Shortly before 8 p.m. EDT on April 15, 1999, a severe thunderstorm crossed from South Carolina into North Carolina. It produced a killer tornado near Pembroke, North Carolina about 8:15 p.m. EDT. The storm continued to grow, producing two more tornadoes that injured several people.

As the storm raced eastward along a warm front, it began to develop interesting characteristics. Weather radar operators watched in amazement as the storm began to develop what looked like feeder bands. Storms developed along the forward flank and the rear flank downdraft. A Bounded Weak Echo Region developed near the center of the storm. This is a frequent signature of severe storms. It is an area of lower reflectivity in the low levels of the atmosphere associated with the updraft. This BWER was so well developed that it appeared that the storm had an eye.

The storm actually looked like a hurricane on radar, complete with eye and feeder bands. Meanwhile, it was producing a long track tornado. This F2 tornado carved a thirty mile path that was up to one mile wide at times. Eleven people were injured.

As the supercell thunderstorm continued moving east northeast, it produced a 165 mph wind gust near Trenton, North Carolina around 10:20 p.m. EDT. The gust may have been produced by a direct hit on the anemometer by a tornado. The storm would “bow out” into a bow echo, producing wind damage all the way across North Carolina until it moved into the Atlantic.

The Friday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:

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

We checked on the fire you are seeing on the Cheaha SKYCAM, and it is a controlled burn. About 1,000 acres are involved. Very nice image from our camera at the Cheaha State Park restaurant:

http://www.abc3340.com/static/skycams/skycamscheaha.html

By the way, our new SKYCAM cameras in Gadsden, Demopolis, Cullman, Clanton, and Tuscaloosa should be online within the next one to three weeks. Gulf Shores and Jasper should be ready by mid-May. All of the weather conditions and still images from the cameras will be available on the web... just like the existing sites. We hope to add even more late this year.

EASTER, OR THE FOURTH OF JULY? Highs will stay in the 84 to 87 degree range over the weekend with hazy sunshine. These temperatures are over 10 degrees above normal for this time of the year.

The weather will remain dry and very warm into the first two days of next week.

STORMY WEDNESDAY? A cold front will push through here Wednesday of next week (April 19); that could bring the risk of strong to severe storms to Alabama. Not a classic severe weather setup, but there will be aa decent degree of instability and the wind fields will be fairly strong.

That front should stall out somewhere around here; meaning showers are a good bet on Thursday and Friday of next week as well (April 20-21). Temperatures will be cooler; highs should drop into the low to mid 70s with clouds and occasional showers.

I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend... spend some quality time with your family! Brian Peters will have the video discussions over the weekend... my next one will be here bright and early Monday morning at 7:00 a.m.!

Check out what appears to be a forest fire well to the south of Mt. Cheaha in the Talladega National Forest.

Don't know if it is a controlled burn but there is lots of smoke.

Here is the link: Refresh it occasionally...

http://www.abc3340.com/static/skycams/skycamscheaha.html

PUBLIC SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1121 AM CDT FRI APR 14 2006

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED FROM SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL ILLINOIS
EASTWARD ACROSS THE OH RIVER VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OK IS FORECASTING THE
DEVELOPMENT OF WIDESPREAD SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE MID MS RIVER
VALLEY ACROSS THE OH RIVER VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

THE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE THIS ACTIVITY INCLUDE

SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL ILLINOIS
SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL INDIANA
NORTHERN KENTUCKY
SOUTHWESTERN OHIO

SURROUNDING THE MODERATE RISK AREA...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE MID MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY TOWARDS
THE MID ATLANTIC.

