Quintard Mall and the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Birmingham will be hosting the first annual Severe Weather Awareness Day today from 1 pm to 6 pm at Quintard Mall in Oxford. Severe Weather Awareness Day is designed to inform the public on ways to protect themselves whether they are at home, work, shopping, or on the water during a severe weather incident. The NWS will be acknowledging Quintard Mall's continued efforts to keep the public safe during severe weather by recognizing Quintard Mall as a StormReady Supporter. Quintard Mall is one of only a handful of StormReady Supporters that have been recognized by the NWS across the USA. To become a StormReady Supporter, Quintard Mall went through a thorough application and site inspection process.

Severe Weather Awareness Day will give businesses in this area an opportunity to highlight their services during or after severe weather. Local utility companies, storm shelter builders, insurances agencies, non-profit organizations, local and regional media, and many more will be on hand to discuss with the public the services that they provide. Interactive displays will also be available for the public to browse. Have you ever wanted to know about severe weather safety? If so, the NWS will conduct two one hour severe weather safety presentations at 2:30 pm and 4pm respectively. Join Quintard Mall and the NWS for Severe Weather Awareness Day! The entire event including browsing all hands on displays and experiencing interactive simulators is free to the public!

Our weather team from ABC 33/40 will be there, and we will be doing our noon, 5:00, and 6:00 weathercasts from the mall. If you are near Oxford today be sure and drop by and say hello!

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PNSBMX

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...UPDATED FOR WINSTON COUNTY TORNADO DAMAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
612 PM CDT TUE SEP 26 2005

AS OF 612 PM CDT...THE FOLLOWING ARE THE LATEST FINDINGS FROM THE
SURVEY TEAMS:

TWO SEPARATE TORNADOES OCCURRED IN WINSTON COUNTY. ONE WAS AN F0 AND
ANOTHER WAS AN F1 ON THE FUJITA DAMAGE SCALE (F0 TO F5).

THE F0 TORNADO TRACKED WAS 1/4 MILE LONG AND 50 YARDS WIDE AT ITS
WIDEST POINT. THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED ABOUT FOUR MILES SOUTH
SOUTHEAST OF DOUBLE SPRINGS...ONE AND ONE QUARTER OF A MILE EAST OF
THE THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 195 AND COUNTY ROAD 8. THE TORNADO
TOUCHDOWN WAS BRIEF...WITH A TOUCHDOWN AT 305 PM CDT...LIFTING BY
306 PM CDT. SEVERAL TREES AND POWER LINES WERE BLOWN DOWN...WITH A
TRAMPOLINE LIFTED INTO A POWER LINE THAT WAS STILL STANDING. MINOR
ROOF DAMAGE TO THE UNION GROVE FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH OCCURRED...
ALONG WITH A FEW TREES DOWNED...AND A FLAG POLE BENT IN HALF...
IN WILLIAMS CEMETERY.

THE F1 TORNADO...WHICH LOCATED NEAR THE TOWN OF FAIRVIEW...WAS TWO
AND ONE HALF MILES LONG AND 150 YARDS WIDE AT ITS WIDEST POINT.
THE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN AT 258 PM CDT...AND LIFTED AT 302 PM CDT.
TORNADO CAUSED NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES TO BE DOWNED...
MAKING U.S. HIGHWAY 278 IMPASSIBLE. THIS TORNADO ALSO TORE THE ROOF
OFF A MOBILE HOME...AND DEPOSITED IT SEVERAL HUNDREDS OF FEET TO THE
NORTH. IT ALSO DESTROYED HALF OF A FARM SHED...DEPOSITING SEVERAL PIECES
OF ITS ROOF SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS TO THE NORTHEAST.

NO FATALITIES OR INJURIES OCCURRED IN WINSTON COUNTY. A TORNADO
WARNING WAS ISSUED FOR WINSTON COUNTY AT 300 PM CDT UNTIL 345 PM
CDT. TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 819 WAS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
ALABAMA FROM 1105 AM CDT TO 700 PM CDT.

AN F0 TORNADO TRACK WAS FOUND IN THE COATOPA COMMUNITY IN EASTERN
SUMTER COUNTY...ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LIVINGSTON. THE TRACK
WAS ABOUT 2.8 MILES LONG...AND NO MORE THAN 50 YARDS WIDE. THE PATH
BEGAN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF STATE ROUTE 28 AND COUNTY ROAD
23...AND ENDED NEAR THE EASTERN INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROAD 23 AND
MUNDY ROAD.

AFTER EXTENSIVE AERIAL AND GROUND SURVEYS ACROSS WESTERN TUSCALOOSA
COUNTY...AT LEAST 8 SEPARATE TORNADO TRACKS WERE DISCOVERED.
PRELIMINARY DATA SUGGEST THAT 2 F1'S AND 6 F0'S OCCURRED. AT THIS
TIME...ONLY TWO INJURIES WERE REPORTED WITH THE TORNADOES IN
TUSCALOOSA COUNTY. ONE MAN REMAINS HOSPITALIZED. BOTH INJURIES
OCCURRED NEAR THE BUHL COMMUNITY. THE TORNADOES ALSO AFFECTED THE
LAKE LURLEEN AREA WHERE SEVERAL FAMILIES FROM LOUISIANA HAVE BEEN
HOUSED. NONE OF THESE TEMPORARY RESIDENCES WERE DAMAGED. A SPECIAL
THANKS GO OUT TO THE TUSCALOOSA POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR PROVIDING THE
AERIAL SURVEY.

