When I was young, I was petrified of storms.   In the early 1970s, weather information was hard to come by.  Television meteorology was weak.  Most weather information came from radio.  People like Don Keith and Dan Brennan and Joe Rumore on WVOK were my heroes.  As were Ben Cleary and Wayne Wallace at WDJC.  WFMH in Cullman was a reliable source of weather bulletins.  There was no NOAA Weatheradio yet.  The Weather Channel was not even a dream.  In fact there were only four television channels in Birmingham. 
 
Sometime in the early to middle 1970s, I learned of a novel way to determine when a tornado was nearby using a conventional television.  An electronics expert had determined that tornadoes could be detected on a home television set.  Iowa State University confirmed the theory, saying that method would work within 15 to 20 miles of the twister.
 
The method worked like this:  you would turn the television to channel 13, then adjust the brightness control until the screen was nearly black.  Then change to Channel , but do not reset the brightness control.  Lightning would appear on the screen as flashes.  If the screen became continuously bright with flashes, then a tornado was within 20 miles. 
 
The method supposedly worked because channel 2 operated at 55 megacycles, which was allegedly closes to the frequency of a tornado.  I used the system many, many times, and never detected a tornado.  I should have been using it on May 27, 1973, when the Center Point tornado passed within a mile of my house. 
 
Do you remember hearing of this system?  Did you ever try?  Did you have any success?  Let me know. 
 
- Bill Murray
billm@theweathercompany.com

The storms are long gone, but high winds will continue across Alabama tonight and tomorrow. One of our readers from Cordova in Walker County just sent this image to us:



High winds blew down this tree about one hour ago... Hang on to your hats!

From the NWS in Knoxville:

... Heavy Snow Warning remains in effect from midnight tonight to
10 PM EST Saturday...

A Heavy Snow Warning remains in effect from midnight tonight to
10 PM EST Saturday.

Snow will develop across the far eastern Tennessee mountains and
southwest Virginia overnight and continue through Saturday
evening. The snow may be locally heavy at times with strong
northwest winds between 15 and 30 mph producing a good deal of
blowing and drifting... especially across the higher elevations.

Snow accumulations between 3 and 6 inches can be expected across
the lower terrain and mainly grassy surfaces. Across the higher
elevations... snowfall between 6 and 12 inches are anticipated
with locally heavier amounts possible.

A Heavy Snow Warning means severe winter weather conditions are
expected or occurring. Significant amounts of snow are forecast
that will make travel dangerous. In addition... snowfall
intensities will be heavy enough to substantially reduce
visibilities at times. Travel is discouraged. If travel is
unavoidable... keep an extra flashlight... food... and water in your
vehicle in case of an emergency.

The Friday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:

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

Late word from Conecuh County is that the person who was killed by a tornado this morning in Belleville was a 60 year old female. She died when the chimney attached to her home caved in and fell on her. Initial reports mentioned other injuries, but reporters on the scene now say there were no other known injuries. There was also some scattered damage along U.S. 84 as far east as the western part of Evergreen. U.S. 84 has been re-opened to traffic now.

AROUND HERE: Our rain bucket here at ABC 33/40 measured 0.90"... in North Shelby County I picked up 1.10". As expected, the air was way too stable for severe weather here in our part of the state. The rain was quite beneficial.

Now the cold air will roll in tonight and tomorrow. A little light rain is possible this evening, with snow flurries possible later tonight and tomorrow morning. We will be optimistic and forecast a clearing sky tomorrow, but don't be shocked if the clouds hang around all day, especially northeast of Birmingham. Temperatures will have a hard time reaching the mid 40s, and howling winds will gust to 30 mph. The ridge tops will have winds possibly gusting to 40 mph tomorrow as a surface low makes for blizzard conditions over parts of the northeast U.S.

We should drop into the 24 to 29 degree range by early Sunday morning. Colder valleys will be closer to 20 degrees.

NEXT WEEK: The 12Z GFS continues to trend slower and deeper with the next trough. Looks like the main band of storms will hold off until Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night. Looks very similar to today's system... strong dynamics, but the amount of unstable air is very much in question. We will be watching developments closely over the weekend as that system gets on the "field". Another shot of cold air will follow on Wednesday of next week.

