On Saturday evening June 17, 1978, forty seven passengers and thirteen crew were on board the Whippoorwill Show Boat on Lake Pomona in Osage County, Kansas. The Whippoorwill featured a popular dinner theatre cruise on the beautiful lake.

A tornado watch was in effect when the vessel set sail early that evening. Storm clouds were building in the distance. As the boat cruised the lake, the storms intensified and moved closer. Suddenly, a funnel snaked out from the thundercloud and touched down on the lake, throwing a furious spray up from the surface of the water. Seeing the twister develop, the captain turned his boat to shore began sailing quickly toward the dock.

The tornado or waterspout was small by Kansas standards, only 150 feet wide. During its time on land, it only received an F1 rating. But in an unlikely tragedy, the funnel overtook the boat and capsized it. People were thrown into the water and some were trapped under the overturned hull. Despite heroic rescue efforts by other boaters on the lake, the final death toll was sixteen. One of the fatalities was the unborn fetus of a pregnant woman.

1978 was a very quiet year for tornado related fatalities. There were only fifty eight people killed by tornadoes that year in the United States, making it the 24th least deadly year since modern records began in 1950. The Whippoorwill tornado was the deadliest in the U.S. that year and remains one of the dealiest in the history of the state of Kansas.

The wait begins . . .

We headed towards Winfield, Kansas, on day 7 (May 20) with high hopes for seeing a few storms since the setup looked better than it had all week. We had plenty of instability and moisture in place but we had a pretty hefty cap to break as 700mb temperatures were forecasted to be near 12 degrees Celsius. We knew that if we could get the cap to break that we might get to see a few decent storms.

The setup for storms looked ok, and our setup for waiting on the storms looked pretty good as well. Winfield, Kansas, is a fairly small town just like many of the towns we traveled through out on the Plains. About all there is in this type of town is a grain elevator, a co-op, and a few houses. Winfield was a little bigger than that, but the best thing about it was Winfield City Park. This park had to be one of the cooler parks that I've been to for such a small town. Basically there was a huge park in the middle with a really nice playground, picnic tables, places to play football, pavilions to have parties in, among other things. The best part, though, was that the park was surrounded by a big moat that you could fish in and also was the home to about 3 million ducks of all types.

So, everything started off nicely. We arrived and all agreed on how cool the park was. We took over the playground from the children for a while and a had a good time doing that. We threw the football around for a while. Some of us took a walk around the moat where we confronted a few hostile geese and threw some rocks into the water. We even found some really cool little ducks that would chase after the rocks we threw in by running on top of the water towards the splash. All of this was nice, but the cap continued to hold, and there were no storms to speak of. So we repeated what we had already done.

A lot of people think that storm chasing is just like the movie Twister. We all found out that day that most of the time it isn't. Not a single storm fired anywhere within our range. So we didn't get to see any flying cows, tractor trailers, or houses. All we got to see was a few clouds and some local Winfieldians. Even so, we still had a good time, for the most part, but we were definitely tired of Winfield City Park after 5 hours or so. So we headed to Wichita to stay for the night and get ready to try again the next day . . .

More later...

Drew McCombs
ABC 33/40 Weather Intern
Mississippi State University
abc3340wx2@gmail.com

This was just received from our friends at Alabama Power:

Dry weather causing lower lake levels, could impact future recreational releases

Weeks of dry, hot weather have resulted in lower-than-normal water flows into Alabama Power lakes on the Coosa, Tallapoosa and Black Warrior rivers. Lake levels are already below normal on the Coosa system. Without sustained rainfall, lake levels on all three river systems are expected to continue to drop through the summer months.

In the past few weeks, the water released from Alabama Power reservoirs has been reduced to the minimum amounts required by the company’s federal hydroelectric project licenses. Should dry weather conditions continue, there is the strong likelihood that weekend recreational releases of water from Jordan Dam will have to be suspended. The releases will continue this weekend.

People with boats and other water-related equipment and facilities should always be alert to changing conditions on Alabama Power reservoirs, and take the necessary steps to protect their property.

For updated information about lake levels, call Alabama Power's automated Reservoir Information System at 1-800-LAKES-11 (1-800-525-3711).

The Friday afternoon map discussion video is on the web, and available via iTunes:

http://www.jamesspann.com/

Again today producing the video a little early due to a busy schedule.

THE WEEKEND: 12Z model data still suggests the best chance of scattered afternoon showers and storms will be over the western half of Alabama. So, the best of getting a little rain for the front yard tomorrow and Sunday should be along and west of U.S. 43, or west of a line from Florence to Fayette to Tuscaloosa to Demopolis. A few showers are possible to the east, but they will probably be widely scattered. Much of East Alabama most likely will be dry tomorrow and Sunday. High temperatures for the weekend should be in the 87 to 91 degree range, not too bad for mid-June in Alabama.

The really good rain will come west of Alabama, for places like Shreveport and Tulsa, closer to the upper trough over Texas.

NEXT WEEK: A weak front approaching from the north might trigger a few scattered afternoon storms during the first half of the week, but it looks like the best chance might be over the Tennessee Valley of extreme North Alabama. Still no sign of any really widespread, beneficial rain for the state.

TROPICS: Very quiet in the Atlantic basin; tropical storm formation is not expected through early next week. Remember, the core of the hurricane season usually comes in August, September, and early October. We are very early in the season now.

Have a great weekend; Brian Peters will have the map discussion video tomorrow and Sunday... my next video will be bright and early Monday morning!

The Friday morning map discussion video is available on the web and iTunes:

http://www.jamesspann.com/

How about that 99 degree high in Dothan yesterday? Just a reminder that is can get pretty hot around here with limited soil moisture and dry air. Pretty much the same story today; lots of sun and a hot afternoon. Around here most places should see a high between 90 and 95.

WEEKEND SHOWERS? If you live in places like Hamilton, Sulligent, Veron, Reform, and Livingston you have a decent chance of getting an afternoon shower or storm over the weekend. On the other hand, people in Roanoke, Wedowee, Heflin, and Centre will most likely stay high and dry.

The big rain over the weekend will come over the Ark-La-Tex region; places like Shreveport and Tulsa might see up to four inches of rain, thanks to an upper trough over Texas. The trough won't move much, and the best chance of afternoon showers and storms here will be over the western side of the state. I am afraid the eastern counties won't see much rain at all.

NEXT WEEK: While the upper trough over Texas weakens and fizzles, a surface front will approach from the north. This might help to generate a few scattered afternoon showers and storms over the northern half of the state, especially by Tuesday and Wednesday. But, the best chance will probably be over the Tennessee Valley of extreme North Alabama. The upper ridge rebuilds by the end of the week.

LONG RANGE: The GFS continues to hint at a nice upper trough from the Great Lakes down into the Deep South around the end of June and the first of July, but it is hard to get excited about that on model output 15 days out.

TROPICS: The Atlantic basin is quiet for now... no tropical troubles for the weekend.

AT THE BEACH: Lots of sun for the next five days along the Gulf from Gulf Shores eastward to Destin and Panama City... showers and storms will be isolated along the seabreeze front, and mainly inland. Highs along the immediate coast in the upper 80s. The sea water temperature is now up to 85 at Pensacola.

I will have the next afternoon map video posted by 3:30 this afternoon!