The WeatherMatrix Blog
Jesse Ferrell
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May 2007 Entries
T-Storm Downs Trees, Lines Near Accu HQ
UPDATE: WJAC-TV has a video online about this storm. FRIDAY UPDATE 11 AM: Below is a video blog looking at the storm and damage areas. Later tonight or this weekend, look for lightning video from me.FRIDAY UPDATE 7:30 AM: Centre...
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Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007 11:09 PM
UPDATE: Pontification from our best mets: Henry (PREMIUM | PRO) says "I still like the Euro solution from last night which takes the storm up through north-central Florida, then hugs it along the coast all the way to New England....
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Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007 4:25 PM
The Plains are at risk for severe storms including large hail and tornadoes today, and flooding over the next two days. A Moderate Risk of severe storms has been issued for parts of the Central Plains while a Slight risk...
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Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007 1:33 PM
SEE THE STORM ON SATELLITE, RADARHere's the latest model forecasts for this weekend's possible Tropical Storm in the Southeast, from AccuWeather.com Professional. For reference when quoting minimum pressures below, 1000 mb is a "decent" storm; 980 mb is a...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 5:30 PM
A tropical rain system in the Caribbean is moving off the Yucatan towards Cuba this morning. This may be the system that the models have been predicting could turn into a Tropical Storm late in the week off the Southeast...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 3:20 PM
One of my blog readers, known as lisarose on the AccuWeather.com Weather Photo Gallery, went storm chasing in the Plains for the first time last week. Below are some of her photos (see them all here) from what must have...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 1:16 PM
When I bring my daughter home from school in the afternoon (the reason I work 7-3), we drive right by a small family farm and store called "Harner Farm" on the west side of State College. They serve ice cream...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 11:38 AM
UPDATE: We have (finally) created an official graphic noting the possibility of a tropical storm this weekend:ORIGINAL POST:Time's up for the GFS's hype last week about a Tropical Storm crossing Florida, and it hasn't happened. Is this any big surprise?...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 29, 2007 6:17 PM
UPDATE 6/7/07: Julie found another photo of the house here. Also, blog reader Jason emailed me, saying about my original post "I can confirm that the house in the picture is from the south, across the street from where it...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 29, 2007 1:13 PM
In lightning news this Memorial Day weekend, in addition to my daughter almost being struck by lightning...In New York, a Jetblue plane was struck by lightning yesterday evening, but all 140 passengers on the Airbus landed in New York City...
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Posted on Monday, May 28, 2007 4:55 PM
The Memorial Day Weekend J-SHOW Extravaganza continues today and I'm going to do something that I usually don't, and that's pick on somebody else besides J (that's me). Check out this blooper, or lack thereof, from Action Steve Penstone (PREMIUM...
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Posted on Monday, May 28, 2007 1:01 PM
Over two hundred storm chasers were warned by emergency service personnel to vacate Highway 283 near WaKeeney, Kansas last week. They left without incident. This article at The Hays Daily News explains:Emergency service personnel this morning detailed problems they encountered...
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Posted on Sunday, May 27, 2007 8:09 PM
Severe thunderstorms developed this Saturday afternoon here in State College, PA, and my daughter had quite a story to tell. She was at an outdoor birthday party near the University Park Airport. Ironically, the party had been cancelled a week...
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Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 9:11 PM
Below are photos from the severe thunderstorms that affected Bulgaria earlier this week. The Sofia News Agency says that high winds and hail were also a problem, in addition to the tornado and flooding.A man walks through a flooded street...
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Posted on Saturday, May 26, 2007 2:32 PM
Extreme cold is being experienced this week in the southernmost reaches of our globe, including Antarctica, southern Argentina, and South Africa. Of course, it is winter down there, but this is unusual even for the cold season. JA wrote in...
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Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 11:16 PM
It's time for the J-SHOW, the weirdest and possibly strangest weather video blog ever. Stupid Streetsigns, Funny Weather Graphics, Happy Anniversary to Me, and more. Happy Memorial Day Weekend! NOTE: THE VIDEO ABOVE MAY BE PRECEDED BY ADVERTISEMENTS ON AD-SUPPORTED...
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Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 10:10 PM
UPDATE: How unusual is the heat? New Hampshire life guards don't hit the beach for another month!ORIGINAL POST:The heat is on in the Northeast today and it's going to feel like July. But the big story is where the most...
