A Busy Night In The Office

As I write this we are in the midst of a busy night in the weather office. Discounting Hurricane Ivan back in September, this is really our first significant severe weather event here since November 10, 2002 when about a dozen tornadoes touched down across north Alabama. We spent about an hour on TV yesterday afternoon when Tuscaloosa and Bibb counties were placed under a tornado warning due to a rotating thunderstorm that moved from near Duncanville to a point just north of Centreville and on to near Brierfield. One viewer sent in some great pictures of a rotating wall cloud with that storm, but we could not find any reports of damage along the path. It passed mostly through rural areas.

I am trying to get all the weather discussions written and the morning radio feed “in the can” so we will be ready for more long form coverage during the late night and overnight hours. This is not exactly your classic setup for severe thunderstorms, but a number of parameters are in place, and there is always concern when severe storms roll through here in the pre-dawn hours. Despite our constant preaching, a large majority of Alabamians do not have a NOAA Weather Radio receiver in their home, so getting the word out at 3:00 a.m. can be very difficult.

One these storms get out of here I am really looking forward to our short term cold snap for Thanksgiving. I get the idea we will hold in the 40s much of the day tomorrow with a very cool northwest breeze. And, by Friday morning most of you shoppers will have to scrape frost of the windshield as you hit the stores for the big bargains. But, enjoy the day Friday since the latest data suggests some more rain could arrive here on Saturday. No boredom in the weather office these days!