Rinse And Repeat: Wintry Threats Continue North, Severe Weather South

A snow shower is seen dumping a quick burst of snow west
of St. Albans, Vermont last evening. Similar conditions are
expected today in Vermont 

As if there isn't enough out there to keep most of us unhappy, the weather pattern is also stuck in a way that gives many of us little to cheer about.

A winter storm is creating a narrow stripe of rather heavy snow from Wyoming to Illinois, and that stripe of snow will eventually extend all the way to southern and central New England by Friday night and Saturday morning.  

Meanwhile, in the South, another severe weather and tornado risk looks like it will appear Sunday, and chnces are high that there will be couple more severe weather threats afrer that in the same region after that.

Up here in Vermont, there was still a dusting of snow on the ground in my yard in St. Albans from last evening and it was definitely cold out, with frost adding more winter to that bit of snow.]

That evening snow was caused by a reinforcing shot of cold air from Canada.  The band of snow was in far southern Vermont and northwestern Massachusetts this morning, causing slick roads in a few spots down there

Today in Vermont will look a lot like yesterday, especially in the northern half of the state. We'll have what I call self-destructing sunshine this morning. That sun will warm the atmosphere, but there's a pool of very cold air aloft.

The warm sun will cause updrafts, causing clouds to form and pile up, obscuring the sun for the most part. Between remaining breaks of sun this afternoon and early evening, those clouds will produce another round of snow showers.

Luckily, the air near the Earth's surface is dry, so much of the snow will evaporate on the way down. Still, many of those snow showers will have enough oomph to give many of us another dusting of snow. Nothing consequential, but also nothing you want to see this time of year.

Meanwhile, a pretty compact but vigorous storm is starting to zip west to east across the middle of the country,  laying down that stripe of snow in the Midwest. Southern Iowa not far from the Missouri border, is expected up to a foot of snow out of this.

That's an awful lot for that area of the nation for mid-April.

The storm will weaken a little, temporarily, but still have enough power to dump a few inches of snow Friday night and early Saturday in southern and central New England away from the coast.

In Vermont, up to three or four inches of snow could pile up Friday night in the mountains east of Bennington.  Further north toward Rutland, at this point it looks like a dusting to an inch, with little or nothing further north

After a brief sorta, kinda warmup on Sunday, it'll go back down to below normal temperatures in New England next week. The Midwest will warm up, but nope, not us!

SOUTHERN STORMS

The South is still reeling from those tornadoes and severe storms Sunday and Monday.  According to the National Weather Service eastern region, a total of 105 tornadoes from April 12-13 have been confired.

Tornadoes touched down in ten states, and if you added up the miles each one traveled, you'd get a total of 771.86 miles. If you combined all those tornadoes into one tornado track, it would extend from about Louisville, Kentucky to Burlington, Vermont.

The weekend tornadoes killed perhaps 30 people, and more than 60 Americans have lost their lives to tornadoes so far this year. If nobody else dies in a tornado this year, (which would be nice) this would still be the deadliest tornado year since 2012, notes the Weather Channel.

There might well be more tornadoes, severe storms and flooding on the way to the South this Sunday.  The expected rough weather won't be as extreme, or cover as big an area as last weekend, but people from Texas to Georgia better watch it on Sunday,  and toward the east on Monday.

NOAA's Storm Prediction Center is already forecasting a few tornadoes and severe storms for that tie period.

The weather pattern is favoring pretty strong storms riding east from California through the South or south-central United States.  Two more storms are forecast to take relatively similar paths next week, which could again threaten the South with more tornadoes.

Tornadoes Sweep Parts Of Midwest As Expected, Illinois Not As Hard Hit

Massive tornado yesterday in Jonesboro, Arkansas

As expected, tornadoes swept through parts of the Midwest Saturday, but luckily there have no reports of deaths so far, and only relatively minor injuries. There is a lot of damage, though.

Illinois had been expected to be the epicenter of the tornado outbreak and they did have tornadoes in that state.

But tornadoes were more heavily concentrated to the west in Iowa, and the most destructive of the tornadoes hit to the south, in Jonesboro, Arkansas and the neighboring town of Brookland.  

Dramatic videos of the tornado is at the bottom of this post.

In Jonesboro, a rapidly developing tornado quickly became strong and destroyed a shopping center and numerous homes, Local television station KAIT in Jonesboro reported only six injuries from the twister, which is amazing considering the destruction it caused.

The mayor of Jonesboro put everybody in town under curfew last night, ordering them to stay in their homes so that emergency workers could look for more people that needed help.  They also needed to clear streets of a huge amount of debris and fallen power lines.