LONG RANGE: The GFS still shows a neutral NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) for the rest of the month. It won't stay neutral forever, but for the next couple of weeks the weather will remain very changeable, and cold air intrusions will be fairly brief.

Thanks to J.B. for his great work on the blog as always today....

Have a great weekend and do something fun with your family!

This tells it in a nutshell:

1041 AM TORNADO BAKER 30.80N 86.68W
01/13/2006 OKALOOSA FL EMERGENCY MNGR

*** 15 INJ *** 10 TO 15 STUDENTS WITH MINOR
INJURIES...ALSO HOMES DAMAGED ALONG WITH DAMAGE AT BAKER
SCHOOL COMPLEX. AUTOS DAMAGED ON SCHOOL PROPERTY. SCHOOL
OFFICIALS HEARD WARNING ON NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND MOVED
STUDENTS TO PROTECTIVE AREA.

This information courtesy of WAKA-TV, Channel 8, Montgomery:

+ Lots of damage in Conecuh County
+ Belleville community west of Evergreen on U.S. 84
+ Parts of U.S. 84 closed causing a traffic backup
+ 15 to 20 homes damaged
+ 10-12 homes "gone" to use the words of Channel 8 reporter
+ The Conecuh County Sheriff confirmed the one fatality

Thanks to WAKA for this information...

It occurred in South Alabama's Conecuh County.

The Sheriff's office confirms a fatality in the Belleville community which is west of Evergreen on U.S. 84. It is located between Evergreen and Monroeville.

Thanks also to Rev. Ed Robinson in Evergreen who emailed us some information.

Assume this was a tornado touchdown, but could have been a severe thunderstorm. That will be determined later.

The updated Day One Outlook from the Storm prediction Center in Norman, Okla., is out and it went into effect at 10:30 am.

It removes North Alabama from even a slight risk. As it stands now, here is the story:

A Moderate Risk still in effect for Extreme Southeast Alabama.
A Slight Risk for approxmately the Southeast 1/3 of the state.

Some of the most serious threats will shift into South Georgia this afternoon.

So, the Birmingham area is out of danger as well as the rest of North and West Alabama.

The Tornado Watch continues for parts of South Alabama until 2.

Several Tornado Warnings have been issued from the NWS in Mobile for some South Central Alabama counties. No confirmed reports of damage so far...although those reports could be delayed.

It is going to get windy enough to possibly blow your hat off.

Cold front now entering West Alabama. Winds this afternoon and this evening could easily gust over 30 mph especially on the ridges.

Rain has practically ended around Birmingham and westward.

Updated total from James Spann in Greystone Cove: 1.10 inches. At the 3340 Weather Office in Riverchase, 0.87. Brian Peters reports 0.63 in Helena.

Time to get back to a near-normal life, whatever that means.

Life goes on...and on and on

It is way down south. Still very quiet over the north half of Alabama and rain ending over the western counties: The warning:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOBILE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

CONECUH COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA

* UNTIL 1015 AM CST

* AT 946 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER RANGE...AND
MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

SPOT REPORT
Greystone Cove now up to 0.94 rainfall but it has slackened. From James Spann.
Only light rain now in Trussville.

Looks less and less likely of any severe weather for Greater Birmingham and surrounding counties.

Just think, we were originally under a "moderate risk" area which always gets everybody's attention.

Even the heaviest rain has now shifted east of Birmingham.

Rain has completely ended along the Alabama counties near the Mississippi border. Will be ending in Tuscaloosa soon.

SPOT REPORTS AS OF 9:48 AM, GOOD OLE CST:
0.71 rainfall so far at Riverchase (ABC 33/40 Weather Office)
0.83 at Greystone Cove (James Spann) (additional 0.20 in just a few minutes)
0.44 in Helena (Brian Peters)
0.67 in NE Trussville, mostly light rain now
0.35 at Saginaw (John Oldshue) (quick downpour)

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for several South central Alabama counties this morning but no warnings over the north half of the state.

Cheers...