going to blue sky bust. The cap was strong above us. We headed a bit further west to Tunica, and an outlook upgrade was issued. We were in a HIGH risk! But after reading the text of the outlook, again... everything was supposed to start happening overnight.
We sat at a gas station in Tunica, trying to decide our strategy. The atmosphere was pretty volatile.. It just needed one little thing to make everything go boom.
Then suddenly we saw a few discrete supercells pop up. The decision was made to cross the Mississippi and head over into Arkansas for our intercept. Just south of Haynes, AR, we approached a beautiful supercell. Classic with a beavertail... and we were rewarded with a wall cloud. :) We took some photos, and we were starting to think it was going to produce, so we repositioned and paralleled the storm on an East/West road for awhile... The the storm went HP and we lost sight of the wall cloud because every thing got all wrapped up in rain. That's when things got a bit hairy. The road kept winding in and out taking is close to the rotation. We were getting cored, thanks to a slow truck in front of us, but honestly, we both said later, if it hadn't been for that truck, things could have gotten ugly. Not long after that we found damage outside of West Memphis, AR. From that point, the entire way home, we kept struggling to stay out of the rotation. But finally, at 2:30 am... I made it back home to Ringgold.
I woke up at 6am for work, and saw the High Risk for our area. On my way in to work, I saw the tornado warnings in Alabama were already heading that way, so I hurried to beat the weather to work. Approximately 8:30, Chattanooga was placed under a tornado warning. I pulled up the radar on my phone and we were sitting RIGHT in the hook. I'm certain Chattem took a direct hit from a tornado. We lost power and the HUGE beautiful tree went down in front of our entrance.
Then, to put it bluntly, all hell broke loose. From 2pm-10pm, one supercell right after another made a bee line for our area. We basically spent it in the basement. These supercells were like mini low pressure systems. You could FEEL the drop in pressure as they approached. I can't describe it. I thought I was imagining it at first... but then I realized that's exactly what was happening. You could feel the pressure bearing down on you. The last one.... Stacey and I both felt. An area of STRONG rotation went very near our home and produced an EF4 (preliminary) tornado about 3 miles away. I didn't know what happened, until my phone started blowing up after it was over. My sister and niece kept asking if we were okay. They mentioned my ROAD on the news. Thank GOD that we were spared. I can't tell you how much I have THANKED him for that. My brother, Chuck... his house sustained damage. They are living in it with a generator that someone gave them as we speak.
But Ringgold.......... Ringgold is my hometown. I've lived here since I was 5 years old. And even though I attended Lakeview-Ft Oglethorpe high school....... I still have many memories of football games. How many times have I eaten at that Pizza Hut??? I can hardly speak of it. I look at the footage and feel like memories were just swept away. Many homes are obliterated. So many lost lives, including 5 alone from the Cherokee Valley Road community. There you can see homes completely swept off their foundation.
Tornado video from Ringgold
Aerial footage of MY city.... WE WILL REBUILD! God bless Ringgold!
This week looks just incredibly dangerous for the south.
As of right now, there are THREE straight days with MDT risks issued by SPC. Today and tomorrow for Arkansas and West TN, and Wednesday, the risk moves east with a MDT bullseye right over the homestead!
Tomorrow, I'm chasing with a fellow deep south chaser, Wes Carter, as long as I can swing the day off tomorrow. I think I will be able to do it. Right now, it looks like there is nothing on the calendar. So.. please please please don't let the FDA come in today or anything like that!
Wednesday is going to be a home grown after work chase alone to see what I can see around here.
But for everyone in the south, PLEASE go buy a weather radio! Please! The disasters that have happened the last few weeks should be warning that this year's season means business. Take it seriously, folks. Long track strong tornadoes are possible all week long!
Weather guilt...... This is what I call when I get excited over severe weather then end up heartbroken over the significance of an event. I call it my weather guilt. It happens a lot more often these days. I question myself and wonder how I can possibly get so excited over severe weather potential!
The truth is.... NO ONE wants anyone to get hurt, lose their life, or lose property, but it is okay to be amazed and in awe of the power of mother nature. I think it's just best to use common sense and discretion. Take a minute to think about that Facebook post that says "OMG SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK!!! I AM SO EXCITED!" What about those who are afraid or who's lives have been previously affected by severe weather?
Now then..... for some good news!
Yesterday, I was given my new duties as a Site and Chat Moderator for TVN (tornadovideos.net). It's something I'm so happy to do, because TVN really means so much to me! Everyone involved with TVN has really made it a great place, conducive for learning. I've made REAL LIVE friends there, and I am honored to have this new responsibility!!! Thanks to everyone who made this happen!
I tried to write about this yesterday, and, honestly, I just couldn't. It has been an exhausting last couple of days, and my exhaustion means nothing compared to what people in Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, and North Carolina are feeling after this weekend.
