The final speaker today is Jon Davies of Kansas... another excellent meteorologist and one of the best in the business.
He is discussing an outbreak in May 2004... showing lots of model data and upper air soundings.
Some tornadoes occur in environments that come up short on CAPE, Helicity, etc...
Jon suggests a new parameter: "Enhanced Stetching Potential"... or ESP
Calculated using CAPE and 0-2 km lapse rate
ESP would false alarm a good deal, but using in conjunction with an analysis of boundaries and focus areas it would be helpful.
Battery is running down... going to pack up and get ready for the Little Dooey BBQ Bash. Will get some pictures of J.B. in action over there this evening...
Last Speaker
March 5, 2005, 5:53 pmFinal Session
March 5, 2005, 5:25 pm
Three great speakers to wrap it up:
Alan Gerard of the Jackson NWS office now doing a presentation on the November 23, 2004 Mississippi tornado outbreak.
These storms moved into Alabama during the early morning hours of November 24 producing extensive damage.
A classic coupled jet structure led to big upper diffluence over the deep south during this outbreak. CAPE was at 1600 at middle of the day prior to the event, directional veering was marginal. Wind fields increased by 00Z and some backing was seen in the low levels. SRH was up to 200.
Three supercells accounted for 13 of the 17 tornadoes reported.
2 F3s were produced
One long track supercell produced 8 tornadoes. One person was killed... the tornadoes missed several large population centers.
NWS JAN suggests low fatality and injury count thanks to good warnings. Plenty of advance notice in discussions days before the event. Average tornado lead time was 14 minutes.
108 warnings issued during the event.
Media praised instant messaging.
Dr. Chuck Doswell is up now... discussing Storm Chasing: Past, Present, and Future.
He is about to show 30 minutes of tornado chasing highlights beginning in 1989. Very very good stuff. Lots of video from the May 1999 OKC outbreak.
His main chase partner is Al Moller, one of the weather greats out in Texas. I enjoyed getting to meet him back in the mid 1980s when I was the lead meteorologist at KDFW, Channel 4, in Dallas. Al and Chuck are two real severe weather cowboys and great chasers.
Early pioneers in storm chasing: David Hoadley and Roger Jensen
Scientific chasing began in the 1960s with Neil Ward.
The Tornado Intercept Project in 1972 was one of the first organized scientific efforts. Lots of mistakes, including core punching. Chuck's first tornado was April 30, 1972. The concept of supercells and wall clouds was introduced. The science was crude, but great ideas by Ted Fujita and Fred Bates.
In the 1980s, the concept of chasing really started to grow. Chasers started to coverge, and some started selling videos.
In the 90s, the movie Twister really picked up interest. Chase tour companies... University chase teams began, the VORTEX project got underway, and chasing was seen by some as an "extreme sport".
Chasing also started in Europe and Australia.
Today, chasers include Yahoos, the media, and newbies.
Some chase caravans are on limited roads... 50 plus chaser vehicles.
THE FUTURE:
More people will chase globally
More commercialism and hype
Irresponsibility will lead to injuries and fatalities
Regulated chasing?
One more speaker ahead...
Alan Gerard of the Jackson NWS office now doing a presentation on the November 23, 2004 Mississippi tornado outbreak.
These storms moved into Alabama during the early morning hours of November 24 producing extensive damage.
A classic coupled jet structure led to big upper diffluence over the deep south during this outbreak. CAPE was at 1600 at middle of the day prior to the event, directional veering was marginal. Wind fields increased by 00Z and some backing was seen in the low levels. SRH was up to 200.
Three supercells accounted for 13 of the 17 tornadoes reported.
2 F3s were produced
One long track supercell produced 8 tornadoes. One person was killed... the tornadoes missed several large population centers.
NWS JAN suggests low fatality and injury count thanks to good warnings. Plenty of advance notice in discussions days before the event. Average tornado lead time was 14 minutes.