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Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 11:29 AM
Join me tonight for the J-Show, the weirdest weather video blog ever. Tonight we'll answer the question... "Why did the J-Cam move?" It could be a vast AccuWeather conspiracy... but it's probably not.NOTE: THE VIDEO ABOVE MAY BE PRECEDED BY...
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Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 11:18 AM
DISCLAIMER: Opinions in this article are personal observations only and do not represent the opinions of AccuWeather, Inc.I'm in a particularly sarcastic mood this morning so I thought I'd point out something in the news: The new director of the...
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Posted on Friday, May 25, 2007 11:15 AM
14 Tornado reports, 54 wind reports (to 80 mph) and 135 hail reports were received on Wednesday evening and overnight in the Central Plains, according to The WeatherMatrix StormMatrix. As of 6 AM Central time, the tornadoes appear to have...
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Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2007 11:45 AM
UPDATE: The StormMatrix is showing nearly 100 hail reports, up to 4.25" in diameter (softball-sized) in Oklahoma. Eight tornadoes have been reported as of 8:30 PM Central Time.StormMatrix Stats Box:ORIGINAL POST:The video blog below goes in-depth with AccuWeather.com RadarPlus to...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 11:05 PM
The video blog below explains the upsloping thunderstorms that were taking place this afternon in the Appalachians.NOTE: THE VIDEO ABOVE MAY BE PRECEDED BY ADVERTISEMENTS ON AD-SUPPORTED SITESSTUFF FROM THE VIDEO, AND MORE...- Close-up radar, lightning strikes at peak of...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 11:02 PM
UPDATE: *A correction, from blog reader Nathan, due to an errant placement of an identifier in Google Earth: "You have a couple of pictures of the Pleasant View Motel and Trailer Park. The actual motel and RV park were north,...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 1:19 PM
DISCLAIMER: OPINIONS EXPRESSED ON THIS BLOG MAY NOT REPRESENT THE OPINIONS OF AccuWeather, Inc.NOAA [JessePedia] released their 2007 Hurricane Forecast today, and I'm a little perplexed. Perhaps it's just too late in the day and some of you readers can...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 11:39 PM
UDPATE: Here's a link to the PDF Brochure which I think sums up the work of ProtectingAmerica.Org. ORIGINAL POST: AccuWeather's Ken Reeves gave a talk last week at the National Press Club, for the ProtectingAmerica.Org group. After reading over their...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 3:49 PM
I thought this article was interesting talking about what New Orleans is planning for Hurricane Season 2007, which is, essentially, "everybody get the heck out." There will be no shelters this time, to encourage people to leave the city. The...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 12:02 PM
UPDATE: Last week you may have read my diatribe about how the lightning strike supposedly captured on video last week in Texas was not truly captured. Well, yesterday morning I had an email complaint waiting in my inbox this morning...
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Posted on Monday, May 21, 2007 7:56 PM
I've decided to bring the Hype entries back, now that we're getting close to tropical storm season (or in it if you ask Andrea). The disclaimer is below, but the basic idea is to showcase the forecast model's craziest predictions...
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Posted on Monday, May 21, 2007 5:12 PM
A small storm moved over State College, Pennsylvania yesterday afternoon. I knew there would be a rainbow afterwards because the storm was isolated. Sure enough, the sun came out after it passed through and I took some photos, some of...
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Posted on Monday, May 21, 2007 11:43 AM
A strange cloud went over my house on Friday afternoon. It seemed to be a thunderstorm wanting to form but not quite making it. It didn't even contain any rain but did have mammatus clouds. You can see all the...
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Posted on Monday, May 21, 2007 10:24 AM
Here are some photos of the storm damage in New Jersey Wednesday night.A car sits in the midst of downed power lines, poles and trees on Cottage Place in Allendale, N.J., Thursday, May 17, 2007, after a storm with severe...
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Posted on Sunday, May 20, 2007 12:20 PM
The J-Cam is live* again this Saturday from the Milesburg, PA Community Yard Sale. Click here to see yesterday's shots.4:00 PM: We're packing up and heading home. After two days of little sleep and being outside and standing all day,...
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Posted on Saturday, May 19, 2007 1:52 AM
UPDATE: I have posted an update to this entry here, after talking with the lady who lives across the street.ORIGINAL POST: A man named Rod Mathes in The Colony [Google Map], north of Dallas, Texas, videotaped what the media says...