Lots of people have seen this photo of a Jonesboro doctor behind
glass so he can protect his one year old from coronavirus. On
Saturday, the family's home was destroyed by a tornado.

Maybe the saddest result of the tornado involves a Dr. Jared Burks and his family. He's been on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak.

A photo taken by his wife Alyssa went viral recently. It showed the doctor watching, behind glass,  his one-year old son.  They must stay separate in case the doctor contracts the virus.  

The Jonesboro tornado destroyed the Burks family home Saturday while the doctor was in it. He wasn't hurt and his family was elsewhere, but the whole thing is just too cruel.  A GoFundMe page is set up for the Burks family. As of early this morning, people donated more than $25,000 to the family.

A total of at least 17 tornadoes have been so far confirmed across the Midwest Saturday.  Several homes and other buildings suffered extensive damage in Iowa and western Illinois.

Today, some severe thunderstorms are possible today in western New York and Pennsylvania, and in the Southeast Monday and Tuesday.

Up here in Vermont, we'll just get a couple rainy days today and Monday.  If any flooding occurs here, it will be very spotty and minor.

Some videos:

Videographer Mike Lane took this dramatic video of the tornado.

 

Zachary Hall too this video of the tornado destroying the Mall at Turtle Creek in Jonesboro:



Here's what scary live coverage of the tornado looked like on KAIT-TV in Jonesboro. The amount of debris in the air at 1:40 to 1:50 into the video is incredible:

 

Your Yearly (Scary) Reminder Not To Be An Idiot On Snowy Highways

Aftermath of that big highway pileup in Iowa Monday. Photo
via the Des Moines Register

We get these videos every winter. A snowy and icy Interstate highway.  A minor accident ahead causes people to brake.

But some people are distracting. Others, who have four wheel drive, think that allows them to stop on a dime.  Still others are panicking, and stopping right in the path of the cars and trucks behind them.

The inevitable big pileup then happens.

Such was the case yesterday, as you can see in the video at the bottom of this post from television station KCCI.  Interstate 80 was snow covered and slick.  A minor accident happened. Then, boom! Everybody piles into each other.

The Des Moines Register reports that luckily, only one person suffered serious injuries in the 50-vehicle pileup near Altoona, Iowa, which is east of Des Moines.

One side note:  Why do big tractor trailers go so fast in the snow?  I've regularly been nearly forced off the road by truckers blasting by me at top speeds on Interstate 89 in Vermont during icy snowstorms.

My cynical side says they stir up so much blowing snow that they know they won't be caught if they cause a crash. Who cares if somebody dies?  They have a schedule to make!  It might not be precisely the truck drivers' fault.

Most of them probably do care if they kill someone in a icy highway crash. But the trucking companies put pressure on the drivers to adhere to schedules, no matter what. It's some of the trucking companies, who believe the bottom line is much more important than peoples' lives. That's not all the trucking firms, but some of them.

Notice how many tractor trailers were involved in the crash you see in the video below.  This wasn't the fault of all of 'em, but perhaps some of them.

It's certainly not just the truck drivers.  A lot of people ignore this, but you need to greatly increase the distance between you and the car in front of you in case you have to hit the brakes. Granted, this is hard to do, because when I try this, somebody inevitably passes me and then cuts in front of my truck just inches from my headlights. But you have to try, I guess.

This should be obvious, but slow the hell down!  And no, your four wheel drive vehicle will NOT enable you to stop in a shorter distance without skidding.  Four wheel drive is good for traction, but it does not give you a license to speed.

It seems like most people don't understand this. I drive a four-wheel drive pickup truck, and I certainly get the evil eye from speed demon pickup drivers because I'm driving so "slowly" on the ice.

What should you do if you're caught up in a pileup?  Accuweather says at least initially, you should stay in your car, even as more collisions are happening around you.  At least your car, or the remains of it, provide some structure to protect you for oncoming cars and trucks. That's better than getting run over or smooshed when you're getting out of your car.

Accuweather says once things calm down a bit, you can get out, but then stand behind a guardrail or tree.  If you're not hurt call 911 and see if anybody else needs help.

It was warm in Vermont this morning, but a cold front is on our doorstep. That means temperatures will rapidly fall this afternoon and evening. Icy patches will develop on the roads. Will you be the cause of the next pileup when this happens? Don't be that person.