108 warnings issued during the event.
Media praised instant messaging.
Dr. Chuck Doswell is up now... discussing Storm Chasing: Past, Present, and Future.
He is about to show 30 minutes of tornado chasing highlights beginning in 1989. Very very good stuff. Lots of video from the May 1999 OKC outbreak.
His main chase partner is Al Moller, one of the weather greats out in Texas. I enjoyed getting to meet him back in the mid 1980s when I was the lead meteorologist at KDFW, Channel 4, in Dallas. Al and Chuck are two real severe weather cowboys and great chasers.
Early pioneers in storm chasing: David Hoadley and Roger Jensen
Scientific chasing began in the 1960s with Neil Ward.
The Tornado Intercept Project in 1972 was one of the first organized scientific efforts. Lots of mistakes, including core punching. Chuck's first tornado was April 30, 1972. The concept of supercells and wall clouds was introduced. The science was crude, but great ideas by Ted Fujita and Fred Bates.
In the 1980s, the concept of chasing really started to grow. Chasers started to coverge, and some started selling videos.
In the 90s, the movie Twister really picked up interest. Chase tour companies... University chase teams began, the VORTEX project got underway, and chasing was seen by some as an "extreme sport".
Chasing also started in Europe and Australia.
Today, chasers include Yahoos, the media, and newbies.
Some chase caravans are on limited roads... 50 plus chaser vehicles.
THE FUTURE:
More people will chase globally
More commercialism and hype
Irresponsibility will lead to injuries and fatalities
Regulated chasing?
One more speaker ahead...
by James Spann
in General Thoughts
Murray Speaks
March 5, 2005, 2:55 pm
Bill Murray is speaking now. Somehow he managed to get the afternoon forecast package done today as well. Bill is sharing his story of seeing 8 tornadoes this past spring, including seven in one day. This was part of our Storm Alert 2005 tour.
You can read his diary of the event here:
http://www.jamesspann.com/0529tornadoes_notes.html
More shortly...
You can read his diary of the event here:
http://www.jamesspann.com/0529tornadoes_notes.html
More shortly...
by James Spann
in General Thoughts
Afternoon Session Underway
March 5, 2005, 2:41 pm
After a lunch break, back to business.
A group from the Memphis NWS office is now sharing a presentation on a severe weather event across the mid-south on October 22, 2004.
The define the storms as "mini-supercells" over northwest Mississippi and southwest Tennessee that day.
Summary:
Be aware of local environment to determine convective mode
Watch for changing environments
Existing low level boundaries are very important
Lower top storms can indeed produce tornadoes.
One of the mini-supercells had only one lightning strike during its life.
NEXT up is a group with a presentation on the June 12 2004 Mulvane, Kansas tornado.
Authors are from the University of Oklahoma and University of Louisiana at Monroe.
Big outbreak on June 12, 2004... 18 tornadoes, 245 hail reports, 255 reports of wind damage.
Only one of the 18 tornadoes was F2 or higher, the one being discussed.
Mulvane tornado rated F3. The RFD produced sustained winds of 57 mph.
Supercell interaction with surface features enhanced localized strong tornado potenial.
Mobile surface observations allowed to investivage thermodynamic and kemematic properties of the "warm" RFD.
One of the most photogenic tornadoes seen in 2004 across the plains.
Our own BILL MURRAY is up now... More to tollow...
A group from the Memphis NWS office is now sharing a presentation on a severe weather event across the mid-south on October 22, 2004.
The define the storms as "mini-supercells" over northwest Mississippi and southwest Tennessee that day.
Summary:
Be aware of local environment to determine convective mode
Watch for changing environments
Existing low level boundaries are very important
Lower top storms can indeed produce tornadoes.
One of the mini-supercells had only one lightning strike during its life.
NEXT up is a group with a presentation on the June 12 2004 Mulvane, Kansas tornado.
