May 3, 2011
By Megan Taylor
Storm Tracker 9
http://kohd.com/news/local/211340



The second topic of Severe Weather Awareness Week is tornadoes and waterspouts. This topic comes during a time that a large corner of the Southeast U.S. is cleaning up from a devastating April. We'll get to that event in a moment, but first let's talk specifically about tornadoes around our area.

The Pacific Northwest sees about seven tornadoes a year. The most common months for tornadoes are July and August. However, tornadoes have been reported in every month of the year. The most common time is between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m., but they still can occur at any time.


Severe thunderstorms that produce tornadoes are a little more difficult to produce in our part of the world. That's mostly because the Pacific Ocean prevents major temperature differentials, which is one of the primary requirements for violently convective weather. However, it DOES happen. There are also a lot of hills and mountains that help keep the air moving, and can aid rotation. The worst part about Pacific Northwest tornadoes is that they are a little harder to predict and therefore harder to warn for. That means the area's citizens have to be extra prepared. Here are a few quick safety tips should a tornado occur in your area.

Come up with a tornado plan BEFORE the tornado is occurring. Waiting for a warning is too late. Designate a time ever year that you and your family put together a disaster plan. This doesn't have to be limited to just tornadoes, but it can include your earthquake or tsunami, and fire plan as well.


If faced with a tornado or your area is placed under a warning, seek shelter immediately.

If you are in a building or home:

Get away from windows and exterior walls, such as the interior-most room of the building or a closet.

Get on the lowest level of the structure. A basement is the best place during a tornado.

Get under a sturdy piece of furniture. It could block you from falling debris.


If you are in a car, buckle your seat belt and drive to a nearby sturdy structure. If debris hits your vehicle, pull over. If you can find a lower level in the road than where you are, get out and lay down with your hands over your head. YOU ARE NOT A STORM CHASER, DO NOT DRIVE TOWARD THE TORNADO. If you cannot tell which way to drive, look to see which way the tornado is heading. If it looks like it is not moving, it is likely moving straight toward you. Make a 90 degree turn and drive away quickly, but safely.


If you are in mobile home, GET OUT if time permits. Even when tied down, mobile homes lead to most of the injuries and deaths related to tornadoes. When setting up your disaster plan, make sure to pick a location to go during a tornado warning that is sturdy.


Don't wait for the sirens. Tornadoes can form and begin destroying very quickly. Just because the sirens are not sounding doesn't mean the tornado will stop and wait. If you see a tornado, take shelter immediately. Some signs of an approaching tornado include roaring sounds, large hail and falling debris. Even if you can't see the tornado, seeing debris could mean one is nearby.


Oregon and Washington average around two tornadoes a year, but as many as 14 in one year have been recorded (Washington, 1997). Recent tornadoes include a small EF-0 tornado that destroyed a barn south of Pendleton in March 2011, a likely cold-air funnel that caused damage to a house and numerous trees in Creswell in December 2010, and the Aumsville EF-2 tornado that caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage and injured two in December 2010. Waterspouts are a little more common, but due to the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, they are often not seen. In the event of a waterspout, the NWS will issue a special marine warning. Waterspouts are dangerous and cause damage boats and harbors. Waterspouts CAN move onto land, becoming what is called a "land spout."

Other parts of the country are obviously more prone to tornadoes and severe weather, but this year has been especially deadly in areas in the Southeast U.S. The area known as Dixie Alley has seen two separate major outbreaks in April, both of which left numerous people dead. Here is a quick recap of the most recent historic outbreak.

The outbreak lasted from 8 a.m. April 26 to 8 a.m. April 28. During that time, a preliminary estimate of 312 tornadoes occurred. The most active day was April 27 when 226 estimated tornadoes pummeled through parts of Dixie Alley, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, the Carolinas and even into the Northeast. On that day, at least 344 people were killed. While the rise in the death toll has finally decreased, given the damage, it will not likely be official until all of the rubble is sifted through. Overall, the two-day total was the most people killed since 1936 when an outbreak killed 454 people, most of which were in Mississippi and Georgia.

