Tempest Chasing » Historical Weather

Historic May Flood: 1 Year After

Kelton Halbert — Sun, 01 May 2011 21:06:00 +0000

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of the historic May Flooding, which impacted so many lives across the south, including Nashville. It is hard to believe that it has already been a year, especially with how well the cleanup has come along. This is a day that many will never forget; which is why I wanted to make this post. There is no new information since the flood, or any new breaking news that will change the way we look at this event. This is just a recap for any and all who are interested. I also did not want this to be entirely forgotten in light of April’s historic tornado outbreak. It isn’t to play down what has happened, because it is extremely tragic, but to remind people that there are still others that are recovering emotionally, even a year later. This is also to praise Nashville and Middle Tennessee for how they handled themselves; everyone played a part and helped their community, because not one of us was unaffected in some way. I am proud of how well Nashville as a whole helped their community and helped strangers. It is a miracle of God that Nashville has risen to the challenge, and for that, I am thankful. P.S., check out the video at the bottom!

The effects of the flood were many. The rainfall totals set the record for all time rainiest day in Tennessee. However, it did much more than that. According to the National Weather Service, property damage is estimated to have been in the hundreds of millions of dollars. 18 people died as a result in Middle Tennessee alone; with over 27 deaths in both Tennessee and Kentucky last year. Again, it set the record for most rain in 1 day, TWICE! On Saturday, May 1st (2010) 6.32 inches of rain were measured, the 2nd highest on record. This lasted for one day, and Sunday, May 2nd, recorded 7.25 inches of rain. Some areas over Mid Tn saw between 15-20 inches of rain (See the image at right). This completely obliterated all records for both 1 day and 2 day rainfall totals! According to the National Weather Service, they began taking rainfall measurements in the early 1870s, which is well over 50,000 days of rainfall measurements. That is the full scope of how historic this event was.

How and why did this event happen? Even though there were several minor factors that contributed to this event, the main influence was a very slow moving low pressure system, which caused a front to stall over the state of Tennessee. This allowed for an unusual amount of gulf moisture to pour into Middle Tennessee for the two days that it rained. With the front stalled and a limitless supply of moisture, it just kept raining. As visible in the image to the left, Nashville saw the equivalent of a 1,000 year flood! Some rivers saw new cresting records, including the Cumberland River at Clarksville, which crested at 62.58 feet – 5 feet higher than the last record! The Harpeth River also reach new crest records in 3 different locations; Franklin, Bellevue, and Kingston Springs. In Kingston Springs, the water was so high that it washed away the gauges! The river in Kingston Springs was estimated to have risen to 46 feet, which is 14 feet higher than the previous record. I could go on and on with records, because each and every river, stream, or tributary shattered previous records. I think everybody gets the point though; it was really, really wet!

What could be done better next time this happens? Because let’s face it… we are told that this is a 1,000 year flood, but what do we see around us year after year? We see records being shattered all of the time. Some say we may not see this again in our lifetime; I say our climate is unpredictable and it is entirely within the realm of possibility this could happen again. Will we know for sure? No. But what we can do is learn from events like these and try to prepare for the next one.

The National Weather Service is working on a better way to deliver flood warnings. Even though they had continuous flood warnings, people still felt unwarned. Better, more graphical ways of warning people are being looked into. The lack of realtime rainfall data is also a problem. However, more rain and flood gauges have been installed, and now there are 26 new rainfall sites in Davidson County. This will help forecasters better predict flooding in the future. These are just a few things that the National Weather Service is working on doing better. However, I applaud them for the excellent job they did with this event. They did the very best they could, and did save lives with their timely warnings.

Hopefully we will not have to deal with this ever again, but it is always best to prepare. I hope this post was informative to those looking for information. ALL of this information came directly from the National Weather Service in Nashville.

Source: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=ohx&storyid=67318&source=0

Confirmed Tornadoes from April’s Historic Tornado Outbreak

Kelton Halbert — Sun, 01 May 2011 03:50:26 +0000

I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates regarding this historic tornado outbreak. At first I was hesitant to post anything because of the wealth of the information already on the internet; I did not want to add any clutter or confusion or misinformation with such a historic event. However, I have been noticing over the last few days that a LOT of people have been visiting this website for more information, so I have decided to provide what info I can regarding this event. Please note that there is a lot of information out there, both good and misinformed. I will do my best to post the most accurate info I can, but please, check this against other reliable sources! Most of the tornado information will come directly from the National Weather Service, while information such as the death toll and missing persons toll will be tough to find accurately. Anyway, here is what most of you are looking for.