Authors are from the University of Oklahoma and University of Louisiana at Monroe.
Big outbreak on June 12, 2004... 18 tornadoes, 245 hail reports, 255 reports of wind damage.
Only one of the 18 tornadoes was F2 or higher, the one being discussed.
Mulvane tornado rated F3. The RFD produced sustained winds of 57 mph.
Supercell interaction with surface features enhanced localized strong tornado potenial.
Mobile surface observations allowed to investivage thermodynamic and kemematic properties of the "warm" RFD.
One of the most photogenic tornadoes seen in 2004 across the plains.
Our own BILL MURRAY is up now... More to tollow...
by James Spann
in General Thoughts
More From Starkville
March 5, 2005, 12:57 pm
Dr. Richard Knabb from the National Hurricane Center is going through the wild 2004 tropical season now.
Here is the season summary:
FIFTEEN TROPICAL OR SUBTROPICAL STORMS FORMED IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC DURING THE 2004 HURRICANE SEASON. NINE OF THESE BECAME HURRICANES ...WITH SIX BECOMING MAJOR HURRICANES...CATEGORY THREE OR HIGHER ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. THE STRONGEST HURRICANE WAS IVAN...WHICH REACHED CATEGORY FIVE STATUS. THERE WAS ONE ADDITIONAL TROPICAL DEPRESSION.
SIX HURRICANES...ALEX...CHARLEY...FRANCES...GASTON...IVAN...AND
JEANNE...STRUCK THE UNITED STATES IN 2004. THREE TROPICAL STORMS ALSO HIT THE UNITED STATES. CHARLEY ALSO HIT WESTERN CUBA...WHILE FRANCES AND JEANNE ALSO HIT THE BAHAMAS...ALL AS MAJOR HURRICANES.
IVAN HIT GRENADA AND HAD SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON JAMAICA...GRAND CAYMAN...AND WESTERN CUBA. JEANNE ALSO HIT THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AS A HURRICANE AND PUERTO RICO AS A STRONG TROPICAL STORM.
ATLANTIC TROPICAL CYCLONES WERE DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR MORE THAN 3000 DEATHS IN 2004. THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE WERE IN HAITI DUE TO RAINS FROM JEANNE. UNADJUSTED PROPERTY DAMAGE IN THE U.S. IS ESTIMATED AT MORE THAN 42 BILLION DOLLARS...MAKING 2004 THE COSTLIEST HURRICANE SEASON ON RECORD. CHARLEY IS THE SECOND COSTLIEST U. S. HURRICANE ON RECORD...WHILE IVAN IS THE THIRD COSTLIEST.
Interesting image here of our friends Josh Johnson and John Walker at Port Charlotte during the passage of the eye of Charley:
http://www.ldct.org/eye1.JPG
GFS track during Ivan had a serious right bias in the early period of Ivan. Showing the system moving east of Miami on the 09/07/2004 runs! Within three days of landfall models were back on track with excellent agreement.
Jeanne and Frances made landfall at almost the exact same point on the Florida east coast.
A few days before landfall, GFS took Jeanne out to sea, while the U.K. Met took Jeanne to the Florida east coast (the correct solution). Other models were all over the place. The Florida State Superensembe was excellent.
The forecast error in the track placement was much smaller than the 10 yaer average. Errors have been cut in half over the past 15 years.
The official track guidance from NHC beat all models.
GFDL has been the top model for two years in a row in track placement. UK Met was next, followed by the NOGAPS.
FSU Superensemble very, very good this past year.
Some congressional helps for this year:
*Equip 10 Hurricane Hunters with SFMR... stepped frequency microwave radiometer.
*Deploys 7 moored buoys NHC designates
*Additional research by NOAA
Joint Hurricane Test Bed (JHT)... developing new techniques. This has resulted in model improvments to GFDL and SHIPS intensity model. 12 projects are underway now.
NHC trying to improve warning products... they feel some of them are not adequate now.