Here's footage of the Iowa pileup on Monday:

Midwest Flooding Continues Unabated; Mississippi River Hits Record Crest

The baseball diamond in Davenport, Iowa is still above water but
large parts of the downtown in that city is submerged by
the Mississippi River. Widespread flooding has been going
on in the Midwest an South since March, and is expected to continue
through this month at least 

Back in mid-March, when serious flooding began in the middle of the nation, lots of forecasters feared the flooding would last a long time. Possibly into the summer.

So far, those fears are coming true, with continued record flooding in spots, along with torrents of rain.  

The latest spot to get hit really hard is Davenport, Iowa, where the Mississippi River reached a record high crest - even higher than the historic 1993 flood that many people thought would never be exceeded.

A temporary levee erected to fend off the flooding failed, so a large chunk of downtown Davenport quickly flooded on Friday. The water is still there. The Mississippi River near Davenport has been above flood stage since March 15 - nearly two months.

Major looding along the Mississippi is likely to continue for a long time to come all the way down to Louisiana, where major flooding is forecast.

The weather forecast is really discouraging. Heavy rain is likely to continue this week in the middle of the nation from Iowa south to Texas and Louisiana. Most of Iowa can expect two to five inches of rain over the next week. In parts of eastern Texas and Louisiana, more than seven inches of rain will come down between now and next Sunday.

The rain isn't expected to be as heavy north of Iowa, but rivers that eventually feed into the Mississippi, like the Big Sioux and James in South Dakota, remain above flood stage.

Lots of other rivers will flood under this wet scenario, too. I'm sure ongoing flooding along parts of the Missouri River could get worse as the rains keep going.

The ongoing scenario in the Midwest is remarkably similar to The Great Flood of 1993. In both 1992 and 2018, heavy autumn and early winter precipitation saturated the soils. In both cases, relentless rains continued. In 1993, the downpours kept raking the area through at least July, causing extreme flooding, wrecking many towns and cities, including Davenport and Des Moines, Iowa.

It remains to be seen if the pattern of heavy rain will continue through the summer in the Midwest. For now, the wet pattern shows no signs of giving up.

The 1993 flood caused about $15 billion in damage (about $28 million in 2019 dollars).

This year, there has already been several billion dollars in flood damage since March in the nation's middle. That financial toll will continue to rise along with the river levels.

Next up: A video that shows how sudden and scary the flooding was in Davenport, Iowa when the temporary levee burst.  It shows employees in a restaurant called Roam fleeing in a nick of time as the water raced into the city. I'm glad the restaurant was closed at the time. Imagine the chaos if patrons also had to flee.

Here's the video:

Videos Show The Huge Extent Of Plains Flooding, Blizzard

Darlington, Wisconsin is just one of many communities in the middle
of the nation being hit hard by serious flooding now. 

This past week's big storm is gone and the nation has mercifully entered a period of quiet weather.

The large storm's last gasp was a round of locally severe thunderstorms last evening from southern New England through the Middle Atlantic states along the system's dying cold front.

There were reports of hail the size of half dollars in Newtown, Connecticut and numerous reports of storm-toppled trees in Pennsylvania.

In the Plains, the weather has turned sunny with light winds in areas affeced by the blizzard and flooding. But rivers in the region, including parts of the Missouri, have or are experiencing record crests.

Potential danger lies ahead of course. In the short term across our region, flood watches remain in effect today in much of Vermont and northern New York. It's much cooler today, but runoff continues from Friday's snow melt. That's making rivers rise enough to loosen ice, and the risk of ice jam flooding continues through the day today.

Flood damage in Nebraska as seen in this photo by
Nebraska State Police

Elsewhere, in the somewhat longer term, the northern reaches of Minnesota and Wisconsin still have tons of snow, so that could create some more serious flooding later in the spring.

Up in Montana, Idaho and some other parts of the Rocky Mountains, tremendous amounts of snow fell during a frigid February and early March. That has National Weather Service offices there putting out alerts to the public for the flood potential later on.

All that snow and ice seems destined to create flooding in Montana, especially if there's a fast warm-up. This would also cause another unwelcome surge of water down the Missouri River, which means there could be another destructive crest in eastern South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa later this spring.

Some snow melted in far northern New England, but there's a lot left, especially in northern Maine so that will have to be monitored.

But right now, people are focused on the immediate aftermath of this past week's monster storm, including continued flooding in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin, among other places.

There are, of course, lots of videos, and we have some samples below.

