Today, I will begin a series on the tornadoes of 2004. In an average year, 1200 tornadoes strike the United States and kill 55 Americans. The year 1998 saw a record number of tornadoes (1,424) across the United States. Last year, that record was nearly surpassed, when 1,368 twisters were reported. Through April 2004, there were actually fewer tornadoes than average across the nation. That changed during a busy month of May across Tornado Alley when tornado outbreaks were reported on four of the last ten days of the month. June and July were also above average, but still the deviation was not that extreme. The big news through the first six months was that we had a chance to set the record for the fewest number of killer tornadoes.

The hopes for a less active tornado year and a record low number of killer tornadoes came to an end in August and September as one tropical storm and five hurricanes impacted the U.S. The August total of 173 tornadoes easily bested the previous record of 126 set in August 1979. Then 247 tornadoes were reported in September, smashing the previous record of 139 set in September 1967. That was the month that Hurricane Beulah brought a record number of tornadoes for any landfalling U.S. tropical cyclone. The monthly record was not only shattered, but so was the record for a single landfalling storm. Beulah had spawned 115 tornadoes across parts of Texas and Oklahoma. Hurricane Frances spun off 117 tornadoes, establishing a new record for a single storm. Then along came Ivan. The monster storm added another 104 tornadoes to the burgeoning numbers. In an average August and September, the U.S. might see about 111 twisters. This year, the same time period produced an amazing 420 tornadoes. We were rocketing toward smashing the annual record again. Now we didn’t set the record for fewest killer tornadoes. That went down in flamers as Ivan made landfall with a flurry of killer twisters on September 15th. But we did enjoy a relatively low number of fatalities this year with 35. Only nine years since 1940 have had fewer. The record is 15 in 1986. More all weekend....

AUBURN-VIRGINIA TECH (Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, 8 PM Monday)
Perfect "weather" for the game because it will be played inside the Louisiana Superdome. Outside the Dome for your travel and other activities, very mild weather is expected Saturday, Sunday and Monday with highs consistently between 70-75. Scattered showers and possibly a thunderstorm.

I've posted the video update for December 31, 2004, last day of the year. And it sure looks like 2004 is going to end on a tranquil and warm note. And that 2005 will start on the same note.

The weather pattern seems to be stuck right now with the long wave trough along the west coast giving those folks a variety of weather to deal with. And we're stuck under the good weather part. Can't say that I mind since it gives me time to get a few things done outside without freezing.

GFS is advertising a big system around January 9 - that's a long way out, but certainly something to watch while we enjoy our spell of good weather. Hard to believe that only 10 days ago we were in the teens.

Happy New Years eve!

-Brian-

I could have sworn that I posted part four of my 2004 Weather Stories last night...but somehow they din't make it onto the web. So I will combine Part Four with the planned Conclusion.

6. Record number of Typhoons in Japan: Typhoon Tokage raked the Japanese islands between October 19-21, killing 79 people. It was the most fatalities from a typhoon in Japan since October 1979. Tokage was the tenth typhoon to affect Japan during the year, which was a new record. The old record was six.

5. Kansas Tornadoes: Significant tornadoes struck Harper County, Kansas on May 12th and again on May 29th. I was there to view seven of the nine tornadoes on the 29th. There were eleven tornadoes on the 12th.

4. Alabama November Tornado Outbreak: An outbreak of severe weather on the afternoon of the 23rd and the early morning hours of the 24th produced sixteen tornadoes across the state. Four of the tornadoes were rated as F2 intensity.

3. Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jeanne all target Central Florida: Hurricane Charley became the strongest and most damaging hurricane to strike the U.S. since 1992’s Hurricane Andrew. The category four hurricane produced a 180 mph wind gust at Punta Gorda, Florida. Twenty two people died and total damages amounted to $15 billion. Hurricane Frances made landfall near Sewell’s Point, Florida on September 5th with winds of 105 mph. It caused more extensive damage as it crossed the Florida Peninsula and produced over 100 tornadoes over the Southeast. Twenty three people died as a result of the storm. Frances also caused extensive flooding in the Asheville, NC area. Jeanne made landfall at very nearly the same location as did Frances on September 26th with top winds of 120 mph. The hurricane produced more extensive damage as it crossed the Sunshine State before exiting into the Gulf. Ten people died from Hurricane Jeanne in the U.S.

2. Indian Ocean Tsunami: A massive undersea earthquake during the early morning hours of December 26th off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra (magnitude 9.0) produced a tsunami that spread out across the Indian Ocean like ripples from a stone thrown in a pond. As the tsunami reached shore across Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and Bangladesh. So far, over 114,000 people have died, and the death toll promises to go much higher.

NUMBER ONE

This list has been a blend of Alabama, national and international weather stories. It is hard to pick anything over the unqualified disaster that happened in the Indian Ocean this past Sunday, but as far as Alabama impact, Hurricane Ivan’s landfall at Gulf Shores on September 16th had to be our top weather story.