The watch warning graphic will look different for the 2005 season.
New wind speed probabilities are scheduled for 2005, as opposed to probability of the center being near you. The chance of wind speeds at any one point have more direct meaning and impact.
JHT providing a new MCP model... Monte Carlo Probability... which will be used to compute wind speed probabilities.
CLIPER (climatology and presistence) model will be used to create perturbations in wind radii along each track.
Gridded, graphical, and text products will be produced.
New graphics will be up on the TPC website this year... including animated wind speed probabilities.
WFOs will get new gridded products.
Excellent presentation... now time for lunch!
Here is the season summary:
FIFTEEN TROPICAL OR SUBTROPICAL STORMS FORMED IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC DURING THE 2004 HURRICANE SEASON. NINE OF THESE BECAME HURRICANES ...WITH SIX BECOMING MAJOR HURRICANES...CATEGORY THREE OR HIGHER ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. THE STRONGEST HURRICANE WAS IVAN...WHICH REACHED CATEGORY FIVE STATUS. THERE WAS ONE ADDITIONAL TROPICAL DEPRESSION.
SIX HURRICANES...ALEX...CHARLEY...FRANCES...GASTON...IVAN...AND
JEANNE...STRUCK THE UNITED STATES IN 2004. THREE TROPICAL STORMS ALSO HIT THE UNITED STATES. CHARLEY ALSO HIT WESTERN CUBA...WHILE FRANCES AND JEANNE ALSO HIT THE BAHAMAS...ALL AS MAJOR HURRICANES.
IVAN HIT GRENADA AND HAD SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON JAMAICA...GRAND CAYMAN...AND WESTERN CUBA. JEANNE ALSO HIT THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AS A HURRICANE AND PUERTO RICO AS A STRONG TROPICAL STORM.
ATLANTIC TROPICAL CYCLONES WERE DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR MORE THAN 3000 DEATHS IN 2004. THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE WERE IN HAITI DUE TO RAINS FROM JEANNE. UNADJUSTED PROPERTY DAMAGE IN THE U.S. IS ESTIMATED AT MORE THAN 42 BILLION DOLLARS...MAKING 2004 THE COSTLIEST HURRICANE SEASON ON RECORD. CHARLEY IS THE SECOND COSTLIEST U. S. HURRICANE ON RECORD...WHILE IVAN IS THE THIRD COSTLIEST.
Interesting image here of our friends Josh Johnson and John Walker at Port Charlotte during the passage of the eye of Charley:
http://www.ldct.org/eye1.JPG
GFS track during Ivan had a serious right bias in the early period of Ivan. Showing the system moving east of Miami on the 09/07/2004 runs! Within three days of landfall models were back on track with excellent agreement.
Jeanne and Frances made landfall at almost the exact same point on the Florida east coast.
A few days before landfall, GFS took Jeanne out to sea, while the U.K. Met took Jeanne to the Florida east coast (the correct solution). Other models were all over the place. The Florida State Superensembe was excellent.
The forecast error in the track placement was much smaller than the 10 yaer average. Errors have been cut in half over the past 15 years.
The official track guidance from NHC beat all models.
GFDL has been the top model for two years in a row in track placement. UK Met was next, followed by the NOGAPS.
FSU Superensemble very, very good this past year.
Some congressional helps for this year:
*Equip 10 Hurricane Hunters with SFMR... stepped frequency microwave radiometer.
*Deploys 7 moored buoys NHC designates
*Additional research by NOAA
Joint Hurricane Test Bed (JHT)... developing new techniques. This has resulted in model improvments to GFDL and SHIPS intensity model. 12 projects are underway now.
NHC trying to improve warning products... they feel some of them are not adequate now.
The watch warning graphic will look different for the 2005 season.
New wind speed probabilities are scheduled for 2005, as opposed to probability of the center being near you. The chance of wind speeds at any one point have more direct meaning and impact.