This view taken the day after the blizzard looks post-apocalyptic with all the abandoned cars, the low sun and the drifting snow on a flat landscape:



Here's a montage of scenes from the Colorado blizzard:



Drone video of flooding in Nebraska:



Another aerial shot showing how widespread the Nebraska flooding is. This is the city of North Bend:

Developing Odd Weather Pattern Creates Tragedy In Midwest

Tornado destruction in Marshalltown, Iowa Thursday. 

A key ingredient to an odd weather pattern that seems destined to bring flooding rains to the East Coast has already caused tragedy and destruction in the Midwest.

An unusually sharp trough of low pressure for this time of year touched off tornadoes and severe storms, especially in Iowa and Missouri.

As you probably saw on the news already, one of the severe storms swamped a so-called tourist "duck boat" on a Missouri resort lake, killing at least 11 people. Five are still missing.

A severe thunderstorm warning was issued about a half hour before the boat sank. Winds in the area gusted to 63 mph.

In Iowa, a swarm of tornadoes caused extensive damage, especially in and around the towns of Marshalltown and Pella. Ten people were injured in Marshalltown, which had widespread, extensive damage to homes and businesses. Video showed the tornado ripping the steeple off an iconic courthouse there.

Two tornadoes spin simultaneously near each
other in Iowa Thursday.

Seven people were injured in Pella.

Parts of South Dakota were swamped by heavy rain and flash flooding. More than eight inches of rain fell in Brookings in just a few hours.

Some videos are at the bottom of this post.

This storm will bring a threat of more tornadoes and severe thunderstorms today, especially in an area including Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and northern Alabama.

A map of the risk area resembles something you'd see in during the spring tornado season, not July, when severe storms are usually more isolated and sporadic.

The trough to the west will inspire what will amount to be a way out of season nor'easter Sunday, which will bring gusty winds and heavy rain to parts of the Northeast.

Even here in Vermont, they're talking about fairly strong downslope winds on the west slopes of the Green Mountains, something that's common in winter, but almost unheard of in July.

The low pressure to the west, and the Bermuda High strengthening to the east will result in a stalled weather pattern over the East most of next week. This pattern is still expected to bring boatloads of tropical moisture through the East with the risk of flooding rains.

It's still too soon to say which areas are most at risk for flooding.

Here's a video of the duck boat in Missouri being swamped by the severe storm as onlookers in a restaurant look on with increasing worry and horror:



A compilation of tornadoes destroying houses in Iowa:



Two simultaneous tornadoes near and in Bondurant, Iowa:



Tornado wrecking a courthouse in Marshalltown, Iowa:

Thank Goodness Big Hurricane Aletta Missed Land: Next Up: Bud And More Scary U.S. Rain

Intense Hurricane Aletta off Mexico's west coast Friday. 

Hurricane Aletta in the eastern Pacific Ocean didn't really get anyone hot and bothered except for weather geeks like me.

It spun up off the western Mexican coast in recent days.

At midweek it blossomed overnight from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane, with sustained winds of 140 mph. It's very unusual for a storm to intensify that fast, and of course there would have been real trouble had Aletta gotten close to land.

Thankfully, she headed west, away from land. All we got was the wow factor of seeing a hurricane intensify so fast and spectacular satellite photos and videos. Now, Aletta is getting into colder waters and stronger upper level winds. It's weakening, and should dissipate within a few days.

It's not weird for a hurricane to get going this early in the eastern Pacific. It IS odd, but certainly not unprecedented for a hurricane to get that strong so early in the season. It's the sixth earliest Category 4 storm in the eastern Pacific, notes Dr. Jeff Masters in his Category 6 blog.

Another eastern Pacific tropical storm seems almost certain to form any minute now. It will be named Bud and it could threaten Baja California with heavy rain, high surf and strong winds. It bears watching.

I like the name Bud for a tropical storm or hurricane but I still don't want it to hit land and cause havoc.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC RAINS, AGAIN!

Of more concern to people in the United States is a return to a weather pattern that brought destructive flooding during May to some areas in and near the Middle Atlantic States. and Midwest.

A generally west-to-east oriented weather front is forecast to waver back and forth over the central Plains, through the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys and into the Middle Atlantic States over the next week or more.

This will bring repeated rains, sometimes heavy to these regions.  The Middle Atlantic States had among their wettest Mays on record. Many areas flooded, like we saw in the Ellicott City, Maryland disaster. The Potomac River went into a high enough flood so that a fly fisherman was spotted in the Washington DC National Mall as the river's waters invaded that area.

Other areas, as far west as Iowa, have been suffering through this weather pattern, with flooding reported there, and more expected.

Evacuations due to flooding in Mason City, Iowa this week.
Via NorthIowaToday.com

I do think we will see more news of destructive and possibly flash floods in the areas I just mentioned over the course of  the next 10 days or so.