The following information is regarding the tornado outbreak as a whole. Below this is a per-state basis of tornadoes and their damage surveys.

On the day of April 27th, 2011, there have been a total of 259 PRELIMINARY reports of tornadoes. This does not meant here were 259 tornadoes, but rather several reports of the same tornado as it tore through each state. The actual number of tornadoes estimated by NOAA is ~~211~~ 312, with the potential for more as storm surveys continue across the south. This shatters the record from the Super Outbreak of 1974, with the previous record being 148 tornadoes confirmed. As far as fatalities, at least 334 people died in a 24 hour period and 344 people in a 48 hour period. This is the deadliest 2 day outbreak since April 1936 and the single deadliest day since March, 1925. The Tuscaloosa tornado alone killed 65 people when it ripped through last week. These are the most fatalities in a single tornado since 1955, when a tornado went through Udall, Kansas, killing 75. If anyone is interested, this information is coming directly from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. The source is linked at the bottom of this post.

Tornadoes in the State of Alabama

Here is the current standing total of tornadoes in Alabama, followed by storm surveys.

The image at right also shows tornado tracks in the Mid-Alabama region. As of 9 PM April 30th, 2011, 11 tornadoes have been confirmed and surveyed in the Birmingham, Alabama area. Surveys will be continuing into the week, so this number is likely to rise. There is currently 1 EF-1 tornado confirmed, 2 EF-2 tornadoes, 2 EF-3 tornadoes, 4 tornadoes that are EF-3 or greater (surveys not yet complete), 1 tornado at least EF-4 or greater (survey not yet complete), and 1 EF-5 tornado. There are several other unconfirmed tornado damage paths, and it will be several more days before surveys are complete. As it stands, a large majority of the over 300 deaths from this outbreak have taken place in Alabama, as well as over 1,700 injuries across the state. Also, this tornado data is for Central Alabama, with several more tornadoes in Northern Alabama. Unfortunately, the information for Northern Alabama is not as plentiful at this time. Because the survey is so long, here is a link to a text file for the entire preliminary survey. http://tempestchasing.com/alabama_summary.html

Tornadoes in the State of Mississippi

Mississippi was also hit hard by a series of tornadoes, including another EF-5 rated tornado, the 2nd in the state’s history. I currently do not know the number of tornadoes in Mississippi. Again, this summary is quite long, so here is a link to a text version. http://tempestchasing.com/mississippi_summary.html

Tornadoes in the State of Tennessee

Lastly, some tornadoes did occur in Tennessee, including Rutherford County. Here are the surveys. http://tempestchasing.com/tennessee_sumary.html

Hopefully this information is useful to those who are looking. I hope I have provided both accurate and current information, but I SINCERELY apologize if any of this is false or out of date. It has been difficult to find both accurate and timely information, but I feel like this holds true to the facts currently out there. Here are the sources used in this post; feel free to verify the information and check against others!

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/april_2011_tornado_information.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110429/ap_on_re_us/us_severe_weather_125

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bna/

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hun/

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/meg/

Confirmed Tornadoes from Monday

Kelton Halbert — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 01:35:30 +0000

The National Weather Service in Nashville conducted storm surveys after Monday’s incredible severe weather outbreak. There were 3 confirmed tornadoes in Middle Tennessee, all 3 of which were rated EF-1 and wind speeds were over 100 MPH. This outbreak will be one for the history book, as there were 1,377 severe weather reports in a 24 hour period. 43 reports of tornadoes, 89 reports of hail (1 report of hail greater than 2 inches), and 1,245 severe wind damage reports (6 of which were greater than 65 kts). This is certainly a historic event. During this event, I had the privilege of being a volunteer radar analyst at the Wilson County EMA, and got to learn the system of taking NWS warnings and bringing it to the public. The Wilson did a fantastic job, sounding their sirens on time and accurately without crying wolf, as happened in Nashville during the event. The guys over there were really great, and I hope to volunteer there more often. But, to the important stuff, here are the storm surveys of the tornadoes.