Let's talk about the epic weather outbreak. Thursday, the epic system started off in the Southern Plains. 23 tornado reports occurred that day, including an EF3 tornado which destroyed much of Tushka, OK.
Then on Friday the 15th, the system moved to the deep south. On Thursday, it looked like an epic chase-a-tunity, but the warm front took its sweet time moving north of us. In the morning, I was upset about that, but by about 10 am I was thanking the heavens we were spared from the wrath of this crazy system. Reed Timmer and Chris Chittick took footage of a tornado in Clinton MS just before it went to cause damage in Jackson, MS. This is up there with one of the most amazing tornado videos I have ever seen. I have to include it here! Great work TVN on this video!
Here is a list of the reports for Friday. 113 tornado reports. The above tornado shown in the video was rated EF3, however storm assessments are still continuing!
And finally, Saturday.... The system crossed over to the east coast, and a HIGH risk was issued for much of North Carolina. Some of the radar imagery from both Friday AND Saturday was just... wow...
A HUGE tornado headed right for and struck downtown Raleigh. In fact, at one point the tornado was THREE MILES WIDE!!!!
Radar Imagery from the storm that hit downtown Raleigh. Note the debris ball in the BR window.
And now the tornado reports for Saturday... 112 reports which makes for a total of 248 tornado reports in THREE DAYS! All from the same system! Incredible!!!!
It was quite the severe weather weekend, and now another potentially epic event looms on the horizon. SDS cured, but at what price? That is for a future blog post.
It's so funny..... I remember in January anxiously waiting for the cold weather to leave and for severe weather to arrive. Well, it is HERE and it is an INSANE season!
Today looks to be crazy in Oklahoma and Kansas, and then tomorrow the action moves east. Unfortunately, it looks like nothing will be within chaseable range until dark, but we're still a day away.
It looks to be a dangerous next couple of days!!! Stay alert people!
Well, Thursday it looks like Oklahoma is going to be chock full of chasers and severe weather! Holy crap! Negatively tilted trough.... crazy shear.... instability... EVERYTHING is there! I will pick a pretend target tomorrow to give myself a little more time to check out the models.
Also, Friday afternoon is looking like another significant weather event for the South. My biggest concern right now is going to be North MS and North AL. So, depending on the timing, I'm going to chase this thing.
I hope I can get my good middle TN friends, Jennifer and Jesse Hines to come out with me, but if not, I'll head towards Huntsville alone and maybe pick up my other Jenn on the way! Again... timing means a lot. I don't see it getting to Chattanooga until about midnight. And I really don't feel comfortable chasing after dark (or being chased for that matter), so I'll probably head west after work as far as I can get as long as initiation looks possible within a reasonable time. Ideally, I'll be back home in plenty of time to set up the tripod and try again for that elusive lightning shot! :)
Well, this post is going to be chock full of goodness!!!
#1: April 4th was an insane weather day! I didn't personally experience any truly severe weather at my house, but many of my friends to the northwest (Nashville/Murfreesboro) got hit hard! April 4th had the most severe weather reports in 10 years!!! It was a crazy day!!
#2: Wisdom Teeth Surgery..... Ugh..... I really underestimated this surgery. I was certain I'd be up and at 'em by now. My face was HUGE at one point. I'm now down to looking like a Cabbage Patch Kid, but wow.. the pain and swelling. I really thought this would be a lot easier than it was! I certainly thought I would be back to work by now! My mouth is so tiny so it was a much more complicated surgery than they anticipated. I've been in a great deal of pain, but I'm getting better. I think I'm going to actually try to work today!
#3: More Severe Weather!!! Every single day from today until Monday there is a chance for severe weather!!!! I'm so excited! Sunday looks to be a scary day for folks in Iowa, and Iowa is getting it's revenge on storm chasers by showing the world it demands respect!
The thing on Sunday is the system is lacking directional shear, so it once again looks to be another epic wind damage event! Good luck to those chasing this fast moving nasty system!
OH! And I did FINALLY get my first lightning shot!!!! Not the best ever, but we're working on it!
We're on the eve of the first MAJOR severe weather outbreak of the season!
Tomorrow looks like an epic day for Kansas. However, there is a pretty strong cap in place. The models show the cap breaking late afternoon, and if that happens it is going to be explosive! If I were chasing tomorrow, I'd plop myself in Wichita and wait for that cap to break!
Monday is when severe weather rolls through here. However, the models are showing a lovely LPP (linear pile of poo) rolling through in the evening on Monday. I might go and see if I can capture a good shelf cloud or something.
My chasing ability depends on how much work I have to finish before I'm out Tuesday for wisdom teeth surgery!