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Posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 11:33 PM
UPDATE: The Yard Sale J-Cam images from today have been restored by Pair. Here are links to the images:- Yardsale Images- Drive Home ImagesORIGINAL POST:Sadly, all images taken today during the live yard sale J-Cam were accidentally deleted by Pair.com,...
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Posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 11:10 PM
The J-Cam is live* from the Milesburg, PA Community Yard Sale. Click here to read yesterday's blog about the yard sale.LATEST UPDATE: 2:50 PM The sky is cloudier and there are only a few stragglers now. Stay tuned for the...
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Posted on Friday, May 18, 2007 1:30 AM
If all goes well, the J-Cam will be not from my desk this Friday but live* from the Milesburg, PA Community Yard Sale. I'll be wearing my pink flamingo shirt (see design below) for easy identification since we'll be sharing...
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Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2007 4:32 PM
A storm off the Southeast coast will merge will conspire to cause heavy rain for coastal New England this weekend. The models are not calling it a big storm, and even Nor'easter might be stretching it, but it has the...
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Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2007 4:00 PM
The AccuWeather.com Summer 2007 Forecast is out (PREMIUM | PRO) - and it's gonna be a "Hot Time, Summer in the City"* in the Northeast, according to AccuWeather.com Professional's Joe Bastardi [BIO] (PRO). Specifically, the second half of the Summer,...
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Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2007 1:55 PM
UPDATE: 5/17 7 AM: I woke up in the middle of the night last night and wondered if maybe the "appendage" which gets wrapped into the Greensburg supercell and tornado was an outflow boundary (see Phoenix Dust Storm blog for...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 11:46 PM
Blog reader Phil points out that the smoke from the impressive fire near Atlantic City, New Jersey is visible on both the satellite photos and radar this afternoon. At 2:30 PM today, the smoke was very impressive, and had spiked...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 6:22 PM
The GFS Forecast Model [JessePedia] printed out something interesting in last night's run... snow again in the Northeast tonight. But it's mid-May right? Is this even possible? Let's delve deeper into the possibilities with tools from our AccuWeather.com Professional website:...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 11:25 AM
Subtropical Storm Andrea may have been an unusually early named storm for the Atlantic basin, but did you know that she ended a record worldwide drought of tropical/named storms worldwide? 'Tis so, according to My Awesome Buddy Scott @ SSEC...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 12:30 PM
I saw a lot of cool wave clouds on the way home today, and it looks like my WeatherCam at home caught some too. All I had was my cellphone camera but I'm pretty sure those are some Kelvin-Helmholtz Wave...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 11:50 AM
It may be the day after Mother's Day but Mother Nature is not happy, frosting flower buds across the Northeastern United States this morning. Last week the 15-Day forecast showed a chance of frost and record lows for this Monday...
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Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 11:55 AM
I promised you in The J-Show yesterday that I would post a couple of out-takes or bloopers and video from the doggie play-date Friday night, which delayed the J-Show until Saturday. Here you go:NOTE: THE VIDEO ABOVE MAY BE PRECEDED...
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Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2007 10:10 PM
I haven't done a good job of telling you about the flooding in the Midwest this week, but here are some photos and maps to illustrate what's happened. The flooding was bad, but not as bad as 1993, which some...
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Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2007 2:27 PM
UPDATE: I added two doggie date videos and three bloopers in this entry. ORIGINAL POST:Here's this week's J-Show, live from my home office in State College, Pennsylvania. If no funny, I will be execute.*NOTE: THE VIDEO ABOVE MAY BE PRECEDED...
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Posted on Sunday, May 13, 2007 12:11 AM
UPDATE: The NHC started up their Model Spread [JessePedia] of Andrea again today, another sign that they are interested in the storm once again. The remnant low pressure system is already taking off to the Northeast this afternoon.UPDATE: The NHC...
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Posted on Saturday, May 12, 2007 12:26 PM
I can't guarantee that the J-Show will be tonight, because we have a doggie play date, but if not tonight, tomorrow... we'll Look At The Weather In A Whole Weird Way. I'll show some funny graphics, and I'll explain how...
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Posted on Friday, May 11, 2007 6:17 PM
In the video blog below, taped at 10 AM Eastern time, I took a look at the remnants of Subtropical Storm Andrea with AccuWeather.com RadarPlus and was fairly impressed with the rotation of the storm, and the lightning activity (over...