EF-1 Tornado Confirmed in Dickson County…Straight Line Winds Caused Damage Around Montgomery Bell Park and White Bluff

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
558 PM CDT TUE APR 5 2011

…EF-1 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN DICKSON COUNTY TENNESSEE…
…STRAIGHT LINE WINDS CAUSED DAMAGE AROUND MONTGOMERY BELL PARK AND
WHITE BLUFF…

DATE…APRIL 4, 2011
ESTIMATED TIME (RADAR)…1333 – 1341 CDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING…EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED…110 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH…150 YARDS
PATH LENGTH…7.3 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON…36.0952 N / 87.5390 W
ENDING LAT/LON…36.0845 N / 87.4099 W
FATALITIES…0
INJURIES…0

* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT(S) AND PUBLICATION IN NWS
STORM DATA.

…SUMMARY…
A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT TEAM HAS CONFIRMED A
TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR TENNESSEE CITY IN DICKSON COUNTY ON
APRIL 4, 2011.

INITIAL DAMAGE WAS NOTED ALONG HWY 70 APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE WEST OF
TENNESSEE CITY IN WESTERN DICKSON COUNTY. DAMAGE WAS NEARLY
CONTINUOUS ALONG A 7.3 MILE TRACK INTO THE WEST SIDE OF THE CITY OF
DISCKSON. THE LAST EVIDENCE OF DAMAGE WAS JUST WEST OF DICKSON
LAKE. THE MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH OF THE TORNADO WAS NEARLY 150 YARDS.

HUNDREDS OF HARDWOOD TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED ALONG THE
DAMAGE PATH. SEVERAL STRUCTURES EXPERIENCED SIGNIFICANT ROOF DAMAGE
INCLUDING A FIRE HALL IN TENNESSEE CITY. SEVERAL OUTBUILDINGS AND
BARNS WERE ALSO HEAVILY DAMAGED.

AN ADDITIONAL SURVEY NEAR MONTGOMERY BELL PARK TO WHITE BLUFF
REVEALED STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE. SEVERAL HOMES SUFFERED MINOR
ROOF DAMAGE…DOZENS OF TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED…AND A
COUPLE OUTBUILDINGS WERE TOPPLED. MAXIMUM WIND SPEEDS WERE
ESTIMATED TO BE NEAR 90 MPH.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE DICKSON
COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE WITH THESE
SURVEYS.

THIS INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/OHX.

FOR REFERENCE…THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO
THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0…WIND SPEEDS 65 TO 85 MPH.
EF1…WIND SPEEDS 86 TO 110 MPH.
EF2…WIND SPEEDS 111 TO 135 MPH.
EF3…WIND SPEEDS 136 TO 165 MPH.
EF4…WIND SPEEDS 166 TO 200 MPH.
EF5…WIND SPEEDS GREATER THAN 200 MPH.

EF-1 Tornado Confirmed in Waverly

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
545 PM CDT TUE APR 5 2011

...EF-1 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN WAVERLY TENNESSEE / HUMPHREYS COUNTY...

DATE...APRIL 4, 2011
ESTIMATED TIME (RADAR)...1319 - 1322 CDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...100 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...75 YARDS
PATH LENGTH...2.9 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON...36.0841 N / 87.8069 W
ENDING LAT/LON...36.0850 N / 87.7550 W
FATALITIES...0
INJURIES...0

* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT(S) AND PUBLICATION IN NWS
STORM DATA.

...SUMMARY...
A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT TEAM HAS CONFIRMED A
TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR WAVERLY TENNESSEE IN HUMPHREYS COUNTY ON
APRIL 4, 2011.

INITIAL DAMAGE WAS NOTED JUST WEST OF WAVERLY NEAR THE INTERSECTION
OF BOWEN HILLS DRIVE AND HWY 70.  THE DAMAGE CONTINUED DIRECTLY
THROUGH DOWNTOWN WAVERLY FOR APPROXIMATELY 2.9 MILES.  THE LAST
EVIDENCE OF DAMAGE WAS NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF FAIRFIELD DRIVE AND
HWY 70.  THE DAMAGE PATH WAS VERY NARROW...WITH A MAXIMUM WIDTH OF
ONLY 75 YARDS.

