Nebraska Weather (build, summer, driving)

[lisalynn]

tpabes.. do you live in Grand Island, I live on the South Side of Grand Island out by the South Locust Wal-Mart, we watched that storm head for Aurora/Phillips area, unbelievable.......

[DOUBLE H]

Hi Lisalynn! I talk with tpabes every now and then, I believe he lives in Hastings. I saw that thing on the weather channel and on the NBC today show, pretty scary stuff!

[tpabes]

Yep I live near Hastings now. Use to live in GI, grew up in Kearney and also lived in Omaha.

Basically what I have heard is that it was a 1/4 mile wide and possibly an EF3. The Iams plant lost roof and walls especially in there warehousing area. There were oveturned pivots and downed powerlines and a couple farms got it really bad. From the same storm, but differnet tornado there was pivots overturned and damage to a farm north of Gibbon.

There were also several storms with big hail and winds in other areas of the state and I know the Norfolk area was under a warning for awhile but haven't heard anything.

Could be another round tonight, especially eastern and northern Nebraska.

[tpabes]

JournalStar.com - Lincoln, Nebraska - News - Local

[Sandhills Guru]

I was down to my Mom's to clean up after last nights aftermath. She lives in Rising City, Butler County. They received high winds and hail late last night. Seen a couple trees uprooted in town, she mainly had 4-10" limbs broken from trees.

[Ok Husker]

I am curious. Do you feel like you have good weather advisory on your TV stations when severe weather is threatening? On occasion, when I have been visiting in Ne and severe weather is approaching, my hosts don't seem concerned (?) and there doesn't seem to be much on tv regarding storm info--expected path, presence/absence of hail, circular rotation, etc. They are on cable--but I don't know that that would make a difference. Living in tornado alley in Ok, I couldn't avoid tv coverage of severe weather if I tried. IMO the forecasters do a great job and have leading edge equipment to do their jobs. The meteorologists take over the broadcast time entirely during tornado warnings and provide excellent advance information. Now at least one of the regional tv stations offers a "weather call' subscription service. Subscribers are alerted via phone &/or email when tornado &/or severe weather &/or flash flood warnings are in their immediate area--24/7. Subscriber selects which type of warning and delivery system (phone etc) he wishes and pinpoints home location on aerial map. I think it is a great system and costs about $6/yr for entire subscription. At least 1 town government has subscribed for all residents. I find it much easier to go to bed at night especially in tornado season since I know I will receive an alert if pending storm. This service may be widely available throughout the country--I don't know.

[SCGranny]

We can't rely on TV where we are; there's simply too many miles between their stations and our homes. We have a weather radio at home and at work, but it is pretty general too when it comes to distances and locations. The BEST way we keep track for impending storms is via Internet; I use wunderground.com, friends use weather.com, etc. You can see rotation, etc in the radar in time frames and in real time. I have some experience (old age) with being able to determine how far out and how bad a storm might be by being aware of the winds - if a front is coming from the NW and the winds are stll from the SE, it will be at least an hour or more before we get anything; once the wind shifts to the NW, it'll be 15-20 mins at the most before we get 'weather'. (Lows "suck", Highs "Blow".) The longer the wind blows, how strong it is blowing, how it picks up -all are indications. If it has been blowing a good steady breeze, then suddenly STOPS and all is still - that's trouble. If it has been blowing warm and then suddenly changes to cold - trouble. Remember the "going green" from the movie "Twister"? That is a pretty definite indication of tornadic activity close by - when the clouds and even the sun's glow take on a truly green tinge. Snow, hail, and rain all have their own peculiar smells, too...

Usually I can tell a storm is on its way long before the weather radio goes off, even at night - the blinds at the open windows suddenly clang, the wind current changes in the room. Our house sits square, N/S/E/W and faces south, so I can hear the increase or decrease in the wind, or when the wind changes direction, pretty well. As for worrying and panicking - there's no point. If you can feel a sudden drop in the barometric pressure (usually in your sinuses, and sometimes my ears "pop"), it might be time to head to the basement. (Where we used to live, around hurricanes, we would take pregnant women to the hospital early on - because the low pressure of the hurricane would often put them into labor if they were near term!) Otherwise, fleeing to the basement would be a constant exercise! With the pretty much constant wind out here anyway, everything that CAN be blown away is already tied down - and what a tornado can damage with its sudden violence, there isn't much you can do to prevent it.

While I applaud "early Warning systems" for their diligent attempts at discovering more and faster ways to keep people safe; bluntly, being as prepared as possible, and with an attitude that "It COULD happen, any day, any hour - I will deal" and knowing what to do are the best approaches from an individual's viewpoint. I don't depend on anyone else to keep me and mine safe; all too often dependence can set you up for grief.

[Gunluvver2]

I grew up in Eastern Colorado close to the CO,KS and NE corners. In the summertime most of the storms came in from the SouthWest. Tornadoes were almost exclusively from the SouthWest. In the Winter blizzards usually came in from the NorthWest. Rain never came in from the East.

I left CO after High School to go to college in the East end of Nebraska. I depended on a motorcycle for transportation. I remember one nice summer day I was out riding around. There were rain clouds off to the East but I wasn't concerned because it was Blue sky to the West. Twenty minutes later I was right in the middle of a thunderstorm and soaking wet. IT CAN RAIN from the East LOL. Since that incident 40 years ago I have seen it rain from the East several times. What a difference 300 miles can make in weather patterns.

GL2

[Shadow Dude]

What is a 'Tornado Vortex Structure' and what is the difference between 'A Thunderstorm, A Supercell Thunderstorm, and a Derecho'? In a native style of explaining not dictionary style.



*Californian*

[Gunluvver2]

Originally Posted by Shadow Dude

What is a 'Tornado Vortex Structure' and what is the difference between 'A Thunderstorm, A Supercell Thunderstorm, and a Derecho'? In a native style of explaining not dictionary style.



*Californian*

***********************************************
My definitions:
A thunderstorm. Lots of rain, thunder and lightning. Sometimes hail.
A SuperCell Thunderstorm: Really high windspeeds. Lots of rain, thunder, lightning and most certainly hail.
Derecho: A term I have never heard.
Tornado Vortex Structure: Something you might hear on the WEATHER CHANNEL.

Over the years I have seen many thunderstorms and tornadoes. I have had three almost fatal encounters with tornadoes and have seen many of them from a safe distance. The three potentially fatal encounters were at night. One incident was in OKC in 1969 when I was running for cover and a huge Holiday Inn sign blew on top of me pinning me to the ground. The other two were while driving a big rig at night. Those two incidents happened on a stretch of I-80 between Ogallala and North Platte, Nebraska within a week of each other. In the Plains country of Eastern Colorado, Western Nebraska and Kansas if you keep a watch for them you will probably see two or three tornadoes in the months between May and August. The signs are so obvious during daylight hours they usually allow time to react. The clues at night are not so obvious.

GL2