Ivan will be long remembered as a classic Cape Verde hurricane with a twenty five day lifespan as it formed in the far eastern Atlantic, crossed the southern Windward Islands, moved into the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall on the Alabama coast. It reached Category Five intensity three times during its life. On the evening of the 11th, Air Force reconnaissance measured a central pressure of 910 mb, which tied Ivan with 1998’s Mitch as the fifth strongest Atlantic hurricane ever observed.

Grenada, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands were seriously affected by the major hurricane. Ivan weakened to strong Category Three status right before reaching land in the United States with top winds of 120 mph. The eye had expanded to a diameter of 50 miles before landfall, so the strongest winds occurred near the Alabama/Florida border. The worst storm surge damage occurred in eastern sections of Baldwin County, Alabama and Escambia County, Florida. Here storm surges reached 10-15 feet above normal. A minimum pressure of 943 millibars was measured as Fairhope, on the western side of the eye. The highest official wind speed measured was a gust of 108 mph at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. A wind gust of 157 mph was observed on an oil drilling rig 70 miles south of Dauphin Island on the afternoon of the 15th. In addition, a remarkable wave height of 52.5 feet was reported from a buoy south of the Alabama coast that afternoon. This may be a record wave height for any NOAA buoy.

A swarm of tornadoes in the Florida Panhandle killed seven people jus before landfall. These were just three of the amazing 117 tornadoes recorded across the eastern United States associated with Ivan. Ninety four people died as a direct result of Ivan, including twenty six in the United States. The estimated U.S. damage is placed at $15 billion.

Damaging winds and heavy flooding rains accompanied Ivan all the way into Central Alabama. At one point, 1.8 million people were without power, including a record 832,000 Alabama Power customers.

I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. But New Year's Day is also exciting for me. I believe in New Year's resolutions (strongly so). After all, if we are slack about renewing and improving ourselves, we will slowly fade away.

I don't believe the old saying that "resolutions are made to be broken." Yes, human nature will insure that we can't keep them all. But if you only keep 3 out of 10 that is an improvement.

I got off my diet during Thanksgiving and Christmas and enjoyed one of my greatest loves--sausage balls. If stranded on a small Pacific island and I could have a sausage ball on the hour and a poptart (frosted brown sugar cinnamon, of course) on the half-hour, I might decline being rescued.

But, alas, now there will be no more sausage balls until next Thanksgiving and Christmas. I had a lone poptart several weeks ago and that was the first one in over a year.

I need to advertise my resolutions so I will be held accountable. So here goes:

1. I promise to lose an additional 25 pounds in 2005.
2. I will continue searching for an electric shaver that REALLY works.
3. I will continue highly scientific research to find how to make my shredded wheat and oatmeal taste better. (the box tastes better than the content.)
4. I will walk at least a mile every day. (That's a given because Little Miss Molly will see to that)
5. I will not wait until late Saturday night or very early Sunday morning to study my Sunday School lesson.
6. I will try to learn more about weather and improve forecasting ability. (Please take my word for it--there is still plenty to learn even though I have been in weather for 47 years. Forecasting will never be perfect)
7. I will continue to return shopping carts to their rightful locations after loading my purchases in my car. (It is another one of my top pet peeves and I have a near spotless record on this one. I have NEVER left a shopping cart abandoned but once. Lightning was popping all around at the time and the shopping cart was metal
8. I will try to become less fearful of lightning. That is the one element of weather that I am most afraid of. But I don't want to get TOO brave!
9. I will continue to use my turn indicators. I am very good at that anyway. It is one of my top pet peeves along with tailgating.
10. I will continue to obey speed limits. When I am traveling down the Birmingham Autobahn (Interstate 459) I set my speed control on 68 MPH (2 MPH under the speed limit) and migrate to the right lane. I am a brave person, but if "road rage" breaks out, you will see me jumping the ditch and heading for the woods.

So, wish me luck. Looks like it is badly needed!

Happy New Year!

Continuing with our list of major weather events from 2004:

6. Record number of Typhoons in Japan: Typhoon Tokage raked the Japanese islands between October 19-21, killing 79 people. It was the most fatalities from a typhoon in Japan since October 1979. Tokage was the tenth typhoon to affect Japan during the year, which was a new record. The old record was six.

5. Kansas Tornadoes: Significant tornadoes struck Harper County, Kansas on May 12th and again on May 29th. I was there to view seven of the nine tornadoes on the 29th. There were eleven tornadoes on the 12th.

4. Alabama November Tornado Outbreak: An outbreak of severe weather on the afternoon of the 23rd and the early morning hours of the 24th produced sixteen tornadoes across the state. Four of the tornadoes were rated as F2 intensity.

3. Indian Ocean Tsunami: A massive undersea earthquake during the early morning hours of December 26th off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra (magnitude 9.0) produced a tsunami that spread out across the Indian Ocean like ripples from a stone thrown in a pond. As the tsunami reached shore across Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and Bangladesh. Over 77,000 people died.

2. Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jeanne all target Central Florida: Hurricane Charley became the strongest and most damaging hurricane to strike the U.S. since 1992’s Hurricane Andrew. The category four hurricane produced a 180 mph wind gust at Punta Gorda, Florida. Twenty two people died and total damages amounted to $15 billion. Hurricane Frances made landfall near Sewell’s Point, Florida on September 5th with winds of 105 mph. It caused more extensive damage as it crossed the Florida Peninsula and produced over 100 tornadoes over the Southeast. Twenty three people died as a result of the storm. Frances also caused extensive flooding in the Asheville, NC area. Jeanne made landfall at very nearly the same location as did Frances on September 26th with top winds of 120 mph. The hurricane produced more extensive damage as it crossed the Sunshine State before exiting into the Gulf. Ten people died from Hurricane Jeanne in the U.S.

Final part tomorrow...

Continuing with our list of major weather events from 2004:

12. South Atlantic Hurricane: An extratropical storm moved off the coast of Brazil on March 20. It acquired tropical characteristics on the 26th, becoming the first ever documented hurricane in the South Atlantic since geostationary satellites were introduced into service in 1966. Amazingly, the Brazilian Weather Service still denies that it was a hurricane. Probably because they didn’t call it one at the time. It made landfall in the state of Santa Catarina on the 28th with top winds of 75-80 mph. Three people died and 38 were injured.

11. Gaston Flooding: The remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston caused tremendous flash flooding in downtown Richmond, Virginia on August 31st. A total of 10.61 inches of rain fell in the city during the storm,

10. Fort McHenry Water Taxi Accident: On March 6th, a strong thunderstorm with winds of up to 55 mph capsized a water taxi carrying people from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to Fort McHenry. Five people died in the accident.

9. Utica IL Tornado: On April 20th, an unexpected outbreak of tornadoes across Illinois and Indiana turned deadly as an F3 tornado ripped into the tiny town of Utica, IL, about ninety miles southwest of Chicago. Several people had taken shelter in the basement of the Milestone Tap, a neighborhood country and western restaurant and bar. When the tornado struck, the building collapsed into the basement, killing eight people who were trapped in the rubble.

8. Hispaniola Flooding in May: A large extratropical storm dumped very heavy rains on the Dominican Republic and Haiti between May 18-25. Extensive landslides claimed over 2,000 lives.

7. Hurricane Jeanne Flooding in Haiti: Hurricane Jeanne moved along the north coast of Haiti on September 16-17th, producing devastating floods and mudslides that killed over 3,000 people.

More tomorrow...

Morning video update posting. You can find it at

http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb

Not much to talk about as far as weather as the moderation continues and the warming goes into full swing. Long wave off US west coast to stick with us for the next week to 10 days. Southwesterly flow aloft should keep us warm with some chance of showers through the weekend with the Gulf open.

-Brian-

This was one of those mornings when how cold you were depended on your location--especially regarding elevation.

This happens often when a "cold snap" is retreating from the area and moving off to the east. As the high moves east, a SE wind will set in bringing a warming trend and disturbing the temperature inversion in exposed areas.

At 6 this morning, the temperature was 23 at Gadsden Airport while Cullman Airport had 36--a difference of 13 degrees! The valleys of NE Alabama are usually the last places that the old cold air gets "scooped out" by SE winds. The Cullman Airport is actually near Vinemont in a generally elevated area.

There was a seven degree difference in the low this morning between Pinson (23) and Birmingham Airport (30) It is likely that places atop ridges in the Greater Birmingham area had lows in the mid or even upper 30s...such as atop Red Mountain, Shades Mountain, Oak Mountain and Double Oak Mountain. Just another little thing that we weather humans have to factor in when forecasting temperatures.

This week, I will list my top twenty Weather Stories of 2004. Let’s get started....

20. United States Wildfire season: The wildfire season across the United States was well below normal across the lower forty eight states, but was the second worst ever in Alaska, with 6.6 million acres burned in the 49th state.

19. Rare Hawaiian tornado: Tornadoes are rare occurrences in Hawaii. On January 26th, a severe thunderstorm produced a short lived tornado on the island of Oahu. No serious damage was reported, but a local resident was able to record video of a menacing funnel.

18. Another record number of tornadoes: It looked like there would be a fairly normal number of tornadoes across the United States, until eight named tropical cyclones made landfall around the Gulf and Atlantic coastlines. The tornadoes associated with the landfalling storms along with a November outbreak pushed the year’s unofficial number to 1717. This number should easily surpass the record set just last year (1376.)

17. The eight named tropical cyclones that struck the U.S. coastline during the year tied the all-time record set in 1916. In addition, Alex brought hurricane force winds to the Outer Banks of North Carolina but did not make landfall.

16. Typhoon Winnie brought high winds and heavy rains to the Philippines on November 29th, killing over 500 people. Many of the deaths were caused by landslides which were blamed on illegal logging.

15. Cyclone Heta ripped through the South Pacific Island of Niue on January 7th, leaving the island province of 1,500 people so damaged that officials initially declared it might have to be permanently evacuated.

14. The longest tornado drought in Oklahoma history came to an end after 292 days when a twister touched down on March 4th.

13. White Christmas on the Gulf Coast: Low pressure over the Gulf of Mexico spread moisture up into cold high pressure along the Gulf Coast resulting in the first White Christmas ever observed in many areas, including Corpus Christ and New Orleans.

More all week...