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Posted on Friday, May 11, 2007 2:37 PM
I was coming home from picking up my daughter at school yesterday on Route 45 around 3:20 PM local time and spotted what I thought was a wet microburst, but was actually a wall cloud from a thunderstom, to my...
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Posted on Friday, May 11, 2007 11:52 AM
As I say... The Weather Is Always Interesting. Meteo Madness Man (PREMIUM | PRO) and I just returned from a quick local storm chase here in State College, PA to observe some small thunderstorms that were popping up around us,...
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Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 6:06 PM
Forest fires threatened the Hollywood Sign and the Los Angeles Zoo yesterday. The fires were extinguished before they reached either structure, but did overtake some local landmarks. The LA Daily News has the details. AccuWeather.com Photo Gallery member wb6ypf, better...
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Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 4:35 PM
Interest in Subtropical Storm Andrea is waning this morning, as she has weakened considerably. Only detectable now on the Visible satellite (no longer on Infrared or even Water Vapor), the storm has very little rain associated with it. The Model...
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Posted on Thursday, May 10, 2007 11:38 AM
UPDATE: 1 PM Eastern: Blog reader Jeanne just asked the question, what is a Subtropical Storm? It's basically the term that The NHC [JessePedia] uses with for describing a hybrid storm, that has some tropical characteristics and some features that...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 1:16 PM
UPDATE: News5 has impressive aerial video of the dust storm. ORIGINAL POST 5 PM MST: A dust storm is threatening Phoenix at 5 PM Mountain Time and I've caught it on AccuWeather.com RadarPlus. Fox News showed live webcam footage of...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 11:08 PM
Just a quick update to show you the latest model tracks for the Coastal Storm. Apparently even though NHC won't send a recon plane into the storm, they are interested enough to run their "ATCF" Model Spread [JessePedia] tracks. You...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 6:42 PM
Our official, updated 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season forecast (PREMIUM | PRO) is being issued as we speak at the 2nd Annual AccuWeather Hurricane Summit in Houston, Texas. The short of it: "We're in for a Rough Year," Says AccuWeather.com's Bastardi....
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Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 4:38 PM
The most frequently asked question in my inbox this morning is: Where is the hybrid storm off the Southeast coast going to move, and where will it make landfall? Here's what the Forecast Models [JessePedia] say this morning:This graphic was...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 11:15 AM
UPDATE: Model tracks are now available!UPDATE: 41-Foot waves are now being reported by the buoy.ORIGINAL POST: The video blog below looks at the hybrid storm off the Southeast coast, which is whipping up 38-foot waves and 81 mph winds. On-shore...
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Posted on Monday, May 07, 2007 2:04 PM
UPDATE: The NWS in Dodge City, Kansas says: "The Greensburg Tornado Is Rated EF-5... The First "5" Rating on the new Enhanced-Fujita Scale... and the first "5" classification since May 3, 1999 when an F5 tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma."COMING...
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Posted on Monday, May 07, 2007 12:57 PM
The J-SHOW, much delayed due to the Plains Tornadoes and too much yard work for me, is now available below, taped live from the home office. See where I worked in high school, find out what's on Henry's nameplate (um,...
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Posted on Sunday, May 06, 2007 11:37 PM
Over 100 tornadoes were reported Friday and Saturday in the Plains, in the biggest tornado outbreak so far this season. Looking at recent major outbreaks, yesterday's 93 may be more tornadoes in one day than any day in the last...
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Posted on Sunday, May 06, 2007 12:18 PM
Those are the stats for today, as of 10 PM Central. Most of the 60 tornadoes have been in Nebraska and Kansas during the last 3 hours. See the StormMatrix box below for more information. Currently, 6 Tornado Watches are...
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Posted on Saturday, May 05, 2007 11:56 PM
6:15 PM: A quick look at Greenburg, Kansas, in the line of fire for the second time today after a tornado destroyed the town yesterday. Here's a radar image showing rotation (green + orange) in several storms tracking towards the...
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Posted on Saturday, May 05, 2007 10:27 PM
STORMS APPROACH GREENSBURG (UPPER RIGHT) - Enlarge | Download MovieGreensburg, Kansas, which was devastated by a mile-wide tornado last night (see previous blogs), is being approached by more severe storms this Saturday afternoon. At 2:30 PM Central time, an unbroken...
