Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Update Regarding Storms this Week (1/30-2/3)

As promised, we now have a better idea of what to expect Wednesday/Thursday. After running the models, severe weather will NOT be a threat to our area Wednesday night/early Thursday morning. Currently, the severe weather scenario is setting up over the mid-west over N. Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, but that will NOT effect us. Rainfall shouldn't be to extreme either, but you may hear a rumble of thunder or two. No worries.

Thursday we will be going as a group to ABC 33/40's Storm Alert tour that is stopping at Central High School off of 15th Street. The show will start at 6:30pm, and will feature the April 27th outbreak, highlighted with "riveting" footage of the storms.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us!
PAR

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Weather Update for the Coming Week (1/30-2/3)

Hope you're enjoying this beautiful Sunday! Here's what you can expect this week in Tuscaloosa:

CURRENT OBSERVATIONS
TEMP: 57*F
SUNNY, NO PRECIPITATION EXPECTED
WIND TO THE WEST-SOUTHWEST @ 4MPH
OVERNIGHT LOW OF 30*F
***FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN PLACE UNTIL 6PM CST

MONDAY 1/30/12
HIGH OF 66*F
OVERNIGHT LOW OF 39*F
SUNNY, NO PRECIPITATION EXPECTED
WIND TO THE SOUTH @ 9MPH
***FIRE WEATHER WATCH FROM NOON UNTIL 5PM CST MONDAY

TUESDAY 1/31/12
HIGH OF 71*F
OVERNIGHT LOW OF 51*F
MOSTLY SUNNY, 10% CHANCE OF RAIN
WIND TO THE SOUTH-SOUTHEAST @ 10MPH

WEDNESDAY 2/1/12
HIGH OF 69*F
OVERNIGHT LOW OF 53*F
SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL BEGIN TO MOVE INTO THE AREA, 40% CHANCE OF RAIN
WIND TO THE SOUTH @ 7MPH

THURSDAY 2/2/12
HIGH OF 69*F
OVERNIGHT LOW OF 45*F
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS, NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. WE WILL UPDATE YOU IF THIS BECOMES A POSSIBILITY.  CHANCE OF RAIN 40%.
WIND TO THE SOUTHWEST @ 6MPH

FRIDAY 2/3/12
HIGH OF 64*F
OVERNIGHT LOW OF 42*F
PARTLY CLOUDY, CHANCE OF RAIN 20%
WIND TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST @ 8MPH

At this time, it appears that highs will range from the mid/upper 50s to lower 60s week after next with no precipitation in sight. Of course that is out in voodoo country, so we'll have to wait and see until we get closer to then. As this week progresses, we'll have a better idea of what the storms Thursday will bring, so I'll be bringing you an update no later than Wednesday.

If you'd like to receive email weather alerts, please send us an email to bamauams@gmail.com and we'll add you to the 150 we email currently. You can also follow our Twitter (@UAMS1) for the most up-to-date weather updates.

Have a great week!
PAR

Monday, January 23, 2012

Recount of Last Night's Severe Weather Event

UAMS Storm Chaser Division went active around 5pm yesterday, and remained active until 5am this morning. We joined a couple of TPD officers atop the hill at Woods N Water to try to gain a great vantage point of the entire city to watch for circulation. Though we saw very impressive lightning strikes and heavy downpours coupled with a max wind gust of 35MPH at our location, we saw no signs of rotation from our location. After the main squall line had passed, we made our way up Skyland BLVD to McFarland BLVD to get to Highway 43 to check on one of our members and his family. We went through a good 2-3foot deep pool of water underneath the University BLVD overpass over McFarland. Unfortunately, I didn't see it until we were in it, but all is well. Had I been going faster and not let the hydroplane ride itself out, I probably would not be writing this post right now. Just know that that area on McFarland is notorious for holding water, and you should avoid it at all costs after a heavy rain.

In other news, the cell that went through northern Tuscaloosa county ended up producing severe damage and fatalities/injuries in Jefferson county. At this moment, Jefferson County EMA has not called for additional search and rescue aid, so we'll be staying put for now until the call comes (hopefully it won't). All of this being said, last night was a prime example as to why it is of the utmost importance to have a NOAA Weather Radio/other means of receiving weather warnings during the overnight hours and an Emergency Plan of Action should the need arise. As I told UA Students who subscribe to our Weather Warning emails, if you purchase a NOAA weather radio, I will program it for you so that you will only receive alerts relevant to your location. Our Storm Chasing Division director pointed out one of his favorite smart phone apps (for the iPhone atleast) is known as "My Radar". The app is absolutely free and we found it to be pretty spot-on last night. If you would like to receive our emails only to alert you when severe weather is a risk for the UA Campus/Tuscaloosa metro area, please send us an email to bamauams@gmail.com and state that you'd like to receive the Weather Alerts, or follow us on Twitter!. Twitter is the best way to get updates from us when we're in the field as weather is occurring.

After last night, we have come up with the idea of sponsoring an Emergency Preparedness Workshop on campus to inform students of useful information in preparing for an emergency. I'm going to talk with some of our friends at the Tuscaloosa County EMA and see what we can work out, but we aim to have this program around the middle of March, just before storm season really ramps up in our area. Stay tuned for more details!

In other news, you can expect rather mild weather for the rest of the week with showers here and there basically everyday, with highs in the mid to upper 60s every day. Thursday is looking to be the next system that may potentially produce a severe weather threat. Although, the models at this time do not show anything worth getting worked up over, so we'll just have to let the week progress and see what happens.

We gained 25 followers last night on Twitter, which is fantastic! Like I mentioned before, Twitter is the best way to receive our weather updates during severe weather events.

If you're out and about on campus tomorrow, please stop by the Fergueson Center and see us! One of our Storm Spotter Trucks will be parked on the plaza and we'll have a table upstairs with information on how you can become involved with us!

Sub Divo!
PAR

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Severe Weather Threat Tomorrow Evening

We're currently monitoring a system that is poised to bring a marginal severe weather threat to much of Northwestern and Central Alabama. Though instability values aren't too impressive, sufficient shear will be in place to help fuel the severity of the event. As the Storm Prediction Center/National Weather Service sees it, Tuscaloosa/West Alabama will find itself within the 10% chance of EF-2 Tornadoes/75MPH winds within 25 miles of any given point (See the graphic below provided by the NWS). Best timeline shows storms reaching us after 9pm tomorrow which will mean that we will have lost much of our daytime heating that feeds instability. We'll keep an eye on the storms and continue to bring you updates as they become available.




PAR