IN ADDITION TO DOZENS OF SNAPPED AND UPROOTED TREES...SEVERAL
BUSINESSES IN WAVERLY SUFFERED SIGNIFICANT ROOF DAMAGE.  SIGNS AND
OVERHANGS WERE ALSO TORN OFF BY THE WINDS...AND THERE WERE SEVERAL
HOMES AND VEHICLES CRUSHED BY FALLING TREES.

AN ADDITIONAL SURVEY NEAR MCEWEN IN EASTERN HUMPHREYS COUNTY
REVEALED STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE.  A CARPORT WAS
DESTROYED...SEVERAL HOMES SUFFERED MINOR ROOF DAMAGE...AND DOZENS OF
TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED.  MAXIMUM WIND SPEEDS WERE ESTIMATED
TO BE 80 TO 90 MPH.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE HUMPHREYS
COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE WITH THESE
SURVEYS.

THIS INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/OHX.

FOR REFERENCE...THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO
THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0...WIND SPEEDS 65 TO 85 MPH.
EF1...WIND SPEEDS 86 TO 110 MPH.
EF2...WIND SPEEDS 111 TO 135 MPH.
EF3...WIND SPEEDS 136 TO 165 MPH.
EF4...WIND SPEEDS 166 TO 200 MPH.
EF5...WIND SPEEDS GREATER THAN 200 MPH.

EF-1 Tornado Confirmed SE Davidson and NW Rutherford

000
NOUS44 KOHX 052317 CCA
PNSOHX
TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075-077>080-093>095-060230-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT…CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
321 PM CDT TUE APR 5 2011

…TORNADO CONFIRMED IN EXTREME SOUTHERN DAVIDSON COUNTY AND
NORTHWEST RUTHERFORD COUNTY TENNESSEE…

LOCATION…SOUTH OF CANE RIDGE PARK IN DAVIDSON COUNTY TO NEAR
SMYRNA IN RUTHERFORD COUNTY
DATE…APRIL 4, 2011
ESTIMATED TIME…2:20 – 2:24 PM CDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING…EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED…104 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH…100 YARDS
PATH LENGTH…4.19 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON…35.98 N / 86.65 W
ENDING LAT/LON…35.98 N / 86.57 W
FATALITIES…0
INJURIES…0

* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT(S) AND PUBLICATION IN NWS
STORM DATA.

…SUMMARY…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NASHVILLE TN HAS CONFIRMED A TORNADO
IN EXTREME SOUTHERN DAVIDSON COUNTY AND NORTHWEST RUTHERFORD
COUNTY IN TENNESSEE ON APRIL 4, 2011.

THE EF1 TORNADO BEGAN ALONG THE DAVIDSON AND WILLIAMSON COUNTY
LINE…ALONG KIDD ROAD. THE DAMAGE PATH EXTENDED EAST ACROSS
BATTLE ROAD…WALDRON ROAD…ALONG BLAIR ROAD…AND ENDING NEAR
INTERSTATE 24 AND SAM RIDLEY PARKWAY. THE DAMAGE PATH RANGED FROM
50 TO 100 YARDS WIDE. DAMAGE WAS VERY CONSISTENT ALONG THE
PATH…WHICH WAS JUST OVER 4 MILES LONG.

THE DEBRIS PATTERN SHOWED CLEAR CONVERGENT PATTERNS…AND
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS SUPPORT THE DETERMINATION THAT A TORNADO
CAUSED THE DAMAGE. NUMEROUS POWER POLES WERE SNAPPED. HUNDREDS OF
TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. SOME HAD LARGE ROOT SYSTEMS. SOME
SMALL STORAGE BUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED. NUMEROUS HOMES HAD ROOF
AND SIDING DAMAGE. SEVERAL FENCES WERE BLOWN DOWN. DEBRIS WAS
SCATTERED HUNDREDS OF YARDS. A TRACTOR TRAILER WAS BLOWN OVER ON
INTERSTATE 24. SEVERAL CARGO TRAILERS WERE OVERTURNED BY I 24.

THANKS TO DAVIDSON COUNTY AND RUTHERFORD COUNTY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT FOR VERY HELPFUL ASSISTANCE WITH THIS SURVEY.

THIS INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/OHX.

