On August 5, 1949. a group of smokejumpers, specially trained fire crews had parachuted into Munn Gulch in the Helena National Forest in Montana. They were fighting a routine fire that suddenly that exploded into an inferno in a phenomenon known as a blowup. With disaster looming, the crew began running from a rapidly advancing wall of flame. It was a race they could not win.

The men were running for their lives. Suddenly, in a move that is controversial to this day, Foreman Wagner Dodge suddenly stopped and lit a fire in the dry grass around him. He was lighting an escape fire. It was a technique that was unknown in those days, but is commonplace today. Today, firefighters know all about “keeping one foot in the black,” meaning that the advancing fire would not be able to jump across an area which had been starved of fuel.

Dodge ordered his men to join them, but by that time, the men were fleeing in all directions They may have thought he was crazy. They may have not been able to hear him over the roar of the approaching flames.

Dodge threw himself down into the ashes of his escape fire. Two rookie firefighters ran alongside Dodge’s escape fire as it ran up the hill toward a ridge of rim rock. It saved their lives. They made their way through a cleft in rim rock and made it safely to the other side when they got into a rock slide.

The fire passed them by. Dodge survived as the fire jumped over him. The other thirteen fire jumpers were killed.
T
he tragedy did have a positive impact on forest firefighting. The incident has been taught to thousands of firefighters as a training course over the years since 1949. Procedures were re-written and safety rules created. Before fighting fires, safety zones must be designated and escape routes chosen in advance. A clear chain of command is required. Actions must be based on predicted fire behavior. Crew safety is the number one consideration in the decision making process.

There were no other fatalities among smokejumpers in the U.S. until 1994’s South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain in Colorado. The South Canyon Fire was replay of Mann Gulch. The fire’s behavior was not monitored and forecasts of increasing winds did not reach firefighters. 14 firefighters were killed when the lessons learned 45 years earlier were not heeded.

The Friday afternoon map discussion video is on the web, and available on iTunes:

http://www.jamesspann.com/

I continue to have a few video production problems - read that as operator error - so the web video map discussion is a trifle late.

Before I get to the weather, I wanted to invite everyone to come out to Kidfest 2006 at the amphitheater in Old Town Helena tomorrow from 10 am to 4 pm. I'll be participating in the dunking booth from 11 am to noon, so it will be a great opportunity for you to dunk a weatherman.

Getting some grief from readers about the title this morning - the heat is hot! I'm fresh out of creativity, so I'll just state that it is darn hot! At least four stations in Alabama hit three digits today, Troy, Gadsden, Montgomery, and Tuscaloosa all hit 100 or higher at 3 pm. So that really confirms that the heat is firmly in place in Alabama.

And unfortunately there is no immediate relief in sight. A large high pressure system both at the surface and aloft will maintain a firm grip on our weather pattern through the end of next week. So the pattern of isolated showers or thunderstorms with very hot afternoons will continue with us at least through the latter part of next week.

By Friday, a week from today, the GFS continued to forecast an upper level trough over the eastern third of the Nation. That should bring us some relief from the heat though it seems the GFS was not forecasting any significant precipitation. I'd like to think that with the heat and humidity that even a weak front would help to kick of some thunderstorms with a bit more coverage than we've seen the last few days or I expect to see over the next several days.

Bottom line is to stay as cool as you can. Please, if you do have to be outside, take the heat seriously and don't over exert. Drink lots of water, too.

Tropics are fairly quiet as Tropical Storm Chris has been downgraded to a depression. The track of Chris is still expected to take it along the northern coast of Cuba and into the Gulf by Monday. Some intensification is likely to occur when the system gets into the Gulf but probably not until then. Even though the northeast shear may lessen soon, part of the circulation will be over land so I just would not expect to see Chris regain tropical storm status until it reaches the Gulf. We'll be watching whatever Chris does.

I'll have another web video map discussion tomorrow morning by 8 am or so.

-Brian-

To use an old West Alabama cliche, it is hot as a firecracker out there this afternoon. Meanwhile, a cold front was trying to cross the Tennessee-Alabama border.

Thunderstorms skirted the border area this afternoon. That, plus an outflow boundary from the storms, caused some wind damage. These reports:

* Trees and power lines down across various portions of Madison County including the Huntsville area.

* Trees and power lines down in the Underwood-Petersville area of Lauderdale County.

* A few trees down in Florence.

Much drier air is pouring into the Tennessee Valley and extreme North Alabama in connection with that front. In Albertville, the dew point was already down to 55 at 4 o'clock and the temperature was 97.

Huntsville reports 86 degrees with NW wind averaging 25 mph with gusts to 35. Meridianville has NW gusts to 38 mph.

Most of the thunderstorms at 4:15 were just over the border in South Tennessee, but they were skirting the north edge of Alabama. There were a few strong ones over Jackson County in extreme NE Alabama.