The deadliest tornado was the Tri-State Tornado which killed just shy of 700 people. This tornado occurred in an outbreak in March 1925 where well over 700 total fatalities occurred. Given the preliminary count for April, a few records were broken. The previous record for the most tornadoes in April was 267 which was set in 1974. The previous record for the most tornadoes recorded in any month was 542 tornadoes which was set in May 2003. Both of those records have been broken with April's preliminary 600 tornadoes this year. The record number of tornadoes in any single year is 1,817 which was set in 2004. So far, 2011 has seen 881 tornadoes with the most active month of May still occurring.


The Storm Tracker 9 Weather Team will be happy to answer any questions about tornadoes that you have.

Thank you Storm Tracker 9 Weather Team!!!

Storm Cell NW of Eugene moving East

National Weather Service is tracking a storm cell north-west of Eugene, moving eastward. Warning posted below:

SHORT TERM FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
228 PM PST TUE DEC 14 2010

ORZ004-008-142330-
SOUTH WILLAMETTE VALLEY-CENTRAL COAST RANGE OF WESTERN OREGON-
228 PM PST TUE DEC 14 2010

.NOW...
AT 225 PM PST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AN
ISOLATED POSSIBLY STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER HORTON...OR ABOUT 23 MILES
NORTHWEST OF EUGENE...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. OTHER LOCATIONS IMPACTED
BY THIS POSSIBLY STRONG THUNDERSTORM THROUGH 330 PM PST INCLUDE
UNCTION CITY...EUGENE AIRPORT...HARRISBURG. HAIL...VERY HEAVY
RAIN...GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN BE
EXPECTED IN THESE AREAS. HEAVY HAIL MAY ACCUMULATE ON ROADWAYS.

Thunderstorm Warning

At the same time the National Weather Service has issued a warning about thunderstorms and the potential for creating a tornado and other severe weather.

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
1222 PM PST TUE DEC 14 2010

ORC005-047-142032-
/O.EXP.KPQR.TO.W.0001.000000T0000Z-101214T2030Z/
MARION OR-CLACKAMAS OR-
1222 PM PST TUE DEC 14 2010

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR CENTRAL CLACKAMAS AND CENTRAL MARION
COUNTIES WILL EXPIRE AT 1230 PM PST...

AT 1222 PM PST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH THE POSSIBLE TORNADO HAD WEAKENED AND NO
LONGER APPEARED CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORNADOES OR OTHER SEVERE
WEATHER...THUS THE WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT 1230 PM PST.

CONTINUE TO MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS AS FUTURE WARNINGS ARE
POSSIBLE FOR YOUR AREA.

Storms Coming this Week, Then Cooling

Looks like meteorologists are predicting a few days of fast-moving thunderstorms in southern Oregon before the weather cools down.

Scattered thunderstorms could pepper the region with lightning strikes on Tuesday before temperatures cool this week, the National Weather Service warns.

The Medford office of the weather service issued a fire weather watch for Tuesday for parts of Southern Oregon and Northern California.

Read more about the prediction at http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100816/NEWS07/8160321/-1/NEWSMAP.

National Lightning Safety Awareness Week

Observed the last full week of June, National Lightning Safety Awareness Week not only helps get safety messages out in time for the Fourth of July, but also signals summer as lightning season. Outside is the most dangerous place to be during a lightning or thunderstorm and more people are outside during the summer. According to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Acting Regional Administrator Dennis Hunsinger, lightning strikes and high winds associated with thunderstorms also increase the risk of wildfires.

The Speed of Social Media

Today a utility worker damaged power lines and knocked out power to a chunk of Clark County - 4800 people were without power.

http://www.koinlocal6.com/content/news/breakingnews/story/Power-outage-in-Clark-County/ib_sSireyE-FxNUXnziOZg.cspx?rss=1102

What is interesting is not the power service loss - the power company will quickly restore it and everyone will soon forget - but that social media has quickly reported this phenomenon. Over three hours ago KOIN news posted on their twitter and website that power was out, and OEM's own twitter re-tweeted it. But that same news won't be reported on tv news, radio or newspaper until this evening - long after the event has happened.

There have been numerous stories about regular Internet users being able to post information during disasters at times when officials do not have the resources to collect the information fast enough. Now we see traditional media quickly reporting news via Twitter!