FOR REFERENCE…THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO
THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

The Aftermath Of A Massive Flood

Kelton Halbert — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:29:31 +0000

I know that some of you will be here to see the damages, facts, and info on this flood. So I will divide this post into two sections; ‘What Happened’ and ‘The Aftermath’. In the ‘What Happened’ section, there will be facts, information, records, and other incredible information regarding this flood and in ‘The Aftermath’, I will discuss the aftermath, show photos of the damages, and give a more personal/local look into things from my eyes and the eyes of my friends. Many people have been affected, and I feel I should share their stories/photos/videos/feelings to give you an insight to what has happened this weekend.

What Happened

On May 1st lasting through may 2nd, Nashville had the highest two day rainfall in recorded history, and there was massive property damage as a result. The record setting two day rainfall at the Nashville International Airport was 13.53 inches of rain in two days, absolutely obliterating the previous two day record of 6.68 inches of September 13-14 1979.

On the first day of flooding, interstates 24 and 65 had major flooding on them, completely submerging cars and trapping 18wheelers. Franklin became a giant ocean, and the Cool Springs Mall was flooded. The image at right is a photo of the I-24 flooding, and full credit for the photo goes to Channel5 news in Nashville. There were a tragic 11 deaths across the state due to the flooding, 5 of which were in Nashville. Channel 2 WKRN says that the first death occurred on the I-24 flooding when cars became completely submerged.

A flood warning is still in effect across Middle Tennessee, because the ground is still saturated and the water has nowhere to go. Driving is also still hazardous, so when out be careful. Remember, TURN AROUND DON’T DROWN. It doesn’t matter how big your truck is. The water will either stall the engine or if the water is still moving it could completely wash your car away. It doesn’t have to be deep to do either.

From the National Weather Service:

…THE FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 530 PM CDT MONDAY FOR WILSON…HUMPHREYS…BENTON…GILES…LAWRENCE…WAYNE…GRUNDY… LEWIS…BEDFORD…COFFEE…MARSHALL…STEWART…SUMNER…ROBERTSON… MONTGOMERY…MACON…CLAY…PICKETT…FENTRESS…OVERTON…JACKSON… TROUSDALE…CHEATHAM…SMITH…DAVIDSON…HOUSTON…VAN BUREN… RUTHERFORD…DICKSON…PUTNAM…WILLIAMSON…CUMBERLAND…DEKALB… PERRY…WHITE…CANNON…HICKMAN…WARREN AND MAURY COUNTIES…

…DANGEROUS FLOODING TO CONTINUE ACROSS MIDDLE TENNESSEE…

AT 728 AM CDT WIDESPREAD DANGEROUS FLOODING CONTINUES ACROSS MIDDLE TENNESSEE. RAINFALL HAS ENDED…BUT FLOODING WILL REMAIN A THREAT THROUGH TODAY AS RUNOFF CONTINUES TO FILTER INTO AREA CREEKS AND STREAMS. STORM TOTAL AMOUNTS SINCE LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY MORNING RANGE FROM 6 TO 16 INCHES ACROSS MOST OF THE WARNED AREA. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FLOODED ROADS…HIGHWAYS…AND HOMES HAVE BEEN RECEIVED…AND REPORTS OF WATER RESCUES HAVE BEEN REPORTED FROM NUMEROUS COUNTIES. IF YOU ARE NEAR A CREEK OR STREAM THAT IS RISING…SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW AND FOLLOW ANY INSTRUCTIONS FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS.

DUE TO MAJOR FLOODING IN THE NASHVILLE METRO AREA…THE NASHVILLE METRO OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ADVISES DAVIDSON COUNTY CITIZENS TO PLEASE STAY OFF ROADS IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. MANY ROADS ARE IMPASSABLE OR BECOMING IMPASSABLE. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS IMMINENT. MOST FLOOD RELATED DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS WATER COVERED BRIDGES…DIPS…OR LOW WATER CROSSINGS. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM…EVEN A SMALL ONE…ON FOOT. TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

The Aftermath

This flood personally affected many close friends of mine. There are stories on facebook of bailing water, living on a riverfront, and even kayaking through the raging flood waters. Below are the stories, photos, and captions of the flooding in Franklin and in Nashville. There is also a video a good friend of mine made by traveling Franklin via inflatable raft!