JHT providing a new MCP model... Monte Carlo Probability... which will be used to compute wind speed probabilities.
CLIPER (climatology and presistence) model will be used to create perturbations in wind radii along each track.
Gridded, graphical, and text products will be produced.
New graphics will be up on the TPC website this year... including animated wind speed probabilities.
WFOs will get new gridded products.
Excellent presentation... now time for lunch!
by James Spann
in General Thoughts
Topic Still Tropical
March 5, 2005, 11:11 am
I wonder if we should put this on hold and go over to the HUMP and watch the Alabama/Mississippi State basketball game which is coming up shortly. I had a chance to speak briefly with Winsome Frazier last night at the hotel... Frazier is a MSU player who is getting back in action after breaking his foot early in the season.
Next speaker here at MSU is Stephen Flood of NCEP up in Washington, DC... doing a paper on the role of TS Gaston producing a 100 year flood in Richmond in August 2004.
What a great name for somone doing a presentation on a flood event!
48 hour ETA did a horrible job with the QPF field, but it started to latch on to event 12 to 36 hours prior to the flood. Still nothing in the short term on the ETA to suggest a record rain event (15 inches or so).
ETA told us where it would rain, but not how much. ETA was too far north with maximum amounts.
Very sharp gradient on the NW edge of the precipitation shield. Little spot on NEXRAD storm total showed over 15 inches just north of Richmond. Washington DC only had light amounts.
Mid and upper level dry air was very well defined in this flood event. CAPE was 2127, relatively high for an LTC. CAPE peaked at 2957 during the event.
Dr. Doswell is telling everyone to quit relying on models and look more at the data as any event begins to unfold. A big amen from J.B. on that comment.
NEXT PRESENTATION
A team from the University of Louisiana at Monroe now will do an analysis of the coast transition from the landfalls of hurricanes Frances and Ivan..
J.B. is up to a total of 12 doughnuts since yesterday.
The ULM crew set up 40 foot tall equipment towers for Ivan at Dauphin Island and Mon Louis, a community on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay.
Their towers were on the western, weak, side of Ivan during landfall.
Both towers had data loggers with solar power.
Highest gust at Dauphin Island was 26 m/s.... not even hurricane force. Reduced wind due to trees north of the tower location. 952 mb was the lowest pressure.
Highest wind at Mon Louis was 100 m/s.
More ahead...
Next speaker here at MSU is Stephen Flood of NCEP up in Washington, DC... doing a paper on the role of TS Gaston producing a 100 year flood in Richmond in August 2004.
What a great name for somone doing a presentation on a flood event!
48 hour ETA did a horrible job with the QPF field, but it started to latch on to event 12 to 36 hours prior to the flood. Still nothing in the short term on the ETA to suggest a record rain event (15 inches or so).
ETA told us where it would rain, but not how much. ETA was too far north with maximum amounts.
Very sharp gradient on the NW edge of the precipitation shield. Little spot on NEXRAD storm total showed over 15 inches just north of Richmond. Washington DC only had light amounts.
Mid and upper level dry air was very well defined in this flood event. CAPE was 2127, relatively high for an LTC. CAPE peaked at 2957 during the event.
Dr. Doswell is telling everyone to quit relying on models and look more at the data as any event begins to unfold. A big amen from J.B. on that comment.
NEXT PRESENTATION
A team from the University of Louisiana at Monroe now will do an analysis of the coast transition from the landfalls of hurricanes Frances and Ivan..
J.B. is up to a total of 12 doughnuts since yesterday.
The ULM crew set up 40 foot tall equipment towers for Ivan at Dauphin Island and Mon Louis, a community on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay.
Their towers were on the western, weak, side of Ivan during landfall.
Both towers had data loggers with solar power.
Highest gust at Dauphin Island was 26 m/s.... not even hurricane force. Reduced wind due to trees north of the tower location. 952 mb was the lowest pressure.
