Ashtabula, Ohio is in the lake effect snow belt of Lake Erie, like Buffalo. On this date in 1876, Ashtabula was being buried by a major snowstorm, dumping huge amounts of snow on the small town.. At about 7:30 p.m., the Pacific Express, crack passenger train #5 of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway was rushing through the wild and bitter darkness, trying to make up time that it had lost earlier in its journey.

Nearly two hours late, there were one hundred and fifty six people aboard the eleven coaches and two heavy engines. As the train approached Ashtabula, it had to cross a seventy foot high double-track iron bridge over the Ashtabula River, less than 1,000 feet from the station. Winds were blowing at gale force as the engineer backed off the throttle, preparing for his stop. /

He felt the track beneath his steam locomotive give way as he crossed the bridge, and he opened the throttle back wide open trying the clear the bridge. The bridge crashed into the chasm of the frozen river, taking with it the other engine, two express cars, two baggage cars, three passenger coaches, one of them the smoking car, one drawing room coach, and three sleeping coaches.

The populace of the small town rushed to the rescue, but ninety two people died in the disaster. Many of the deaths resulted from the blaze that started in the wreckage from the fires that heated the train cars. It was determined that faulty construction led to the collapse of the bridge. As a result of the disaster, no more rail bridges were built that depended solely on iron trusses for their support. Steam heat would replace the dangerous wood and coal fired stoves that caused the fire in the Ashtabula crash and in other notable train wrecks. Sadly, the railroad’s chief engineer and the designer of the bridge would take their lives following the disaster.

The Wednesday afternoon map discussion video is on the server at:

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

Quite an interesting early afternoon as thunderstorms finally developed with hail reports up to golf ball size reported. By no means a complete report, here are several of the larger hail reports I've seen today. Hoover, 1" hail (quarter) Talladega Superspeedway, 1 3/4" hail (golf ball) New Site, 1 1/4" hail (half dollar) Kellyton, 2 3/4" hail (baseball)

At this writing, just before 4 pm, the cold front was located from just east of Huntsville to just east of Birmingham to just west of Montgomery. All of the serious action had about shifted into Georgia. Counties were gradually being cleared from the tornado watch that was issued around noon. I was somewhat surprised at the northward and westward extent of that watch because wind profiles in our area did not seem to be favorable for tornadoes.

We'll see a temperature cool down tonight and Thursday as lows and highs drop below normal. But a quick warm-up is in store with afternoon highs in the 60s again on Friday and into the weekend and early next week.

The upper air pattern remains very progressive with a series of short waves moving across the southern half of the US. As a result we expect to see rain chances Friday night and early Saturday and again Monday. The system Monday looks like it could be capable of producing a severe weather episode, so it is something we'll want to watch since that is five days out.

Plan to have the next web map discussion on the server by 8 am tomorrow. Have a great evening.

-Brian-

From the NWS:

New Site [Tallapoosa Co, AL] emergency mngr reports HAIL of half dollar size (1.25 INCH) at 02:31 PM CST -- covering the ground 5 to 6 inches deep.

This is that big storm that produced numerous reports of large hail across Coosa and Tallapoosa Counties earlier. It is now in northwestern Chambers County.

The NWS has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warnin for Tallapoosa County in East Alabama until 2:45 p.m.. This is for the big thunderstorm that is located near New Site in northern Tallapoosa County at 2:30 p.m. This storm is capable of producing very large hail Trained spotters have reported hail to the size of baseballs earlier near Kellyton. A rare radar signature called a hail spike was observed earlier in this storm also, another sign that it is producing very large hail.

Hail has covered the ground in many areas in the wake of these storms today, so take care if you are driving into areas that have experienced hail. Road can become as slippery as during a winter storm and serious accidents can occur.

A tornado watch is in efect until 7 p.m. CST for East Alabama. Jefferson, Shelby, Chilton, Autauga, Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Coosa, Etowah, Lowndes, St. Clair and Talladega Counties have been cleared from the watch.

A Lake Wind Advisory is alos in effect this afternoon for all of Central Alabama for westerly winds of 15-25 mph with occasional higher gusts.

The afternoon forecast package will be out shortly. It does not include any major changes...

The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...
Clay, Coosa, Tallapoosa Counties until 2:30 p.m. CST.

Radar indicates a severe thunderstorm some 6 miles NW of Alexander City along Highway 280. This storm is well organized according to spotters in the field and shows very large hail on radar. It will continue to produce severe hail as it moves ENE at 35 mph in the general direction of New Site. The storm will pass just north of Alexander City.

Brent Adair just reported baseball size hail from this storm at the intersection of Alabama Hwy 9 and US 280 just northwest of Kellyton. Hail is covering the ground there he reports.

Another severe storm is 8 miles NE of Sylacauga at 2:01 p.m.