Just out for a walk and it feels like standing in front of an oven in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day. Some 4:00 temperatures:

97 in Birmingham
98 in Anniston
99 at Tuscaloosa
100 in Gadsden and Montgomery
101 in Troy
90 in Tupelo, Miss., with NW wind gusting to 30

TALK ABOUT A BREAK IN THE HEAT
It was close to 100 in the Boston area yesterday. This afternoon it was only 74. In New York City, it was in the upper 80s. They have had 101 to 103 for several days in a row.

To our west, it was 106 in Wichita Falls, Tex., at 4:00 p.m.

Strong thunderstorms were clustered over West and Central Tennessee this afternoon. They were moving slowly toward the SE.

The Storm Prediction Center is concerned that a few of these could become severe. Much of North Georgia is included in a slight risk area for severe thunderstorms this afternoon. That risk area extends into the extreme east edge of East Central Alabama.

No thunderstorms in Alabama at 1:15, however some of the Tennessee storms will be coming by the welcome centers later. Others will form in the big ocean of high humidity that blankets Alabama.

A guy like me, one of the hottest natured guys in the Northern Hemisphere, can step outside at this time of day and my shirt almost instantly sticks to my back. Sweatspiration is what we called it in Havana Junction.

Doesn't happen in October...

The Friday morning map discussion video is on the web, and available on iTunes:

http://www.jamesspann.com/

A reminder the map discussion videos are now being produced in the QuickTime format. If you watch the video in IE (Internet Explorer), you will have to wait a minute or two until the entire file loads before you watch it. If you use Firefox or any other browser, it will begin playing immediately as it loads. Just another reason to use Firefox and dump IE!

Well, I think I've done it - produced a map discussion video on my MacBook Pro. Not completely sure yet, since it is still exporting the movie. Experimented with it last night and I think I have the general points down to produce a video. We'll know soon.

Around Central Alabama it looks like we will remain in a hot weather pattern for the next several days. The GFS this morning is advertising some relief next week, so it will be interesting to see how that shapes up with future model runs.

Tropically, Chris has been downgraded to a tropical depression. The low level center is well displaced away from the majority of the deep convection. A little convection was evident this morning on the satellite imagery, but not enough to really bring Chris back. The current forecast track takes the storm pretty much westward for the next several days moving along the island of Cuba. I'm not sure about their rainfall situation, but much of the island will probably see rain over the next several days along with windy conditions. I'm sure we'll be watching Chris, too, as he travels toward the Gulf. The good news for the northern Gulf area is the large high pressure at the surface and aloft which should keep Chris moving westward.

Not too much to discuss here in Central Alabama. A weak and dissipating cold front will be moving into the area today with some risk of severe storms mainly from Georgia east-northeast across the Carolinas. This comes from a combination of factors including the frontal boundary, a sea breeze boundary, hot surface conditions, and plenty of low level moisture.

With the upper level high strengthening again over the weekend, there is no immediate change to our weather with isolated storms mainly during the afternoon hours and high temperatures in the mid 90s.

Interesting to note that the GFS model output shows a drop in temperature for Central Alabama but I just don't see highs dropping off to 90 degrees. Perhaps we might see a few more clouds but there is no air mass change and I just don't expect a few clouds to keep afternoon temperatures that much cooler. But the weather can always humble you, so we'll just have to see.

I should have another video ready this afternoon before 5 pm. It looks like I was able to produce a movie so I'll spend some time trying to tweak my abilities and speed up things with the new system. Stay cool out there.

-Brian-

The "urban heat island" has been working its magic for the last few mornings keeping the Birmingham Metro Area about 5-10 degrees warmer in the early part of the day! Early on this morning, temperatures are a touch lower than yesterday; instead of 81, it's 78...big deal, right? It's still too warm for this time of day!

The "normal" temperature range for today is 91 for a high, 70 for a low. We'll be well above that seeing as the thermometer is just not able to drop much under 80 degrees! By mid-morning and through lunchtime, the weather looks sultry, steamy, hot, and anything else you can add to the list with those temperatures climbing into the lower & middle 90s, but this afternoon, a weak cool front will try to slide into the Tennessee Valley of North Alabama and become the spark for a few more scattered thunderstorms. Extreme eastern Alabama (Cleburne, Randolph, and Chambers Counties) have been outline with a *Slight* risk of severe weather from the Storm Prediction Center today, and that means that a few storms may get a little bit strong this afternoon with heavy downpours, frequent lightning, and the potential for some hail and strong, gusty winds within a few storms. This should not be a widespread event though.

Needless to say, the weather is hot, and there's just not much relief in sight. This weak front plus a weak upper air feature coming in from the southeast will keep a few scattered storms around this weekend, and that might put a little damper on the heat at times, but it's the Dog Days of Summer right now, and it's just going to keep feeling like it!

TROPICAL STORM CHRIS

This is one storm that just doesn't know the meaning of the word "quit!" He's been back and forth between depression and storm status, and at the latest advisory (2 AM AST) had winds just barely over tropical storm force. Chris is not expected to do a whole lot over the next few days, and he probably won't grow much as he gets into the south-central Gulf early next week!