This weather pattern, with the wavering front well to our south, is and isn't perfect for us here in Vermont, either.

On the perfect side, it has been happily contributing to a long series of Goldilocks, Chamber of Commerce Days (Not too hot, not too cold, and plenty of sun for the tourists to enjoy.)

This trend will continue for the next few days at least.

But we are drying out, and very little rain is forecast here in Vermont over the next week. Some precipitation might fall toward the end of next week, but at this point it's looking way less than impressive.

We are still quite far from any worries about drought, though areas of abnormally dry conditions are starting to pop up in parts of New England, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

If this trend continues through the summer (a really BIG if), we could be looking at some problems with lack of water by August or so. Fortunately, weather patterns that start in May typically don't last through the whole summer.

The Annual Big Highway Snow Pileup Videos Are Up. Why Are People Such Idiots On Icy Roads?

It's snowing today here in Vermont, and we will see our usual batch of spinoffs, bumps, crashes and mishaps on the state's roads as some people are surely driving too fast for the conditions.

Deadly crash along snowy Interstate 35 in Iowa Monday,
caused in large part by stupid people. 

Vermont, like many northern states, are also prone to those spectacular, deadly big highway pileups in snowstorms, the kind that cause numerous deaths and injuries and involved dozens of cars.

Knock on wood, we haven't had anything like that lately. The last major one I can think of was a 12-car pileup on Interstate 89 in Bolton back in February, 2014.

These epic, major snowy pileups have been in the news this week for sure, with a bad one in Michigan and an even worse one near Ames, Iowa that on Monday along Interstate 35 killed one person,  injured five and involved up to 70 vehicles, says the Des Moines Register. That day, eight people died on icy road related crashes in Iowa and it wasn't even that huge a storm.

The Iowa Department of Transportation released a video of that Ames, Iowa pileup, which you can see at the bottom of this post. The video is striking in that it shows the bad behaviors that lead to this kind of tragedy. A lot of the ingredients that went into the Ames crash pop up in a lot of other icy highway pile ups.

You'll notice in the video that much of the snow has blown off the right lane of Interstate 35. But many motorists don't seem to realize the obvious. The compaction from tires has left a very thin skim of black ice on that lane. The pavement looks bare, but it's not.

Another view of that winter weather pileup on Interstate 35
near Ames, Iowa Monday. Photo form KCCI via AP

Also very noticeable in the video is the fact that it takes only a few idiots to cause a huge catastrophe.  Once the crashes start, a few speedy drivers, moving much too fast for the conditions, plow into stopped vehicles.

Notice that the majority of the motorists are driving relatively slow, and come to a safe stop, only to be slammed from the rear by these crazy, fast driving idiots.

Here's another thing that scares the bejeezus out of me when I'm traveling to and from work along Interstate 89 in snowstorms:

Tractor trailer trucks zoom past at high speeds, and you know they won't be able to stop if there's trouble ahead. Plus, they kick up an enormous amount of powdery snow, blinding other motorists like me.

In the Ames Iowa DOT video, you see several tractor trailer trucks moving at high speeds and plowing into other cars, causing most of the havoc. You'll also see some more responsible tractor trailer drivers moving at slow speeds, avoiding the accident only to again, by slammed from behind.

These lead-footed tractor trailer drivers really bother me the most, since the cause such carnage.

You see, many trucking companies are responsible, and encourage their employees to drive at safe speeds for the conditions, even if that makes deliveries a little later than anticipated.

Other trucking companies, though, are horrible. They pressure their drivers with unreasonable deadlines, encourage them to drive too fast, with not enough sleep or be fired.  I don't like over-regulation, but laws are too lax, and not enforced enough on trucking companies who put this kind o pressure on their drivers.

Apparently, among the less ethical trucking companies out there, killing a few people on a snowy highway is just a cost of doing business and nothing else. Scumbags.

Also in the video, you see some motorists who were not hit purposefuly drive into the ditch on the right side of the highway to avoid oncoming cars behind them. I'd probably do that.  Better to pay for a tow to get out of the ditch later than get hurt or killed by an oncoming truck.

Finally, you'll also notice a lot of people abandon their vehicles and run as far away from the crash zone as possible. Also smart. I'd rather freeze my tush off standing on in a snowstorm than get killed in the crashes.  Experts say it depends on the situation as to what you should do. Your seat belt can help you if there are subsequent crashes, and you could be run over if you're trying to flee.

