Four years ago today, on Sunday December 17, 2000, I was in Tuscaloosa doing a damage survey and taking still pictures of the damage caused by a a big tornado that roared through the southern part of the city the day before, on December 16, 2000. Wind chill values were hovering in the single digits as I did a live segment on our 5:00 news. I clearly recall interviewing Brian Peters, who at the time was the WCM (warning coordination meteorologist) with the National Weather Service in Birmingham (we hired Brian after he retired from the National Weather Service about a year ago). Brian told us that he rated the tornado an F4 on the Fujita scale based on his observations that day. In all, eleven people were killed with 75 others injured. Nine of the fatalities occurred in mobile homes, one in a vehicle on Alabama Highway 69, and one in a commercial building converted to residential use. The ages of those who died ranged from 16 months to 83 years old. The tornado was on the ground for 18 miles, and for first time in Alabama TV history we showed the tornado live on our tower camera for almost 15 minutes as the damage was being done.

John Oldshue was in our Storm Chaser van in Tuscaloosa, and was directly in the path of the tornado. He had to run for cover into the Hampton Inn at the Cottondale exit with the tornado bearing down on him. The van was heavily damaged, but John was not injured. The video from John and his photographer was riveting.

This year, we can declare the fall tornado season over as cold Polar air will be the rule for the rest of the year. That stable air will prevent any additional severe weather threats this year. We are in full winter mode now, and our next tornado in Alabama should come sometime in 2005.


You can watch the live coverage of the Tuscaloosa tornado on our video page:

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

Well... everyone seems to be talking about the weather. About 50 e-mails in the box since I left for Haleyville from folks asking questions and wanting a briefing. By the way, I will pretty much send all those folks to this page; I won't have any time for individual briefings for a while.

People I have seen today tell me they have heard everything from snow on Christmas day to snow on Sunday to ice on Monday. As always, rumors get out of control when winter weather threatens Alabama, and I learned long ago even if we put out the PERFECT forecast (there is no such thing, anyway), people will still be mad because of bad weather information they got from a friend, a neighbor, or somewhere around town.

THANKS to you for taking the time to read this; send everyone you know over this way so they can get the scoop right from the wx office, instead of the person next in line at the grocery store.

Afternoon video is posted:

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

Also, J.B. Elliott's afternoon discussion and forecast is posted as well:

http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/7day.hrb

After looking at the 12Z model runs, I really don't see anything to make me change anything from what I wrote on the blog this morning. We still have three issues ahead:

*Major cold air blast Sunday and Monday. Many places in north Alabama will be below freezing both days, and we will be in the 10 to 20 degree range Monday morning. And, yes, we will have flurries on Sunday. Maybe enough to make the ground white across higher terrain in northeast Alabama, but moisture looks pretty limited so we do not expect any accumulation along the I-20 corridor.

*Pre-Christmas storm. Still looks like a rain to snow event for the deep south in the December 22-24 time frame. I will be very specific on this system tomorrow morning.

*Post-Christmas storm. Very interesting system sets up for December 26-27. This might bring a better opportunity for significant snow across the deep south. I will tell you up front we will be focusing on the first two issues over the next few days, just keeping watch on this one out of the corner of our eye. We will deal with forecasting the specifics with this one early next week. Just too early right now.

Morning video update is online now:

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

Three big issues ahead:

*The depth of the cold air in the Sunday/Monday time frame, and the snow flurries on Sunday. We will be below freezing much of the day Sunday and Monday, with looks like we will be in the 10 to 20 degree range Monday morning. Flurries on Sunday could be enough to make the ground white over the high terrain of northeast Alabama. Don't expect any travel problems down this way.

*Storm number ONE, in the December 22-24 time frame. Getting a little more confident about a mostly rain event on December 22-23, with a possible change to snow on the back side on December 24. Those often don't offer a real good chance of getting the ground white, however, but there is a chance for those of you "dreaming" of a you know what.

*Storm number TWO right after Christmas in the December 26-27 time frame. This could be a better setup for snow here in north-central Alabama, with a surface low forming in the northeast Gulf of Mexico. Might start out as rain, with a chance to snow during the event.

WATCH THE VIDEO for all the details. Headed to Haleyville today to see the kids up at Haleyville Elementary... the last school show of the year 2004! Will be back in the office early this afternoon for the next video update on the web and the news on ABC 33/40 tonight...