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Posted on Saturday, May 05, 2007 7:30 PM
In the video blog below, Google Earth and AccuWeather.com RadarPlus take us in-depth with last night's large tornado in Greensburg, Kansas. It was the most impressive tornado I have seen on radar in many years.- DOWNLOAD RADAR MOVIES FROM THE...
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Posted on Saturday, May 05, 2007 7:20 PM
Friday night turned deadly in the Plains as nearly 30 tornado reports peppered the central states, mostly Kansas. In Greensburg, Kansas [Google Map], seven people were killed as a tornado more than a mile wide tore through the town, destroying...
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Posted on Saturday, May 05, 2007 12:37 PM
Before I did the J-Show live from Boomer, North Carolina two weeks ago, I had taped a short video blog at several stops along the way. As you saw in the Mobile J-Cam Review, the J-Cam was attached to the...
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Posted on Friday, May 04, 2007 11:16 PM
I'm calling this "The Bastardi Storm" because AccuWeather.com Professional's Joe Bastardi [BIO] (PRO) is the only one talking about it today. And he might be the only one whoever talks about it if it stays off the coast (Dah-dum-chi! Just...
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Posted on Friday, May 04, 2007 6:03 PM
A major severe weather outbreak will take place in the Central Plains tonight through the weekend. Storm Chasers in the Plains will love it, and it's just that time of year. I'll be giving you radar updates throughout the weekend...
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Posted on Friday, May 04, 2007 5:39 PM
As you know, it's been two weeks since The J-Show, the show where we Look At Weather In A Whole Weird Way. So starting tonight, a J-Show Extravaganza, with more than you wanted to know about what's going on in...
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Posted on Friday, May 04, 2007 4:23 PM
We got some great tornado and hail photos from yesterday's severe thunderstorm in El Paso, Texas, from dopplerdave:AccuWeather.com RadarPlus and Google Earth help me go in-depth with a video below, explaining where the tornadoes were, what the radar said, and...
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Posted on Thursday, May 03, 2007 1:04 PM
Eagle Pass, Texas, which was devastated by a tornado two weeks ago was narrowly missed tonight by a large supercell thunderstorm just across the border in Mexico. The video blog below takes us in-depth with ADCRP to look at the...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 11:26 PM
Very severe storms are affecting central Texas this afternoon, with multiple tornadic signatures and warnings, high winds and large hail. AccuWeather.com RadarPlus takes us in-depth, showing over 21,000 lightning strikes detected by the USPLN network in the last two hours.HI-RES...
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Posted on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 5:39 PM
With much delaying due to computer problems, here is a taste of the lightning we saw here in Central Pa. tonight. It was quite impressive by our standards, especially for early May. The video below was culled from about an...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2007 11:59 PM
Some spots in North Carolina hit 99 degrees this afternoon, challenging similar temperatures in Southern California for nationwide highs. Man, it was blazin' down there! The 90's also toasted Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia on this May 1st, 2007. TEMPS...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2007 11:58 PM
Forthcoming... I have been taping the impressive storms here in Centre County, PA all evening and REALLY have to pause for some food. As you can see from his blog, Henry (PREMIUM | PRO) has been out too. I'll post...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2007 11:57 PM
5:30 PM Eastern and there are big storms as far east as western Pennsylvania. Severe warnings are popping on as I go in-depth with AccuWeather.com RadarPlus.STUFF FROM VIDEO: - Radar, Lightning, Advisories (Download Movie)- Radar, Storm-Relative Velocity, Advisories (Download Movie)...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2007 9:49 PM
4 PM Eastern, 3 PM Central. I have cut the video below going in-depth with AccuWeather.com RadarPlus, showing the severe storms in Michigan, Ohio, and even some action in my backyard, northern Pennsylvania. A Tornado Warning is out in Ohio,...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2007 8:10 PM
The Top 3 Weirdest Things that happened on my trip to North Carolina last week were as follows:1. I almost met Officer Garcia from Reno 911. My college cronies Scott, Gary and I went over to visit the UNCA Campus...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2007 2:23 PM
Ohio Valley, are you ready to rock??Well, maybe. The SPC has issued a Slight Risk of severe thunderstorms for an area from Northern Indiana eastward to Western Pennsylvania. CLICK TO ENLARGEI believe this may be the first Slight Risk that...
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Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2007 1:00 PM
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc or AccuWeather.com.
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