However, if it's safe to do so, I'd still make a run for it. Especially if vehicles are on fire around you, or you risk getting trapped in your car by being sandwiched in by other vehicles.

Here's the dramatic Ames, Iowa video:

Tornado/Severe Weather Threat Growing Today In Parts Of The Midwest

The areas of the country in yellow and orange-especially the orange
areas, are at risk for tornadoes, strong thunderstorm winds and
large hail later today and tonight.

The chances of some tornadoes and severe thunderstorms is definitely growing for later this afternoon into tonight for parts of the Midwest, especially in Iowa, Missouri and the Ozarks.
Forecasters have been watching this area for the past few days, and things were definitely coming together as of early afternoon to produce some tornadoes, big hail and strong winds.

As always with severe weather outbreaks, it's hard to tell even a few hours in advance exactly how serious and widespread any tornadoes get.

But suffice it to say, look out if you live anywhere near this area. There is definitely a chance of tornadoes around there. Some of the tornadoes could be rather significant, as in on the stronger side with longer than average tracks.

As I wrote this early Monday afternoon, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center was poised to issue a tornado watch for most of Iowa.

I imagine tornado watches might be issues later for much of Missouri, northern Arkansas and western Illinois. In fact, there might end up being a slightly higher tornado risk in Missouri than in Iowa tonight. We'll see.

Some of these areas, especially in eastern Missouri and Illinois, dealt with some destructive tornadoes last week.

To the west of the severe storm risk area, a huge area of the Plains, from southern North Dakota all the way down to northern Texas and eastern New Mexico is under high wind warnings today.

Gusts could reach 70 mph, there's already reports of a lot of blowing dust and tractor trailers have been blown over in some areas. There's a high wildfire risk in parts of these areas.

No rest for the weary, I guess.

Iowa Floods Have Gotten Really Nasty

Flooding in Iowa in the past week. Photo
by Jim Slosiarek via Twitter.  

At least 5,000 people are evacuating from their homes in and near Cedar Rapids, Iowa this morning thanks to storms that dumped more than a foot of rain in some sections of that state and Minnesota in the past week.

The Des Moines Register reports this will be the worst flood since at least 2008, when the same area was inundated by record flooding.  

The good news is predictions for flood crests have been scaled back a little bit, so it won't be quite as bad as 2008.

But there's a caveat: More rain is in the forecast, and if the downpours are bad enough, it will actually make the rivers rise more than forecast. We'll have to wait and see.

Another good thing is what happened after the 2008 flood. The Des Moines Register said authorities bought out the owners of 1,350 homes that flooded in Cedar Rapids then. The houses were torn down, and the area is now green space. It's really not that bad if open parklands go under water

Better than if houses do.

Up in southern Minnesota, flood alerts remain up in that area, too. More rain and thunderstorms are due today. Already, homes and businesses in Albert Lea, Minnesota are flooded. 

The amount of rain forecast in southeastern Minnesota today - around an inch in quick downpours- would not normally be cause for worry. But since the ground is so saturated, it won't take much to renew flooding there. 

The Iowa flood is another example of what we've been through this summer in terms of flooding. As we know, extreme floods have hit West Virginia, Maryland and Louisiana in recent months. I guess the trend is continuing.

Iowa's Worst Winter Week: Caucuses, Then A Blizzard

It'll probably look like this on many
Iowa roads Tuesday. Blizzard watch in effect.

I bet there are a number of Iowans who just want this upcoming week to be over, thank you very much.

Politicians and their minions have been slinging totally obnoxious attack ads at each other Every Single Moment of Iowa TV, ahead of the presidential caucuses Monday night.

And, Phew! when that's finally over late Monday night, the attack ads stop in Iowa,.

But immediately following, a blizzard then attacks Iowa, as it looks now.  

A blizzard watch has been posted for all except southeastern Iowa from the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday through late Tuesday night.

A strong storm is forcast to emerge from the central Rocky Mountains and move through the center of the country on off toward the Great Lakes over the next few days. This will produce the likely blizzard, and as noted yesterday, a wide variety of other nasty weather for other parts of the country.

The blizzard watch also extends into eastern Nebraska, southern Minnesota and extreme southeastern South Dakota.

A good six to 12 inches of snow is expected with this thing in Iowa, with winds gusting well over 40 mph. That would create whiteout conditions, especially in the wide open areas of rural Iowa.

On the bright side, maybe Iowans can take all those politicians and late Monday night, drive them to a rural outpost far from any town and let them fend for themselves in Tuesday's blizzard.

Just kidding, folks!!!