Highest wind at Mon Louis was 100 m/s.
More ahead...
by James Spann
in General Thoughts
More Ivan...
March 5, 2005, 10:01 am
Justin Lane of the NWS in Greer, SC now presenting on tornado outbreaks associated with landfalling tropical cyclones (LTCs)
Majority of tornado outbreaks in LTCs occur with mid-level drying. Best helicity n the NE quadrant. There is also a marked increase in vertical shear over land.
Highest tornado probability about 240 km northeast of center of the storm.
Ivan produced 114 tornadoes in two days across the SE US... including 25 in Georgia. All in the right front quadrant. Second largest STC outbreak on record. Almost all tornadoes to the east and northeast of Alabama.
Largest tornado outbreak in GA recorded history.
Top four LTC tornado producers:
1. Allen
2. Andrew
3. Beryl
4. Beulah
Parameters for tornadoes in an LTC situation:
CAPE leaning toward moderate instability (850-900 CAPE)
Mid level dry air
High SRH (250-350)
Low LCL heights
Weak baroclinic bountary
Mid level dry air means: stepper mid-level lapse rates. Colder FFD/enhanced surface baroclinity... meaning low level mesocyclogenesis.
Warm RFD processes (related to low LCL heights) may be a necessary condition for tornadogenesis.
After watching this presentation I realize how fortunate we were not to have tornadoes with Ivan in Alabama. Guess we really have to look out a hurricane with landfall over Louisiana or Mississippi!
Good to see JOHN WALKER here along with many others from the University of South Alabama.
More to come...
Majority of tornado outbreaks in LTCs occur with mid-level drying. Best helicity n the NE quadrant. There is also a marked increase in vertical shear over land.
Highest tornado probability about 240 km northeast of center of the storm.
Ivan produced 114 tornadoes in two days across the SE US... including 25 in Georgia. All in the right front quadrant. Second largest STC outbreak on record. Almost all tornadoes to the east and northeast of Alabama.
Largest tornado outbreak in GA recorded history.
Top four LTC tornado producers:
1. Allen
2. Andrew
3. Beryl
4. Beulah
Parameters for tornadoes in an LTC situation:
CAPE leaning toward moderate instability (850-900 CAPE)
Mid level dry air
High SRH (250-350)
Low LCL heights
Weak baroclinic bountary
Mid level dry air means: stepper mid-level lapse rates. Colder FFD/enhanced surface baroclinity... meaning low level mesocyclogenesis.
Warm RFD processes (related to low LCL heights) may be a necessary condition for tornadogenesis.
After watching this presentation I realize how fortunate we were not to have tornadoes with Ivan in Alabama. Guess we really have to look out a hurricane with landfall over Louisiana or Mississippi!
Good to see JOHN WALKER here along with many others from the University of South Alabama.
More to come...
by James Spann
in General Thoughts
In The Saddle In Starkville
March 5, 2005, 9:39 am
Good morning from the campus of Mississippi State University and the Southeast Severe Storm Symposium.
What a night last night... we gathered up a group and went to Pap's Place in Ackerman, about 20 miles southwest of Starkville, for one of the greatest meals in the history of the symposium. It was great being with weather legends like J.B. Elliott and Chuck Doswell. J.B. continues to eat at a record pace this weekend. Ribs, catfish, chicken, veggies, and much more. I mean this guy is an eating machine. I won't even get into the dessert plates. If you are ever in Choctaw county Mississippi you need to hit this place. It was a real hit.
Very nice crowd here today... looks like about 200 from over 10 states. A nice collection of people from TV, the NWS, the academic world, EMA, and students from a number of colleges in addition to Mississippi State.
All symposium notes will be short, and typed during ongoing presentations.
First speakers this morning are from the National Weather Service in Birmingham... Kristin Hurley and Michael Scotten are now doing a presentation on Hurricane Ivan.
