Four years ago today, on Sunday December 17, 2000, I was in Tuscaloosa doing a damage survey and taking still pictures of the damage caused by a a big tornado that roared through the southern part of the city the day before, on December 16, 2000. Wind chill values were hovering in the single digits as I did a live segment on our 5:00 news. I clearly recall interviewing Brian Peters, who at the time was the WCM (warning coordination meteorologist) with the National Weather Service in Birmingham (we hired Brian after he retired from the National Weather Service about a year ago). Brian told us that he rated the tornado an F4 on the Fujita scale based on his observations that day. In all, eleven people were killed with 75 others injured. Nine of the fatalities occurred in mobile homes, one in a vehicle on Alabama Highway 69, and one in a commercial building converted to residential use. The ages of those who died ranged from 16 months to 83 years old. The tornado was on the ground for 18 miles, and for first time in Alabama TV history we showed the tornado live on our tower camera for almost 15 minutes as the damage was being done.
John Oldshue was in our Storm Chaser van in Tuscaloosa, and was directly in the path of the tornado. He had to run for cover into the Hampton Inn at the Cottondale exit with the tornado bearing down on him. The van was heavily damaged, but John was not injured. The video from John and his photographer was riveting.
This year, we can declare the fall tornado season over as cold Polar air will be the rule for the rest of the year. That stable air will prevent any additional severe weather threats this year. We are in full winter mode now, and our next tornado in Alabama should come sometime in 2005.
You can watch the live coverage of the Tuscaloosa tornado on our video page:
http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb
John Oldshue was in our Storm Chaser van in Tuscaloosa, and was directly in the path of the tornado. He had to run for cover into the Hampton Inn at the Cottondale exit with the tornado bearing down on him. The van was heavily damaged, but John was not injured. The video from John and his photographer was riveting.
This year, we can declare the fall tornado season over as cold Polar air will be the rule for the rest of the year. That stable air will prevent any additional severe weather threats this year. We are in full winter mode now, and our next tornado in Alabama should come sometime in 2005.
You can watch the live coverage of the Tuscaloosa tornado on our video page:
http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb
on December 17, 2004, 8:33 am
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