Now that most folks are back in the office after the holidays, I wanted to remind you that Firefox is a wonderful browser, and should be on every computer (in my humble opinion)...
Firefox is very secure, and offers a great RSS feature which alllows you to have a "live bookmark" of blogs like this one. When you download Firefox and view this blog site, you will see a little orange icon in the lower right part of the screen. Click on that and you can add a live bookmark, meaning the bookmark keeps up with updates to this blog and gives you a quick view of all the most recent topics within your browser. Very, very cool.
I also don't know how people surf the net without tabbed browsing. Can't live without it now.
You can get the free download of Firefox here:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
We have been using it for the last nine months and it has been a great experience. We still have Internet Explorer installed since you will have to have it for some sites, but it has taken a back seat.
Enough for the free plug... back to regular blog posts...
Get Firefox!
January 3, 2005, 11:33 pm
by James Spann
in General Thoughts
Welcome Jason
January 3, 2005, 10:59 pm
This week we welcome Jason Simpson to the ABC 33/40 Weather Team. Jason will be handling weather segments on “Good Morning Alabama”, and the hour long news block from 12:00 until 1:00 p.m. weekdays. Jason comes to us from WTOK-TV (Channel 11) in Meridian, Mississippi, where was the chief meteorologist. He is a native from Holly Pond, Alabama (up in Cullman county), and finished in the meteorology program at Mississippi State University in 2001. Jason also interned with us here at ABC 33/40 in the summer of 1999 and 2000, so he is a familiar face to us. He has earned the American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval, and has spent long hours working severe weather events while at WTOK.
We had over 100 applications for the opening, and we spent plenty of long hours reviewing all of the candidates. Jason stood out for a number of reasons, including his knowledge of the science, his understanding of our aggressive severe weather coverage here and his ability to handle that kind of long form coverage, his knowledge of the people and the geography of the state, and his ability to communicate with people. People who come into our studio probably think it is pretty easy standing in front of the big green board and talking about weather on TV, but quite frankly it really isn’t as simple as it looks. I have full confidence in Jason, and I think you will really enjoy watching him.
John Oldshue will spend a little time with his family for the rest of January, and he will be back on weekend duty in a few weeks. And, Brian Peters will be in the shop as well handling a variety of duties. We are busy now getting ready for Storm Alert 2005, and we will have the details on this year’s tour coming here soon!
We had over 100 applications for the opening, and we spent plenty of long hours reviewing all of the candidates. Jason stood out for a number of reasons, including his knowledge of the science, his understanding of our aggressive severe weather coverage here and his ability to handle that kind of long form coverage, his knowledge of the people and the geography of the state, and his ability to communicate with people. People who come into our studio probably think it is pretty easy standing in front of the big green board and talking about weather on TV, but quite frankly it really isn’t as simple as it looks. I have full confidence in Jason, and I think you will really enjoy watching him.
John Oldshue will spend a little time with his family for the rest of January, and he will be back on weekend duty in a few weeks. And, Brian Peters will be in the shop as well handling a variety of duties. We are busy now getting ready for Storm Alert 2005, and we will have the details on this year’s tour coming here soon!
by James Spann
in General Thoughts
January Or April?
January 3, 2005, 3:57 pm
Another new record high for Birmingham today; 73 degrees as of 2:00 p.m. Not bad for January 3!
The afternoon video is on the server:
http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb
A few notes at mid-afternoon;
*Moderate snow falling at Flagstaff, Arizona with 32 degrees.
*In California, about 2 feet of snow has shut down Interstate 5 at Tejon Pass north of Los Angeles. The state's main north-south highway was expected to stay closed there all day. The elevation at the pass is about 4,200 feet.
*While Birmingham was at 73 degrees at 2:00, Hallock, Minnesota was reporting 11 degrees below zero with a wind chill index of -29.
Gotta run to a Storm Alert 2005 meeting. No 6:00 news this evening; Mike Raita will have a live one hour "The Zone" special from New Orleans from 6:00 until 7:00; then the Sugar Bowl follows on ABC 33/40 at 7:00. A fun night of football!
The afternoon video is on the server:
http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb
A few notes at mid-afternoon;
*Moderate snow falling at Flagstaff, Arizona with 32 degrees.
*In California, about 2 feet of snow has shut down Interstate 5 at Tejon Pass north of Los Angeles. The state's main north-south highway was expected to stay closed there all day. The elevation at the pass is about 4,200 feet.
*While Birmingham was at 73 degrees at 2:00, Hallock, Minnesota was reporting 11 degrees below zero with a wind chill index of -29.
Gotta run to a Storm Alert 2005 meeting. No 6:00 news this evening; Mike Raita will have a live one hour "The Zone" special from New Orleans from 6:00 until 7:00; then the Sugar Bowl follows on ABC 33/40 at 7:00. A fun night of football!
2004 Tornadoes - Conclusion
January 3, 2005, 9:02 am
Our series on the tornadoes of 2004 continues.
The year was an average one for tornadoes until August. Then one tropical storm and five tornadoes affected areas from Florida to the mid Atlantic in August and September. Two of the hurricanes were prolific tornado producers. Hurricane Frances produced 117 tornadoes, breaking the old record set by 1967’s Hurricane Beulah. Hurricane Ivan generated 104 reports of tornadoes and Jeanne sixteen. The tropical cyclones led to a record number of tornadoes for any August or September.