Ironically, as I'm writing this article I find out through CNN that there may have been a tornado in Minneapolis. NOAA reported a possible tornado, but officials are still have not positively identified the storm as a tornado - merely a severe thunderstorm.

Right now it is 3:15 PM. A quick search on twitter for the hashtag #tornadompls found the following: http://twitpic.com/ei4nb This was photographed by a cell phone from a car and uploaded to twitpics 2 hours ago!

Atlantic Weather System May Become Hurricane

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ah2aLNBlGXos

Atlantic Weather System May Become Hurricane, Planalytics Says (Bloomberg News)
By Brian K. Sullivan
Bloomberg News, August 14, 2009

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- A system of thunderstorms in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa may develop into a hurricane by early next week and pose a "formidable threat" to the U.S., according to forecasting company Planalytics Inc.

The system, centered about 250 miles (402 kilometers) south of the Cape Verde islands, is moving west and has a greater than 50 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours, the National Hurricane Center said.

"It remains likely this storm system will represent a formidable threat to U.S. interests next week up the Atlantic seaboard" and in the Gulf of Mexico, said Jim Rouiller, a senior energy meteorologist at Planalytics in Wayne, Pennsylvania, in an e-mail. "It is premature to predict at this point in time who is at most risk."

The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, has yet to produce a named storm this year. Conditions in the ocean are now conducive to storm formation, said another forecaster.

A tropical depression currently moving west in the Atlantic ahead of the storms off Africa will increase the chances of a hurricane occurring next week, said Mike Pigott, a meteorologist with forecaster AccuWeather.com in State College, Pennsylvania.

The depression has weakened because it has encountered dry air, and not enough of the warmer, moister air that causes the storms to strengthen, Pigott said. By sweeping that drier air away, the depression will open a path for the system off the African coast to intensify, he said.
'Major Hurricane'

"The second one, which is much larger, that is the one that could become a major hurricane, Category 3 or higher, early next week," Pigott said.

A storm reaches Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale when its winds are 111 miles (178 kilometers) per hour or more. Hurricane Ike, which killed 54 people and caused about $18 billion in damage, had winds of about 110 mph when it hit the Texas coast near Galveston last year.

Atlantic storms can shut down oil and gas rigs and refineries in the Gulf of Mexico and damage citrus crops in Florida, which is the world's second-largest orange producer behind Brazil. The Gulf is home to about 26 percent of all U.S. oil production.

Oregon Thunderstorms and Lightning Sparks Fires

The weather and heat warning for lightning storms turned out to be accurate: over the weekend there were 6458 recorded lightning strikes starting more than 77 fires. Most of the fires were contained to one acre or less. But the thunderstorms in Central Oregon are expected to continue through Tuesday night. A red flag warning for heat and fire danger will remain in effect at least until Tuesday night.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/lightning_strikes_spark_scores.html

There are currently 5 major fires in Oregon, and 7 major fires in Washington. Northern California had several fires start in the Klamath Forest from lightning strikes. USFS says that they are currently holding with the equipment and personnel on hand as long as no additional major fires flare up.

Current fires map: http://www.nwccweb.us/information/firemap.asp

But our question to you is this: if you live in a community near the forest and lightning strikes cause a major fire near you, are you prepared in the event of an emergency evacuation?

In the past, evacuations have been declared in as little as a few hours and if you do not have a plan and an evacuation kit prepared then you may not have time to get ready. In your evacuation kit you need to have extra medicines, copies of important documents, and some non-perishable food and drink items, as well as anything else you think you will need for at least 72 hours.

72 hour kit. I do, do you?

Fire Weather Watch

http://www.wunderground.com/US/OR/007.html#FIR

... Fire Weather Watch in effect from Saturday morning throughSunday evening for scattered thunderstorms and critically dryfuels for the central Oregon Cascades and foothills and the southern half of the north Oregon Cascades and foothills and the central Oregon Coast Range...

The National Weather Service in Portland has issued a FireWeather Watch... which is in effect from Saturday morning through Sunday evening. An upper level low pressure system will remain off of theCalifornia coast for the next several days. The hot temperatureswe saw this week have dried out fuels to critical levels across thearea.

