At least six tornadoes touched down in Alabama during the pre-dawn hours this past Saturday morning. Three of them were rated F1 on the Fujita intensity scale; the others were F0. One of the F1 tornadoes touched down in Shelby county, affecting the heavily populated communities of Pelham, Helena, Alabaster, and Chelsea.

The tornado touched down at 5:04 a.m. near the Cahaba River in Helena, and stayed on the ground for 11 miles. There were no injuries, but many trees and power lines were blown down, and a number of homes had major damage. How did the warning process work for that tornado?

Unfortunately, the National Weather Service did not issue a tornado warning for Shelby county, but I still say that people in a tornado-ready home should have known about the storm for these reasons:

*A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Shelby county at 4:50 a.m. Those with a NOAA Weather Radio receiver in their home (like we have been suggesting here for years and years) would have been awakened by the alarm almost 15 minutes before the tornado first touched down.

*Those that did get the NOAA Weather Radio alarm who turned on our live severe weather coverage on ABC 33/40 (we were on the air with non-stop weather coverage beginning at 2:45 a.m.) would have clearly seen our radar showing both a high level and low level shear lock over western Shelby county, and we gave clear instructions on the air for people in Alabaster, Pelham, and Helena to go through their tornado plan even though there was no formal warning in place at the time. No, we don’t issue warnings, but we sure do reserve the right to tell people to go into action when there is no formal warning.

I am sure the NWS regrets not issuing a tornado warning for Shelby county, but in their defense we were dealing with a long squall line, and trying to identify small tornadoes within a line like that is very difficult. The severe thunderstorm warning for Shelby county was very timely and should have served the purpose of waking people up in the path of the storm.

I also need to congratulate our friends up at Baron Services in Huntsville, our vendor for radar hardware and software. Their algorithm for detecting low level rotation worked like a charm, and enabled us to give a clear warning for the small tornado to the people in the path. The shear markers were excellent.

Yep, we have heard the classic line "I never heard the siren". My response to that is simply "so what!" Outdoor warning sirens are generally not sounded for severe thunderstorm warnings, and even when they are activated they are designed to reach people OUTSIDE, not INSIDE! Do not rely on siren to let you know there is a tornado approaching your home!!!!!

If you live in the damaged areas and didn't get the warning, your homework is to go and buy a NOAA Weather Radio receiver for your home. Next time a small tornado rolls through your community you will get the alarm (even if there is only a severe thunderstorm warning). And, if you turn on ABC 33/40 you will see everything you need to know about the storm.

Once again I want to thank my associates for their work during the severe weather event this past Saturday: John Oldshue, Jason Simpson, J.B. Elliott, Brian Peters and Bill Murray all worked the long overnight shift.... their work was excellent.

Wanted to pass along this note from the Tuscaloosa County EMA office:


The Tuscaloosa County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) will be taking applications for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Individual and Group storm shelter grants over the next three weeks.

Individuals wishing to apply for a Storm Shelter Grant must do so between Monday May 2nd and Friday May 20th, 2005. On Monday May 23rd a drawing will be held to establish the placement of the applications on the shelter grant list.

Applications will be available at the EMA office in the Tuscaloosa City Hall, the Northport City Hall, the Tuscaloosa County Court House and on the EMA web site at www.tuscoema.org .

As the result of a change in the approval process this year, individuals who applied for a storm shelter grant in 2004 will be automatically added to the new list. Individuals who applied for a storm shelter grant in 2001 will need to reapply.

Any person who owns property in Tuscaloosa County is eligible to apply for a grant that is funded on a 75/25 basis with the grant recipient paying the 25%. The maximum amount for an individual storm shelter grant is $3,500.00.

The grant recipient is required to pay all costs of the storm shelter up front and provide documentation that this has occurred. The recipient is then reimbursed 75%, up to $3,500.00, for an individual shelter.

A storm shelter must be built to Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA) specifications and cannot be built in a FEMA designated flood prone area. There are many companies that offer a variety of storm shelters that meet FEMA specifications. Individuals can construct their own shelter, but they cannot be reimbursed for their labor. The individually constructed shelters are also subject to more stringent requirements to prove the shelter meets FEMA specifications. The EMA will provide a copy of FEMA specifications to all grant recipients.

Group shelter grants are also available. If an individual or community is interested in building a group shelter, we will provide copies of the application package upon request.

The Tuscaloosa Emergency Management Agency has previously funded 129 shelters in the county. We are committed to continue providing individual assistance to help each applicant meet the federal, state and local requirements.

If you need more information on how to apply, contact Tuscaloosa County EMA at 205.349.0150 between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday.

The Monday afternoon web video is on the server:

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

The latest NCEP guidance shows no rain at all here for the next five days, and I am a believer. We might see a few sprinkles Wednesday night, but very dry air stays in place, and it looks like the best chance of measurable rain will fall over south Alabama, and even down there amounts should be light.

