Strange weather

Atlas Knife Company

Atlas Knife Company

Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Messages
3,668
For the second time in a week, a big storm coming through Kansas has split in the middle with half going north through Nebraska and the other half going east towards St Louis, completely missing most of Iowa. It's not that I mind the rain. It's just that I haven't seen a storm split down the middle like that before.

I keep trying to plan to get my anvil post hole dug and the post mounted in concrete, but the weather keeps changing and not doing what it's supposed to do.
 
The weather here is doing strange things too. As a child I never remember so many tornado's in NC. There were a few closer to the coast. Nothing this far west. My wife and I are actually thinking about building a small shelter.
 
I've been in Utah(SLC) last week and it was raining ALL THE TIME. The rain was changing to tunderstorm sometimes. Locals said they do not remember a weather like that.
 
We've been writing short poems about it on another website.
I collected two from a friend and two of my responses: Witch Weather.

Monday, May 23, 2011

May 2011 Witch Weather

fwtho:
painted water

From whence we came
and whence we go,
ever aware of
cruel water's flow.

urban poet:
"I came like Water and like Wind I go."

by flood or by tornado
we lose the world we know
and watch the news
new homes to choose
not knowing where to go

fwtho:
painted water

"sixty-four feet she'll come
raising to the floor"
we pack our things, our harps and rings,
then, neatly lock the door.

urban poet:
painful water

the good lord willing and the creeks don't rise
mississippi river wider than the skies
open the levee and save the city
cajun people get no pity
Click to expand...
 
Trust me - it's pretty interesting from inside the mess, too.
Saturday we had 10 minutes warning between the first roll of thunder (while standing in bright sunlight) to the downpour w/hail.
Fortunately, I live North of the Ks River, and the softball sized hail stayed South of it. (so did the tornadoes)
Monday morning first thing I called the family living in Joplin.
Today I've been watching the storm system roll across the N half of the state and roll back on itself all the way back to Lincoln. (big system)
Hoping the worst of it is done by the time I have to drive from KC back to Topeka this afternoon.
 
Was watching a news report on Joplin yesterday. Historic devastation. I hope the survivors can put their lives together quickly.
 
Some crazy powerful storms out there this season.

As for storms splitting, it happens all the time here in West Texas. I've been missed by so many storms from them splitting in the western South Plains, that I almost expect it.

I was watching an interview with a meteorologist the other day, and they were asking questions about this particular tornado season. Turns out, the number and intensity of storms isn't really any different than prior years, it's just that they're hitting such large populated areas. Perhabs its the current jet stream pattern with La Nina firmly in place. Out here in West Texas, we haven't seen a measurable rainfall since October, whereas we're usually rolling with squall lines and thunderstorms. The dry line is staying much further east than is typical for us. Maybe later in the summer, things will work back west to reach us, because we sure need the rain. Last year was a record crop in the cotton fields; this year we'll be lucky if anything survives the spring.

--nathan
 
It's going to be ugly this evening in N central OK & S central Ks (OKC to about 50 miles N of Wichita)
This is a lot like the weather in 91 when Andover, Ks got flattened and again in 99 when Norman Ok caught it. (then Norman had a sequel in May 09)
 
And last night we had 5" of rain, tennis ball sized hail, and 60 MPH winds. The good news: the pond overflow is clear and the pond is only up a couple inches!
 
Send some of that our way. This is now the third worst drought in Texas history with over 50% of the state being classified as a D4 exceptional drought, which is the highest it goes. And it's the absolute lowest rainfall over 6 months that we've seen in Lubbock in 100 years including the dust bowl era. They're whining in DC about 100* weather when it's been flirting with and above 100* for a month here with no rain to boot, and it probably won't change over the next 3 months. I haven't seen precip enough to wet the ground since October. I've never seen ground cover this dry and ready to flame up. Unwatered grass and weeds literally just snap off like they've been freeze-dried.

Anyway watch your head with tennis ball size hail. That's no fun at all. I've seen cracked and pitted concrete sidewalks from hail just a tad bigger than that.

--nathan
 
zaph1 said:
And last night we had 5" of rain, tennis ball sized hail, and 60 MPH winds. The good news: the pond overflow is clear and the pond is only up a couple inches!
Click to expand...

Wichita, ks had 3" of rain and several tornadoes in the area last night - 2 hours north of there I got to watch the squall line stop about 10 miles west of me, but could hear the thunder while the system rolled to the north around us.
 
About $3000 body damage on my car from the hail. The weather service says only 2.6" of rain, but I've got a bucket on the deck that shows 6.5" of rain.
 
This is a loop of yesterday's radar. It shows the storms moving east and west away from us, as well as storms creating to the north. The sky was sunny and the wind calm, but with these massive thunderheads all around us on the horizon.

[youtube]RTK0yGKEOlQ[/youtube]
 
Haha...cool stuff, Zaph. Weather does some crazy things sometimes. It hit 113F here the other day. In Palo Duro canyon, the temperature at the trail head in the bottom maxed out the thermometer at 130F. In June, we had 17 days over 100F. It's the driest 9 month period for Lubbock ever recorded. Hope it rains, and rains a lot real soon. As it is, there will be very little cotton this year, and the fields are so dry the dirt is starting to break down into powder. I'm starting to worry about the long term agricultural impact that this year is going to have....

--nathan
 
Send some to Oklahoma also. I have guys that have had .9 since last August. West part of the state is burnt up. Wheat crop was half normal and record livestock sales the last three weeks because of no pasture and no hay.
 
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