Increasing moisture with the low will bring the necessaryingredients into place for the development of scatteredthunderstorms across the district. The combination of lightningand critically dry fuels will result in an elevated risk formultiple ignitions. The highest potential for significantlightning producing thunderstorms will be on Saturday and Sundayafternoon and evenings... however... this may be a long lived eventand this watch may need extending in the future.Precautionary/preparedness actions...

A Fire Weather Watch means that critical fire weather conditionsare forecast to occur. Listen for later forecasts and possible flag warnings.

Statesman Journal OEM column June 24

June 24, 2009
It's important to be prepared.

All areas are vulnerable to any type of disaster.

The recent thunderstorms and tornado watch was another disaster preparedness wake-up call. Will we pay attention? Will we be ready to care for ourselves when the power goes out and the roads are closed?

It is sometimes difficult for people to understand the importance of being prepared for disasters even though we wouldn't think of living in a home without a smoke detector.
Here are four statements I hear regularly — did any of these come from you?

"If something happens, all I have to do is call 911" — during a major disaster, help is limited and can only get there so fast. Roads often are blocked.

"All I need is a 72-hour kit with a flashlight, some food and water and a radio" — 72 hours is the minimal amount of time you need to be self-sufficient. Two or more weeks would be better.

"Good preparedness is too expensive and too complicated" — If you can't afford to purchase a ready-made kit, purchase one or two items each week with your regular grocery shopping.

"Nothing really bad ever happens here" — You may have noticed that in the past few years, Oregon has had more and more disasters. No area is immune. Consider the possibilities of flood, earthquake, chemical spill, school shooting, thunderstorms, terrorist attack, snow storm, landslides, etc. Any of these could cause you to be isolated at home for several days.

Remember, there will always be someone needier than you and the more prepared you are, the more you free up resources so they can help those less fortunate.

Jennifer Bailey, formerly of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is the Public Affairs Coordinator of Oregon Emergency Management. She may be reached at (503) 378-2911, Ext. 22294, or jbailey@oem.state.or.us. Additional Facts

Learn more
Send questions about emergency preparedness to be answered in this column to jbailey@oem.state.or.us. Other information may be found at www.oregon. gov/omd/oem or www.fema.gov.

FEMA news release - NATIONAL LIGHTNING SAFETY AWARENESS WEEK 21-27 JUNE 2009

SEATTLE—Summer is the peak season for one of America’s deadliest weather phenomena—lightning. In 2008, hundreds of people were permanently injured by lightning strikes across the country, and 28 were killed. This year to-date, 11 people have been killed by lightning, and statistically, the Fourth of July is one of the most deadly times of the year. According to FEMA Acting Regional Administrator Dennis Hunsinger, National Lightning Safety Awareness Week, observed the last full week of June, not only helps get safety messages out in time for the Fourth of July, but also signals summer as lightning season.

“All thunderstorms produce lightning—and no place outside is safe when lightning is in the area. When thunder roars? Go indoors!” said Hunsinger. “If you can hear thunder, you are in danger. We all need to incorporate lightning safety into our family disaster planning.”

Lightning safety tips for inside the home include:
• Avoid contact with corded phones
• Avoid contact with electrical equipment or cords. If you plan to unplug any electronic equipment, do so well before the storm arrives.
• Avoid contact with plumbing. Do not wash your hands, do not take a shower, do not wash dishes, and do not do laundry.
• Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches.
• Do not lie on concrete floors and do not lean against concrete walls.
Lightning can strike as far as ten miles away from any rainfall, creating hotspots that smolder for days, to erupt when conditions are right. “Summer is also wildfire season in the Pacific Northwest,” cautions Hunsinger. “Those of us who live in urban interface areas, wooded lots, or near heavily-grassed and dry rangeland should create fire-safe perimeters, and update family disaster plans.”

For more information on lightning safety this year, visit: www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov. For wildfire preparedness tips, sample preparedness plans and emergency checklists, visit http://firewise.org/ or www.fema.gov.

NE Marion County under Tornado warning

National Weather Service just issued a Tornado Warning for NE marion County, vicinity Lyonw and headed N/NW toward Salem. At the least we will have thunderstorms. Please stay in and listen to your radio and/or NOAA radio for updates.