Tornado Watch remains in effect for much of East Alabama until 7 p.m. CST...but the follwoing coutnies have been cleared.. Chilton... Jefferson and Shelby...

Westerly winds have become quite gusty behind a cold front that is just east of I-65.

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
SOUTHERN CLEBURNE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL ALABAMA THIS INCLUDES THE AREA OF HEFLIN

* UNTIL 230 PM CST

* AT 144 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING NICKEL SIZE HAIL. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR HEFLIN...AND MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.


UPDATE FOR COOSA COUNTY....
The storm in Coosa County 5 miles NE of Rockford is the most impressive storm now There is a large hail core about to pass over highway 280 around the intersection with state route 9. It is a dangerous looking storm and will produce very large hail. Spotters indicate that it appears to be rotating and there is some roattion on radar.

New Warning...
Severe thunderstorm Warning for Calhoun County until 2 p.m.

Still in effect...
Severe Thunderstorm Warning for southeastern Shelby and southwestern talladega County until 2 p.m.
Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Coosa County until 2:00 p.m.

Hail reports...
...Marble size hail report at 12:33 pm in the Stemley Community
...Golf ball size hail at the Talladea Superspeedway at 12:58 p.m.
...Nickle size hail in Ashland in Clay County at 1:15 p.m.
...Dime size hail downtown Wilsonville at 1:05 p.m.
...Quarter size hail reported in Bon Air, just southeast of Childersburg at 1:34 p.m.

Five thunderstorm clusters are contiuing across East Alabama this afternoon.
1. 8 miles WSW on Heflin (Calhoun County warning)
2. Just east of Childersburg (Shelby/Talladega County warning)
3. 3 miles SE of Lineville in Clay County
4. 5 miles north of Dadeville
5. Strongest storm at this time located 5 miles north of Rockford in Coosa County. (Coosa County warning)

The severe weather is essentially over for areas west of St. Clair... Shelby and Bibb Counties

A tornado watch remains in effect for much of East Alabama until 7 p.m. CST.

The NWS has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning effective until 2 p.m. CST for southeastern Shelby and southwestern Talldega Counties.

The strong storm we mentioned earlier near Columbiana is just east of Columbiana at 1:15 p.m. It is moving ENE at nearly 40 mph. It is interesting to note that the storms are staing to move at a faster forward speed now.

The severe thunderstorm warning for Coosa County has been cancelled. But don't look now, because to the northwest, a strong looking cell is entering northwestern Coosa County from Chilton County. The storm is centered about 15 miles WNW of Rockford.

The NWS reports they will start clearing western counties from the watch as the storms move rapidly eastward.

An impressive hail report...

Storm chaser Brent Adair had his windshield cracked around 12:55 p.m. 2 miles south of the Talladega Superspeedway on Alabama 77. The hail lasted about 2 minutes and was up to golfball size. He reported that hail covered the road. This storm is now located along or just south of I-20 south of Anniston and Oxford.

Three new Severe Thunderstorm Warnings:
Until 2:00 p.m. for Southeastern Coosa and Northern Tallapoosa Counties
Until 1:30 p.m. for Southern Calhoun and Norhteastern Talladega Counties...
Until 1:30 pm for Clay County.

Severe thunderstorm number one is 12 miles WSW of Anniston at 1:01 p.m. It will pass just south of Anniston and then near Heflin during the next hour. It has a track record of producing lots of hail to the size of quarters.

Severe thunderstorm number two is 10 miles ESE of Rockford in Coosa County. It will move ENE into Tallapoosa County passing between Alexander City and Jacksons Gap.

Severe thunderstorm number three is 10 miles SW of Ashland in Clay County moving directly toward that city.

Other strong storms are near Columbiana and just southeast of Clanton. These storms will be capable of becoming severe.

The Severe Thunderstorm Warning for St. Clair County has expired. The warning for Shelby County was cancelled earlier.

A new tornado watch is being issued for aeras east of I-65 until 7 p.m. CST.

It will cover an area 115 miles east and west of a line from 20 miles south of DOthan to 20 miles north of Atlanta.

Counties included are... Autauga, Barbour, Blount, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Elmore, Etowah, Jefferson, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega and Tallapoosa

Scattered thunderstorms are located in an area roughly bounded by Centreville... Birmingham... Anniston... Ashland... Dadeville and back to Centreville.

The strongest storm at 12:43 p.m. was 9 miles WNW of Talladega. It is moving ENE at 25 mph and will be passing between Lincoln and Talladega. This storm has a histor of producing significant amounts of large hail.

Another strong storm is over southwestern Clay County, moving toward Ashland. It could become severe at any time.

The airmass over East Alabama is unstable. With the approach of a cold front from the west, thunderstorms will continue to form. Those that do will be capable of producing large hail and strong gusty winds. Isolated tornadoes are not out of the question.