Interesting facts on Ivan:
A buoy 65 miles south of Dauphin Island recorded a wave height of 52 feet!
Birmingham's pressure dropped to 987 mb during the storm, our lowest pressure on record.
NWS BMX created a Hurricane Operations Coordinator (HOC) during the event; they were assigned to coordinate with the media and EMA officials.
NWS created an inland local hurricane statement (HLS) during the event. These are usually used only at coastal NWS offices during tropical systems.
NWS BMX gave a live radio interview to the South African radio network. At least 15 news conferences were given to the media.
Weather balloons were released at 6 hour intervals during the event..
Staffing at BMX during Ivan: three forecasters, one HMT/Intern, one ELTECH, and one ITO during an 8 hour shift.
NWS BMX used Yahoo instant messenger to communicate with the media. Worked VERY well for us and them. Each NWS workstation has Yahoo IM installed.
After Ivan five employees from WFO BMX had trees down on their property.
NO fatalities from Ivan in Birmingham's county warning area.
Krissy was working at the NWS Southern Region HQ during Ivan and is sharing some of the operational issues out at Fort Worth.
Southern Region initiated a plan to balance internet traffic during Ivan... so the maximum bandwidth would be allocated to the SRH servers.
SRH had 20 million visitors to their web sites during Ivan. 4.1 trillion bytes of information were served.
WFO Mobile suffered only minor damage.
Loss of life and injuries were minimized during Ivan thanks to combined work of NWS, media, EMAs, Red Cross, local governments, etc.
More to follow...
What a night last night... we gathered up a group and went to Pap's Place in Ackerman, about 20 miles southwest of Starkville, for one of the greatest meals in the history of the symposium. It was great being with weather legends like J.B. Elliott and Chuck Doswell. J.B. continues to eat at a record pace this weekend. Ribs, catfish, chicken, veggies, and much more. I mean this guy is an eating machine. I won't even get into the dessert plates. If you are ever in Choctaw county Mississippi you need to hit this place. It was a real hit.
Very nice crowd here today... looks like about 200 from over 10 states. A nice collection of people from TV, the NWS, the academic world, EMA, and students from a number of colleges in addition to Mississippi State.
All symposium notes will be short, and typed during ongoing presentations.
First speakers this morning are from the National Weather Service in Birmingham... Kristin Hurley and Michael Scotten are now doing a presentation on Hurricane Ivan.
Interesting facts on Ivan:
A buoy 65 miles south of Dauphin Island recorded a wave height of 52 feet!
Birmingham's pressure dropped to 987 mb during the storm, our lowest pressure on record.
NWS BMX created a Hurricane Operations Coordinator (HOC) during the event; they were assigned to coordinate with the media and EMA officials.
NWS created an inland local hurricane statement (HLS) during the event. These are usually used only at coastal NWS offices during tropical systems.
NWS BMX gave a live radio interview to the South African radio network. At least 15 news conferences were given to the media.
Weather balloons were released at 6 hour intervals during the event..
Staffing at BMX during Ivan: three forecasters, one HMT/Intern, one ELTECH, and one ITO during an 8 hour shift.
NWS BMX used Yahoo instant messenger to communicate with the media. Worked VERY well for us and them. Each NWS workstation has Yahoo IM installed.
After Ivan five employees from WFO BMX had trees down on their property.
NO fatalities from Ivan in Birmingham's county warning area.
Krissy was working at the NWS Southern Region HQ during Ivan and is sharing some of the operational issues out at Fort Worth.
Southern Region initiated a plan to balance internet traffic during Ivan... so the maximum bandwidth would be allocated to the SRH servers.
SRH had 20 million visitors to their web sites during Ivan. 4.1 trillion bytes of information were served.
WFO Mobile suffered only minor damage.
Loss of life and injuries were minimized during Ivan thanks to combined work of NWS, media, EMAs, Red Cross, local governments, etc.
More to follow...
Page :
1