The photos in the following gallery were taken by local storm spotter David Drobny.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Also, here is a video from a good friend of mine who lives in Franklin, Jonathan Boehme.

Lastly, on a more local and personal level, is the flooding right in front of my house. The creek in my front yard that is normally only a few inches deep became well over 5 feet deep , and may have even been 6 feet! The creek couldn’t drain fast enough, so it began to flood our driveway, and soon the road. The creek washed over the bridges spanning it, trapping many people in their homes. The flood waters even knocked down trees and tore the road up, spreading debris everywhere. There are large deposites of gravel from roads in people’s lawns. Here are two videos and a gallery of photos of what happened, both during and after the event.

This first video has terrible quality, but the 2nd is in HD. However, the craziness is enough to upload this video anyway.

Here is the 2nd video, day 2 of flooding.

And lastly, here is the photo gallery of flooding and damages. one of the videos shows the flooding in the grass, with the creek at its normal size in the background.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

I hope everyone is safe, and if you would like to submit more photos please do! I will be setting up a new photo gallery for this event, and any and all photos of it are welcome! Just send them via email to keltonhalbert@tempestchasing.com

People in my neighborhood have already started the process of cleaning up. Though we didn’t get it as bad, there is still work to be done. I find it excruciatingly sad to read friends of mine saying stuff like, “Historic. There is nothing historic about this. New records don’t matter. Coming over a hill to see my town deadened and drowned does. How long to heal?”

So it looks like Tennessee will recover… eventually. Some people I know are in good spirits, saying things like “Welcome to Atlantis, formerly Nashville Tennessee!”, and others not so much. Keep your prayers with the people of Tennessee, they need them.

1 Year Anniversary of the Murfreesboro EF-4

Kelton Halbert — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 19:34:30 +0000

Today, April 10th, marks the 1 year anniversary of the Murfreesboro EF-4 tornado, and also marks the very beginnings of Tempest Storm Chasing. At 12:19 on April 10th, a tornado touched down 15 miles southwest of Murfreesboro. At 12:38, the tornado was spotted by local Storm Spotters with the National Weather Service and resulted in a tornado emergency. At this time, it was reported to be 5 miles west of the city. At 12:45, the tornado ripped through the town with winds between 166-200 miles an hour, destroying everything in its path. The tornado killed two people, a mother and her 9 month old infant child, and injured 42 people. Total damages from the tornado have been estimated to be 41.8 million dollars. Below is a radar loop of the tornado in Storm Relative Velocity (click to animate). If you need help understanding velocity, head over to our understanding radar page.

This tornado was the most destructive in Tennessee for all of 2009. From the National Weather Service’s damage survey:

STRENGTH…EF-4
MAXIMUM WINDS…170 MPH
PATH LENGTH…23.25 MILES
WIDTH…MAXIMUM 750 YARDS
TOUCHDOWN TIME…1219 PM
TORNADO END TIME…1255 PM
BEGIN LAT/LON…35.7597 -86.8480
END LAT/LON…35.9145 -86.2789

In case clarification was needed, 750 yards is almost half a mile, meaning the tornado was nearly half a mile wide!

More information on the damage survey can be found at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ohx/?n=stormsurvey04102009

Here is a full animation of the storm system (click to animate).

Another side to this story is the very beginnings of Tempest Storm Chasing. I was visiting Nashville that week, picking out a house to move into in a few months. Our hotel was in downtown, and April 10th will be the day I never forget! Though I did not see a tornado, though I was not in Murfreesboro, it was the re-ignition of my passion for storm. I had always been thoroughly interested in weather, but this made it certain in my head this is what I wanted to do. I can still remember watching the news as they were looking at a traffic cam when a 1/2-mile wide tornado was plowing across the freeway.

So, thats that. It was a very tragic day, and my condolences go out to the families affected by this storm.

(I do not own the credit to any of these photos/videos. Damage photos belong to the National Weather service, and the others I do not know whom they belong to. Radar animations, however, are mine.)

Nashville Snow “Storm”

Kelton Halbert — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:38:54 +0000

Well, for a long while I was worried about the turnout of this winter “storm”, but in the end it didn’t disappoint! However, even though I was born here, I lived in California most of my life. So this may still be a disappointing snow to others, but I was able to make the most of it.