I also wouldn't be surprised, as the storm draws closer, if blizzard watches or warnings were issued for some areas in a a stripe from Colorado, through the area in Iowa already covered by the blizzard watch, and on into Wisconsin.

Colorado is really going to be slammed by this thing, with a good three feet of snow in some of the mountains in that state.

Good for the ski areas, but they almost have too much of a good thing. Up at Steamboat Springs, Colorado,there's so much snow they don't know where to put it when they clear off streets, sidewalks and parking lots now.

Bigger cities like Denver and Colorado Springs can expect six to 12 inches at least out of this, along with strong winds and blizzard-like conditions.

OTHER STORM HAZARDS

Tornadoes/Severe storms:

This big storm is still likely to create an outbreak of severe weather and some tornadoes Tuesday in the lower Mississippi on up into places like Tennessee, Kentucky, southern Illinois and southern Indiana on Tuesday.

This probably won't be the biggest tornado outbreak ever, thank goodness, but any tornado that hits a built up area is potentiallly very deadly and very dangerous. So I'd watch out in those areas.

Although tornadoes are definitely a possibility in this area, a lot of people in the danger zone will experience a really nasty squall line with strong wind gusts and torrential rains.

This storm's cold front is still in California today, and might spin up a brief tornado today along the southern California coast, including in the very populated L.A. Basin and around San Diego. So heads up for that. dude!

Lots of wind:

High wind warnings, watches and wind advisories extend from the southern half of California today all the way to Texas, and parts of Arkansas and Louisiana.

This is a dynamic system, so it will make for lots of wind along its path. (Remember, that's a big part of the reason why there's a blizzard watch in Iowa.)

Today and Monday,  winds could gust as high as 75 mph in the high deserts and mountain passes of southern California, well east of Los Angeles and San Diego.

Strong, dry winds associated with this developing storm is raising the risk of wildfires today in parts of West Texas and New Mexico.

Though it's too soon to start issuing wind advisories and watches in the eastern half of the nation, this storm will probably raise the risk of strong, possibly damaging winds in a few locations around the Great Lakes and Northeast.

High temperatures/floods

In the East, I'm still expecting the storm to bring a surge of warm air and rain from Florida to Maine.

In parts of the central Appalachians that got hammered by the blizzard more than a week ago, the combination of rain and melting snow could touch off some flooding.

I don't expect a widespread flood disaster at all, but it's something to watch for people who live in low lying areas there.

Up in New England, where snow cover is below normal, this will surely frustrate skiers and riders. They can expect bouts of rain tonight, Monday and Wednesday, and temperatures Monday and Wednesday that could threaten record highs. All this would damage what snow cover there is in places like northern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Don't worry, winter lovers. It will turn colder after the storm goes by on Wednesday, and the chill might stay awhile. The ski resorts will make snow, and a series of small storms mid-month will gradually put more and more snow on the ground.

Surprising Iowa Tornado This Past Friday

Large tornado near Hospers, Iowa Friday.  

Here's proof that despite all the good forecasting systems now in place, you can still get an unexpected tornado outbreak.

At least five tornadoes spun up in western Iowa, north of Sioux City on Friday. They hit mostly rural areas, but there was damage. This included at least one house that lost its roof.

The weird thing about these tornadoes is they weren't highly anticipated at all. And they took advantage of just the briefest window of conditions that were conducive to twisters.

Almost always, hours or even a day or so before a cluster of tornadoes, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center will release maps showing at least a marginal risk of severe storms in an area where twisters eventually hit.

This time, the Storm Prediction Center only said there might be thunderstorms in the area, but they wouldn't be severe.

All this goes to prove the Storm Prediction Center is great at forecasting severe weather, but sometimes - not often - conditions break out unexpectedly to prompt bad storms at the last minute.

Even when the tornadoes were ongoing, the prediction center Friday evening put out one of their forecast discussions, saying they would not issue a tornado watch for the area, since the conditions that helped create the tornadoes would rapidly come to an end.

Sure enough, shortly after that statement was released, the thunderstorms producing the tornadoes rapidly weakened Friday evening.

The takeaway for all of us: If there are predictions of possible severe weather hours or days in advance, yes definitely pay attention.

But also keep an eye to the skies, and take any last minute, unexpected warnings seriously.  Things can and do develop in a moment's notice.

Here's a video of one of the Iowa tornadoes:  

Incredibly Rare, Tragic and Deadly Twin Tornadoes In Nebraska

Twin tornadoes leave Pilger, Nebraska after devastating
the town on Monday. Photo by Steve Silberman. 