STRONG FLOW ALOFT WILL OVERSPREAD A LARGE AREA OF UNSEASONABLY WARM
AND MOIST AIR NOW DEVELOPING ACROSS MUCH OF THE MIDWEST. APPEARS
CONDITIONS WILL BECOME QUITE FAVORABLE FOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT ACROSS PARTS OF THIS REGION...AS WEAK
DISTURBANCES ALOFT MOVE OVER THE AREA. STORMS WILL LIKELY ORGANIZE
INTO ONE OR MORE SQUALL LINES...ALONG WITH SUPERCELLS. ENVIRONMENT
WILL FAVOR DAMAGING WINDS...SOME OF WHICH COULD BECOME WIDESPREAD AS
STORMS INCREASE AND MOVE QUICKLY EAST-SOUTHEASTWARD THROUGH THE
EVENING. VERY LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES ALSO REMAIN
POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY WITHIN THE MODERATE RISK AREA.

THOSE IN THE THREATENED AREA ARE URGED TO REVIEW SEVERE WEATHER
SAFETY RULES AND TO LISTEN TO RADIO...TELEVISION...AND NOAA WEATHER
RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WATCHES...WARNINGS...AND STATEMENTS LATER TODAY.

..EVANS.. 04/14/2006

The Storm Prediction Center received 19 tornado reports Thursday and last night. Some of those may have been duplicates but it was a very serious situation in Eastern Iowa where most of the reports were clustered. A few additional details:

IOWA CITY
Downtown courthouse roof gone
Large church roof 70% gone
Lots of debris
Large concrete/brick building downtown major damage
Top two floors of that building collapsed
5 to 10 people were trapped in collapsed structures
At least two confirmed injuries

MUSCATINE, IOWA
Storm spotter reported three tornadoes on ground at same time east end of town
Buildings damaged at airport
One fatality when a mobile home was destroyed
Path length at least 4 to 5 miles long

TODAY
Slight risk posted for much of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, NE Tennessee, Western part of Virginia and SW Pennsylvania

SATURDAY
A moderate risk posted for Extreme East Nebraska, including Omaha and Southwest Iowa

The Friday morning map discussion video is on the server:

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

IOWA TORNADO OUTBREAK: Last night's tornado outbreak in Iowa was very significant; at least one person was killed and damage was widespread in places like Iowa City and around the campus of the University of Iowa. To our knowledge there were no serious injuries to any of the students at UI. As always, we will know much more within the next few hours with daylight returning.

Here is an emergency message sent to the University of Iowa community late last night by President David Skorton:

"University of Iowa President David Skorton has announced that classes are cancelled for Friday, April 14, because of safety concerns on campus and in Iowa City following the tornadoes and thunderstorms Thursday evening. President Skorton urges all faculty, staff and students to avoid the areas affected by the storms to allow emergency personnel to help those in need and take care of other related emergencies storm clean-up activities. University of Iowa students who are without shelter tonight and
tomorrow may go the Iowa Memorial Union and the Second Floor Ballroom.

The Red Cross has made mattresses available there. This shelter will be open only to UI students, who must show their ID. No one who is inebriated will be allowed in. University staff should plan to report to work as usual unless they are unable to do so because of the storm. In that case, staff members should notify their supervisor."

AROUND HERE: All of the severe weather risks will remain well to the north of here for the next few days; Alabama will stay dry and very warm through the weekend. Highs will be mostly in the 84 to 87 degree range, a good ten degrees above normal for mid-April and not far from record levels.

NEXT WEEK: This pattern will change next week as a cold upper trough forms over the high plains. That should evolve into a deep upper low over the midwest by mid-week. A surface cold front will swing from that system down through Alabama on Wednesday, and a band of showers and thunderstorms is likely. A closer look at instability and wind fields would suggest that a few strong to severe storms might be possible.

Cooler and wet weather is likely for Thursday and Friday of next week as an MCS or two move through Alabama under the upper low to the north. Highs will be back in the low to mid 70s on those days. Temperatures will likely remain a little below normal into that following weekend (April 22-23) with a cool upper trough over the eastern U.S.

LONG RANGE: The 00Z GFS is hinting at a severe weather setup at the end of the forecast period, around April 29, but that is all voodoo at this point. I do believe we will break back into a more active pattern as we get into May.