The following tongue-in-cheek post was made by chaser Bill Tabor on the WX-CHASE newsgroup:

A new storm chaser disease has recently been discovered and is spreading through the chaser community. It is called PTSD which stands for Post Tornadic Stress Disorder. A whole lot isn't known about this disease yet, but primarily the symptoms for chasers are moodiness, depression, sadness, tiredness. It seems to be caused from let down after chasing and catching tornadic storms and / or tornadoes and then suddenly being taken out of the environment. Apparently chasers have a hard time adapting back to real life and the lack of adrenaline rush just causes havoc with their systems. Researchers have no idea how long these effects last, but it seems to be as varied as the individual. Also, unlike SDS which can often be alleviated by watching tornado videos PTSD can be made worse by watching videos because the chaser realizes that they really aren't in the field or in peril, but it reminds them that they aren't. This makes the symptoms much worse.

If you think you have PTSD either get back on the plains any way you can, find a chaser doctor, or find some other way to forget and get your mind off the subject. Do not eat chicken fried steak, or go near an Alsups, and especially DO NOT eat their burritos!

Alarmingly it seems in rare cases some chasers seem to lose their identity and have been known to steal photos from other chasers and place them on their own websites. Other chasers find ways to lash out at these diseased individuals and in turn find that they are potentially sick with the disease themselves.

No one knows if there is a cure for this disease, the long term prognosis, or eventual outcome. More information will be released later as it becomes available. (Chase Disease Research Group) Bill’s website is: www.TornadoXtreme.com

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The video map discussion has been posted this morning. Running a little behind since I'm on location at the City Stages Weather Center. And also because I lost an important cable to hook up the digital video camera. Nevertheless, the map discussion is there.

Not much to discuss today with dry weather expected for the weekend and into the middle of next week. This high amplitude pattern is certainly unusual for June - see JB's post about low temperatures this morning. High at the Birmingham airport was 83 yesterday but the important weather news was the low humidity.

Low humidity should continue today and gradually increase Sunday and Monday. Scattered showers will come back into the picture toward mid-week.

GFS gets a bit jittery in the western and southwestern Gulf again, so this will be something to watch during the coming week.

Have a great weekend.

-Brian-

I, for one, appreciate these few cool mornings that we have in summer. Sure beats lows in the 70-75 range with high dew points. Let's celebrate these lows this morning. No surprise that Valley Head, a legendary cool spot in NE Alabama was the coolest with 51. Even in the Greater Birmingham area it was a nice 55 in Pinson.

51 in Valley Head
52 in DeSoto State Park and at Fort Payne Airport
54 at Russell Cave National Monument
55 in Pinson and Meridianville
56 at Crossville, Russellville and Hytop
57 at Gadsden, Hartselle and Cherokee
58 at Decatur, Hazel Green and Cottondale
59 at Anniston, Birmingham and Cullman Airport
60 in Huntsville and Muscle Shoals
62 in Tuscaloosa, Harvest and Highland Home (south of Montgomery)
63 at Greenville and Shelby County Airport
67 in Evergreen and Selma

This was one of those mornings when, under clear and still conditions, the cooler air slides or drains into the valleys leaving the ridges warmer. As a result, the low on Alabama's highest point, Mt, Cheaha, elevation 2407 feet, was only 64.

In NE Alabama, it was 51 at Valley Head, while just a few miles away on Lookout Mountain it was 63 at Mentone--a difference of 12 degrees in about three air miles!

Even in the Birmingham area, it was 55 at Pinson, while not for away it was 63 in Trussville at a private weather station on a higher elevation of 935 feet.

Down on the coast, those SE moving thunderstorms yesterday dumped 1.60 inches of rain on Pascagoula, Miss., and an even inch near downtown Mobile at Brookley Field.