Temperatures will remain below normal for the next few days, but will begin to warm up over the weekend, with upper 70s on Saturday, and low 80s by Sunday. All of the main storm action will stay well to the west and north Alabama for the next seven to ten days. Nice and quiet.

On the late night blog post I will write about the Shelby county tornado (along with other tornadoes around the state early Saturday morning), the warning process, and what worked and what didn't work... I usually get that posted by 9:30 p.m. or so...

Just a quick note that the NWS is now calling the Shelby county pre-dawn tornado Saturday morning an F1, instead of an F0 on the original survey:

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
950 AM CDT MON MAY 2 2005

**UPDATED THE F-SCALE RATING**

...TORNADO TOUCHES DOWN IN SHELBY COUNTY...

AFTER FURTHER REVIEW OF THE DAMAGE...DAMAGE PHOTOS...AND RADAR DATA...THE TORNADO F-SCALE RATING HAS BEEN REVISED TO F1.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS SURVEYED THE DAMAGE THAT AFFECTED THE HELENA, PELHAM, ALABASTER AND CHELSEA AREAS EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. THE DAMAGE WAS THE RESULT OF AN F1 TORNADO.

THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN JUST WEST OF CR 93 NEAR THE CAHABA WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA IN HELENA. THE TORNADO MOVED GENERALLY EASTWARD AND CROSSED CR 17, CR 58, US 31, I-65 AND CR 11 BEFORE ENDING NEAR CR 39. THE TORNADO DAMAGE PATH WAS APPROXIMATELY 11.4 MILES LONG AND 100 YARDS WIDE AT ITS WIDEST POINT. THE TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND FROM APPROXIMATELY 504 AM CDT TO 518 AM CDT.

THE INITIAL DAMAGE WAS MINOR WITH ONLY A FEW TREES UPROOTED OR SNAPPED OFF WEST OF CR 17 IN HELENA. AS THE TORNADO CROSSED CR 17, IT INTENSIFIED AND CAUSED ITS MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. THE MOST CONCENTRATED AND SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OCCURRED FROM NEAR SCURLOCK ROAD AND CR 17 EASTWARD ALONG CR 58 TO NEAR CR 95. SEVERAL SUBDIVISIONS WERE AFFECTED INCLUDING BRAELINN VILLAGE, AUTUMN RIDGE, NAVAJO HILLS, AMBERLEY WOODS AND PORT SOUTH. NUMEROUS HOMES SUFFERED
SHINGLE AND ROOF DAMAGE AND BROKEN WINDOWS. MANY TREES AND POWER LINES WERE BLOWN DOWN OR SNAPPED OFF. A FEW HOMES SUFFERED MAJOR DAMAGE DUE TO FALLEN TREES. SEVERAL AUTOMOBILES AND OUTBUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED. AS THE TORNADO CROSSED US 31 NEAR WALMART, SEVERAL LARGE TREES AND SIGNS WERE BLOWN DOWN. A FEW HOMES WERE DAMAGED ON CARROLL STREET AND DAVENPORT STREET JUST EAST OF US 31. FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE TORNADOES PATH, THE DAMAGE WAS MINOR AND MAINLY AFFECTING ONLY TREES. THE TORNADO CROSSED WEATHERLY AND THE BALLANTRAE GOLF COURSE BEFORE ENDING JUST EAST OF CR 39 NEAR HIDDEN RIDGE.

$$

LINHARES/SUMRALL

The Monday moring web video is on the server:

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

Looks like an extended period of rather tranquil weather ahead for Alabama.

The NWS still doing storm surveys after the early Saturday morning outbreak... there have been six confirmed tornadoes so far:

Walker county: F1 tornado at Union Chapel
Lowndes county: F1 tornado at White Hall
Shelby county: F0 tornado at Alabaster, F0 tornado near Columbiana
Tuscaloosa county: F0 tornado just north of Northport
Bullock county: F0 tornado near Midway

Lots of straight line wind damage... four people were injured in mobile homes in Lowndes county between Mosses and Gordonsville. The injuries were relatively minor, but one five year boy did have broken bones.

Thanks to our gang for the support during our long form coverage Saturday morning... John Oldshue, Jason Simpson, Brian Peters, J.B. Elliott, and Bill Murray all worked through the night.

I will discuss the watch/warning situation on a post here late tonight; only one complaint so far from the public (at least received here in our office). The complaint concerned no formal tornado warning for the Alabaster tornado... I will be addressing that situation and more. Bottom line is that everyone should have been awake and aware of the danger before the storm arrived...

DAYS AHEAD: After a review of the maps, I am not convinced we see much rain, if any at all, during the next seven days. Maybe a few sprinkles Wednesday night or early Thursday, and then again Friday. Watch the video for details...

Temperatures will stay cool for the next few days, but will warm up by the coming weekend. We should finally get back in the low 80s by Sunday.

Long range model output shows no severe weather risks for 10 to 15 days; guess we can all use a break after this past Saturday morning!