Good News For Birmingham Westward

March 27, 2005, 5:17 pm
Posted by J.B. Elliott in Severe Weather
Rating: 0/5   Votes : 0
The Tornado Watch expired at 5 pm, and the strong thunderstorm activity has moved over into East Alabama.

A new Tornado Watch is in effect but it is for the east side of the state. Jefferson/Tuscaloosa County not included. It actually includes Blount, Etowah, Talladega and St. Clair eastward although most of the stronger storms are now east of those areas also.

Hail the size of golf balls late this afternoon in the Leesburg-Sand Rock area of Cherokee County in NE Alabama. Quarter-size hail was covering the ground at Leesburg.

Don Strength, EMA Director for Roanoke reported street flooding late this afternoon with several roads closed in the Roanoke area.

WSFA-TV , Montgomery reports 4.54 inches of rain siince midnight. WAKA-TV reports 5.80 inches in the last 36 hours. Lots of flooding in these areas since late Saturday.

Still no confirmed reports of significant damage from a tornado reported on the ground in the Montgomery area.

Again, the long "under-the-gun" threat of severe weather is over for much of Alabama. Only the east side of the state has to stay alert.
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Posted by Carol in Etowah County  
on March 27, 2005, 5:25 pm
J.B., will you guys be watching the weather for those of us still in the tornado watch or until we are cleared? Also, will you let us know when Etowah County is cleared from this new watch?

Thanks,
Carol

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Posted by Carol in Etowah County  
on March 27, 2005, 5:28 pm
The only storms I see on my radar are even west of Birmingham. The other storms have already passed and are east of Etowah County. So, why were we included in the new watch?

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Posted by  
on March 27, 2005, 5:29 pm
Why in the world would we be in a tornado watch until midnight in St. Clair Co., unreal. I think I'm going to bed early tonight.

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Posted by Josh  
on March 27, 2005, 5:30 pm
The Tornado Watch for east Alabama is in effect until 12:00 AM or midnight.

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Posted by  
on March 27, 2005, 5:35 pm
Carol and Susan...
Yes, we will follow the thunderstorms all the way to the Georgia border and post updates. A new line of showers and some thunderstorms extends from near Birmingham north to Athens, but not near as strong as earlier storms.

St. Clair and Etowah should be cleared from the new Tornado Watch early in the game...in fact...to me...it appears very little danger in St. Clair for the remainder of this evening,

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Posted by Josh  
on March 27, 2005, 5:36 pm
At 5:15 the wind started blowing hard all of the sudden. I think it is the cold front entering here in western Alabama.

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Posted by  
on March 27, 2005, 5:39 pm
Thanks, J.B., I'm about to go and watch the special.

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Posted by  
on March 27, 2005, 5:41 pm
Over the past two days I've been lurking and reading people's comments. Some were very supportive of the weather team and their caution. Others seemed to be angry that nothing happened, that they were "crying wolf."

This baffles me. You mean that these people are angry because they *didn't* get severe weather? I would much rather be on alert and have nothing happen then to have a tornado coming through my area!

I appreciate all of the hard work everyone has put in at the weather center. Thanks to all you guys and keep up the stellar work! :)

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Posted by Josh  
on March 27, 2005, 5:46 pm
I'm looking at the Columbus Radar loop and I spotted what I was talking about at 5:15 when the wind started gusting.

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Posted by   www
on March 27, 2005, 5:57 pm
Maria I hope you have been reading my posts throughout the weekend. I have not been on anyone at 33/40, more NWS wondering what parameters they missed to issue PDS and nothing happen. Trust me I don't want any severe weather at all. My point is 2 times this week were alerted by our great weather team here on info from NWS about a large severe weather outbreak, both coming in 2 sessions in Central Alabama. Both times they were basically non-events other than some hail reports today. My fear is people unlike you and who only watch the news and see reporters everywhere waiting on the weather and dasy prior being warned about hours of severe weather and nothing happening are conditioning themselves to say nothing will happen even when ours guys warn them. I don't think and most smart people don't think 33/40 is crying wolf, we think central alabama NWS has missed something the last 2 events. South AL NWS has done great, hitting both events. Once again, I don't want severe weather and humans cannot predict nature but when you get 80% of the population who only gets their weather once a day and is warned and warned and nothing happens, eventually they pay less attention and could get hurt when something does happen.

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Posted by  
on March 27, 2005, 6:35 pm
Chris, I agree 100%! I wasn't referring to your posts, those I thought were well written. I am curious to see why both of these major events fell far short of predictions.

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