Yesterday (Jan 6) I prepared for this by setting up a winter observations station. In essence, it could not have been more ghetto! I had trash-bags held up on bamboo poles to measure snow amounts, and i had my Kestrel 4000 NV anemometer twist-tied to a bamboo pole. However, it did its job. Here are some pictures! (click images to enlarge)

Nashville Snow from Kelton Halbert on Vimeo.

And I did have my fun in the snow. I made a 3 ft wide 50 pound snowball, and took some pictures. Here they are! (click to enlarge)

Nashville Snow “Storm” 2 from Kelton Halbert on Vimeo.

Tonight and tomorrow night it is supposed to get ugly. The high today will only be 20, with the low in the single-digits. Wind chill will be reading 0 F, -5 F tonight and tomorrow night as well. Here is the Hazardous Weather Outlook. Stay warm and stay safe!

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

WIND CHILL READINGS OF ZERO TO 5 BELOW WILL BE LIKELY THROUGH MID
MORNING...AND AGAIN FRIDAY NIGHT.

MORE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET AT WEATHER.GOV OR
BY LISTENING TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

WIND CHILL READINGS OF ZERO TO 5 BELOW WILL BE LIKELY AGAIN
THROUGH MID MORNING SATURDAY.

Snow in SE Texas!

Kelton Halbert — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:38:50 +0000

Major snowfall has impacted Southeast texas today, with Houston seeing some decent amounts! This is the record for earliest snowfall in the area! Currently there are winter weather advisories, winter storm warnings, and freeze warnings in place for the larger southeast texas area. Here are some of the graphical forecasts of the area!

Couple of graphics and advisories, as well as a radar image of the snow.

Winter Storm Warning

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CST THIS
EVENING...

SNOW WILL TAPER OFF BETWEEN 5 AND 6 PM. ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS
OF LESS THAN A HALF INCH WILL BE POSSIBLE. IN ADDITION TO THE
SNOW...THE COMBINATION OF GUSTY WINDS AND COLD TEMPERATURES WILL
RESULT IN WIND CHILL READINGS IN THE 20S THIS EVENING. TEMPERATURES
WILL FALL BELOW FREEZING SHORTLY AFTER SUNSET AND WET ROADS WILL
BEGIN TO FREEZE. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE AWARE OF RAPIDLY CHANGING
ROAD CONDITIONS THIS EVENING AND BE PREPARED FOR OCCASIONAL ICY
TRAVEL.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

MELTING AND REFREEZING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS...ESPECIALLY BRIDGES
AND OVERPASSES...WILL CREATE PATCHES OF BLACK ICE. THIS TYPE OF
ICE IS VIRTUALLY INVISIBLE ON THE ROAD SURFACE...AND CAN CAUSE YOU
TO LOSE CONTROL OF YOUR CAR.

Winter Weather Advisory

...HISTORIC EARLY WINTER SNOWFALL IN PROGRESS...

.ONE OF THE EARLIEST SNOWFALLS ON RECORD CONTINUES TO AFFECT THE
REGION THIS AFTERNOON. RAIN HAS TRANSITIONED TO SNOW ACROSS
SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA...WITH RAIN OVER SOUTHERN
LOUISIANA EXPECTED TO CHANGEOVER TO SNOW IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF
HOURS. SNOW IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS BUT
END BEFORE MIDNIGHT ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS...AND END IN CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. TOTAL SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE NORTH OF THE I-10
CORRIDOR...WITH SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 INCH OR LESS SOUTH OF I-10
TO THE COAST.

Freeze Warning

...FIRST WIDESPREAD FREEZE OF THE SEASON TO BE A MAJOR ONE...

.A COLD AND DRY ARCTIC AIRMASS FILTERING SOUTHWARD INTO THE AREA
WILL BRING THE FIRST WIDESPREAD FREEZE OF THE SEASON TO ALL OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA. TEMPERATURES
ARE EXPECTED TO BOTTOM OUT IN THE MID 20S ACROSS THE LAKES REGION
OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA...AND THE UPPER 20S
TO LOWER 30S IN COASTAL SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA.

Snowfall in Houston was large and had been accumulating all day today, causing the airport to cancel flights and hazardous road travel. All of this rain and snow is expected to melt tonight, and freeze over, causing some very hazardous driving conditions. Here is a radar image of the snowfall over portions of southeast texas. the red dot is my current location.