The second deadliest tornado of the year struck Blountstown, Florida late on the evening of September 15th is association with the outer bands of landfalling Hurricane Ivan. There were three other killer tornadoes on the 15th in the vicinity of Panama City, including an F2 that killed one person at Hamilton’s Restaurant. Another tornado killed one person at Carnesville, Georgia the following afternoon when a tree fell on a car.
Four killer tornadoes were reported in November, including the final killer of the year, which struck Bynum early on the morning of November 24th.
There were 19 killer tornadoes during the year. Not surprisingly, there were more F3 killer tornadoes than any other category. Those five twisters accounted for 12 of the 35 fatalities. The two F4 killer tornadoes were responsible for four deaths. Nearly half of the killer tornadoes (9) were F0-F2 in intensity. Those nine killer tornadoes resulted in thirteen of the fatalities.
Sixteen of the nineteen killer tornadoes occurred within the boundaries of a valid tornado watch. Another occurred in a valid severe thunderstorm watch. Another occurred as a result of Tropical Storm Bonnie near Rocky Point, N.C. on August 13th when a tornado struck a trailer park, killing three people. A weak tornado killed a man in a corrugated building near Cameron, Texas on June 26th.
Illinois led the list of states with the most tornado fatalities in 2004, with nine. Eight of these occurred in the Utica tornado on April 20th. Missouri and Florida were tied for second, with seven each. Alabama had one.
The year was an average one for tornadoes until August. Then one tropical storm and five tornadoes affected areas from Florida to the mid Atlantic in August and September. Two of the hurricanes were prolific tornado producers. Hurricane Frances produced 117 tornadoes, breaking the old record set by 1967’s Hurricane Beulah. Hurricane Ivan generated 104 reports of tornadoes and Jeanne sixteen. The tropical cyclones led to a record number of tornadoes for any August or September.
The second deadliest tornado of the year struck Blountstown, Florida late on the evening of September 15th is association with the outer bands of landfalling Hurricane Ivan. There were three other killer tornadoes on the 15th in the vicinity of Panama City, including an F2 that killed one person at Hamilton’s Restaurant. Another tornado killed one person at Carnesville, Georgia the following afternoon when a tree fell on a car.
Four killer tornadoes were reported in November, including the final killer of the year, which struck Bynum early on the morning of November 24th.
There were 19 killer tornadoes during the year. Not surprisingly, there were more F3 killer tornadoes than any other category. Those five twisters accounted for 12 of the 35 fatalities. The two F4 killer tornadoes were responsible for four deaths. Nearly half of the killer tornadoes (9) were F0-F2 in intensity. Those nine killer tornadoes resulted in thirteen of the fatalities.
Sixteen of the nineteen killer tornadoes occurred within the boundaries of a valid tornado watch. Another occurred in a valid severe thunderstorm watch. Another occurred as a result of Tropical Storm Bonnie near Rocky Point, N.C. on August 13th when a tornado struck a trailer park, killing three people. A weak tornado killed a man in a corrugated building near Cameron, Texas on June 26th.
Illinois led the list of states with the most tornado fatalities in 2004, with nine. Eight of these occurred in the Utica tornado on April 20th. Missouri and Florida were tied for second, with seven each. Alabama had one.
by James Spann
in Weather History
Monday Morning Quarterback
January 3, 2005, 7:30 am
The morning video update is ready to view:
http://video.wjla.com/jamesspann/spann.wmv
More record highs are likely around here again today, but we watch with interest those temperatures up north, like -26 at Wolf Point, MT and -24 at Williston, ND.
The cold front tries to slip in here late Wednesday, making temperature forecasts a nightmare for Thursday and Friday. Might be a deal with Huntsville stays in the 40s all day, but Clanton and Montgomery reach 70. The GFS statistical output is not able to handle a very shallow layer of cold air.
But, any intrusion of colder air won't be around long in this pattern with the Florida ridge holding tough.
There are signs of a major pattern change around mid-month that would put a polar vortex over eastern Canada, flooding the eastern U.S. with Arctic air. Just way too early to make a call.
Time for more coffee. Gonna spend part of the morning catching up on weather!
***The ABC 33/40 weather site is back up and running; still some issues with the jamesspann.com domain and the blog here. Hopefully all problems will be solved soon!
http://video.wjla.com/jamesspann/spann.wmv
More record highs are likely around here again today, but we watch with interest those temperatures up north, like -26 at Wolf Point, MT and -24 at Williston, ND.
The cold front tries to slip in here late Wednesday, making temperature forecasts a nightmare for Thursday and Friday. Might be a deal with Huntsville stays in the 40s all day, but Clanton and Montgomery reach 70. The GFS statistical output is not able to handle a very shallow layer of cold air.
But, any intrusion of colder air won't be around long in this pattern with the Florida ridge holding tough.
There are signs of a major pattern change around mid-month that would put a polar vortex over eastern Canada, flooding the eastern U.S. with Arctic air. Just way too early to make a call.
Time for more coffee. Gonna spend part of the morning catching up on weather!
***The ABC 33/40 weather site is back up and running; still some issues with the jamesspann.com domain and the blog here. Hopefully all problems will be solved soon!
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