EXTENSIVE SURVEYS WERE DONE ACROSS NORTHERN GREENE AND SOUTHERN
FAYETTE COUNTIES...BUT NO OBSERVABLE DAMAGE COULD BE FOUND IN EITHER
LOCATION.

IF ANYONE HAS RECEIVED OR KNOWS ABOUT ANY DAMAGE IN YOUR AREA OF
WESTERN ALABAMA...PLEASE CALL OUR TOLL FREE NUMBER AT
1-800-856-0758.
$$
JBW/BMX STORM SURVEY TEAM

The Tuesday afternoon map discussion video is on the server:

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

TROPICS: The wave over the Caribbean looks better and better, and it looks like tropical storm Stan is being born. A hurricane hunter should be in the wave tomorrow with more details.

The LBAR takes the system to the eastern Florida panhandle, and we discount that solution for now. The LBAR has done a horrible job all season with tropical systems. The BAM runs take it westward to the Yucatan peninsula. More than likely that is the correct solution, and the best chance of landfall at this point, in my humble opinion, would be on the Mexican coast. Needless to say we are really early in the game, however.

We will watch the wave in the central Atlantic near 10N/40W.

AROUND HERE: Guess we will still mention the risk of widely scattered showers late tomorrow night or Thursday morning with the front, but most places should be dry. Cooler air will be felt on Thursday; the new GFS MOS has a high of only 76 here on Thursday; but the NAM is probably closer to being correct with 79. The GFS is showing 55 here Friday morning; J.B. in his afternoon forecast package is using 57, which looks good to me. Of course, this is not a "one number" part of the world, lows Friday morning will probably vary from 50 in the coolest valleys to the low 60s on the ridge tops.

WEEKEND: The chance of rain looks very, very small Saturday and Sunday. Guess we can't rule out the chance of isolated showers, but the chance is so small now it is not worth mentioning in the forecast. Highs should be in the 80 to 85 degree range both Saturday and Sunday.

Thanks to the kids over at Southminister School in Vestavia today... had a great time sharing the science of meteorology with the third graders. Good to have BRENDA LADUN in the peanut gallery too.

Also enjoyed the visit with the realtors at Realty South this morning over at McCalla!

The Tuesday morning map discussion video is on the server:

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

I posted the Tuscaloosa tornado coverage (when the tornado was on our towercam) on our that same video page yesterday if you want to watch. I did a horrible job on the air during the live towercam video of the tornado; I was having to serve as director, producer, and trying to get a camera operator in place (the controls are on the other side of the buiilding), and simply was not able to think about what I was saying. You would think I would be a better multi-tasker since I do that pretty much all day every day. But, the video was the story anyway.

We have something very exciting in the works that will do away with the towercam operator problem in the near future... details on that coming up very soon.

Let me also plug our annual SKYWARN training event called Storm Alert XTREME on Saturday October 15 at Briarwood Presbyterian Church. Brian Peters will conduct a basic and an advanced severe storm session, and Jeff Craven will be over from the NWS in Jackson to speak. Jeff is one of the best severe weather experts in the world. I get the idea we will have a packed house this year; see the agenda here:

http://beta.abc3340.com/external.hrb?p=stormalert&w=1

TODAY: With sunshine back in full force we head for the upper 80s. But, hope is high for cool weather fans.

A cool front will pass through late tomorrow night into Thursday morning. This might squeeze out a few widely scattered showers (rain, if any, should be light and spotty), but will knock temperatures down quite a bit by the end of the week. The latest MOS products from the GFS show a high of 78 here on Thursday, and a refreshing low of 54 by Friday morning. Doesn't that sound great.

THE WEEKEND: Temperatures will moderate over the weekend, and looks like highs will be in the 80 to 85 degree range. The latest GFS shows a little increase in moisture, but hardly any chance of rain. A short wave over the southern plains on Saturday moves north of us and dampens out on Sunday. So, for now, things are looking pretty good for race weekend at Talladega.

LONG RANGE: No sign of any really chilly weather for the next 10 to 15 days. Temperatures will probably average above normal across the board. There is an interesting feature in the October 11-13 time frame that might try to buckle the upper air flow and put us in a position to turn sharply colder toward mid-month.

TROPICS: The wave in the central Caribbean is moving to the west. The GFS takes it almost due west, across the Yucatan peninsula and into Mexico early next week. Some tropical models take it into the Gulf of Mexico. Another nice wave is out in the central Atlantic around 10N/39W.

Busy day today... speaking to a big group of real estate folks this morning, and then headed over to Southminister School in Vestavia for a weather program. One thing is for sure... I have plenty of video and pictures to show them! Will be back in the studio for the afternoon video and discussion by 3:30....