I don't think I've ever seen this:

Two very large tornadoes marched through parts of Nebraska side by side this afternoon, killing at least one person and injuring many more

The two tornadoes teamed to devastate the tiny town of Pilger, Nebraska.   

I have seen cases in which a large tornado roars through an area, accompanied by a small, satellite tornado.

But I can't remember ever seeing enormous, strong tornadoes shoulder to shoulder, causing twin paths of destruction.

The severe weather outbreak has been going on all day, and continuous this evening.

Tornadoes continue to spin through the region. Winds gusted as high as 96 mph in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.   Once again, there have been numerous reports of basebaill sized hail.

Torrential rains falling from storms repeatedly raking over the same areas of South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska has touched off severe flooding.

As the storms continue tonight, the flooding will get worse.  Overall, this might not be the worst tornado outbreak the Great Plains has ever seen, but the combination of twisters, huge hail, incredible winds and Noah's Ark style floods is causing what will probably amount to billions of dollars in damage.

That's especially true that these severe storms have been going on almost daily in the region since the start of the month. This is truly an extreme weather event in a year of extreme weather events

Here's a video of the incredible twin tornadoes in Nebraska.

Beautiful Sky High View Of Showers, Storms Over Midwest

I flew yesterday from Burlington, Vermont to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

In the final leg of the flight between Chicago and Sioux Falls, our flight went past clusters of showers and thunderstorms.

These views of the beautiful structures of even routine, garden variety storms might be old hat to seasoned travelers, but I still think the clouds are worth really, really looking at

And photographing. So I took out my iPhone during the flight and snapped away. If other passengers on the flight thought I was weird, too bad.

It's just nice to get a perspective on these complicated cloud systems from the air. It helped that it was evening, so the low sun angle made the clouds appear especially beautiful and dramatic.

So check out the clouds and storms from Saturday, somewhere over, I think Iowa.

As always, click on the photos to make them bigger and easier to see.

My New Favorite Local News Anchor Rips Whining Viewers Who Didn't Like Tornado Warnings

My new favorite local television news anchor is Nancy Naeve of KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Nancy Naeve of KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
She put whiners who complained about tornado warnimgs
aired on the station in their place.  

I've actually watched her on TV before, when I'm visiting my in-laws in South Dakota. But I didn't know I should be this impressed with her until now.

Here's why: KSFY interrupted regularly scheduled programming Sunday evening because tornadoes were spinning through nearby Iowa.

The station, as all television outlets in Tornado Alley tend to do, go into full update mode, telling people exactly where the tornado is, which neighborhoods should take cover immediately, what people should do, and how the storm is developing.

You can get weather warnings anywhere of course, but local TV is arguably the best, because you can watch their constantly updated storm maps, their TV meteorologists are experts in severe storms and the reporters know everything about the area, so the warnings and alerts tend to be timely, informative and accurate.

In other words, stations like KSFY save lives during tornadoes.

Well.  To some people Sunday evening, KSFY's tornado coverage was a High Crime Against Humanity. The tornado warnings pre-empted the season finale of the show "Once Upon A Time."

The viewers inundated the station with HUGE amounts of hate messages, many too vile to print here, because KSFY deprived viewers of the immediate ability to watch the season finale of a really bad TV show about storybook characters pretending they're on "Dynasty" or something.

Yes, it's vaguely annoying at first to be greeted with weather warnings on TV when the tornadoes are nowhere near you. For instance, Sunday, most of the bad weather was in western Iowa while most of South Dakota was relatively calm.

In fact, I, at first, initially get frustrated when TV programming is interrupted by severe weather that's not affecting me.

Then I remember: Next time it could be your house that's under the gun in severe weather, as the excellent Nancy Naeve pointed out to viewers as she angrily berated the whining views who sent the hate messages to KSFY.

Here's part of what Naeve said, as reported by Capital Weather Gang:

"I tell you what. Quit calling and ripping Shawn (KSFY's meteorologist) for being on the air to save people's lives..No show is as important as someone's life. You aren't going to gon the air if it's not important. And people just berated our station for him being on the air. I tell you waht, if it was your home and your neighbors, you would feel differently. So please, don't do that. That's not nice."

As Naeve also pointed out, people who were missing the exalted "Once Upon A Time" season finale could have just gone to ABC.com on their computer and watched it there.

Bonus: Naeve is a dog lover, like me, according to her bio on KSFY's web site.

Here's the must-watch video, as Naeve confronted viewers on the Monday morning after the tornadoes:


 KSFY went on th