Dixie Alley Adventures Update

Well I have not officially started my website (it is still in the building process)and I have booked all of the Plains Chases for next spring already. ( I guess people are getting a jump on the rush). I still plan on having the site up by Christmas for all interested in Local and Regional chases. Until then any questions email me at tsself@knology.net.

Winter a Coming???????

All forecast models( Euro/GFS Para/OP GFS) are in conjunction with some extremely cold air invading Alabama by Friday and into Saturday. We could see some snow Flurries Friday night( no accumulation expected but it is being monitored) with a strong upper level disturbance. We may struggle on the upper 30s to low 40s for highs on Friday and Saturday. Should know a little more when the next model runs come out later today. Stay tuned.

Good Soaking

Well it looks as if most of Alabama will get a real good soaking over the next few days, but the bulk of the rain will stay south of I-20 where upwards of 4+ inches in places is possible. A slight risk of severe weather is out for extreme SE Alabama. Not real sure if the dynamics will be great enough for me to load up and chase this one. To many model discrepancy's so I will play it be ear, Also note the NAM is showing the surface low near Oxford Mississippi, if that is the case we may get some thunder and lightning here in North Alabama, but we should not get any severe weather looking at the latest runs. I should know more in the morning.

New web site coming

I will be launching my new web site in a few weeks. The reason behind it is I am going to take my 11 years of chasing experience and start sharing the adrenaline rush of storm chasing with others. I am starting Dixie Alley Adventures, a storm chase tour service based here in Huntsville. All details about the service and prices will be up on the new site. If you have any questions before it is up and running feel free to contact me directly at tsself@knology.net. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Tommy Self

Quiet for Now

Well I am not much on posting when there is nothing really to post about, the weather these past few days have been perfect. As the old adage says " All good things must come to an end" Highs the next couple days will struggle to get out of the 40s with lows at or below freezing on Friday.The temps rebounds back into the 60s over the weekend. Also the 00Z GFS shows a deepening surface low moving from near Greenville Miss. to near Nashville, which would mean some potential for strong storms on Monday but,with marginal instability values we will keep an eye on it in coming days. Cooler air again moves in Tuesday and Wednesday. I have just set up my severestreaming.com account and I will have it embedded on here for easy access for a possible chase on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Massive Cutoff Low

This thing is huge.

Watching Next Week

After starting this morning in in upper 30s we should warm into the upper 50s by this afternoon. The Low that has brought us this recent cool air is now near Chicago and the winds are coming in out of the WSW. A developing system over the western gulf should stay along the gulf and bring tremendous amounts of rain to areas south of Montgomery on Saturday, up to 3 inches is possible along the coast. Central Alabama we may see a little light rain along I-20. Temperature are expected to be in the 30s at day break and rebound back into the 60s for highs on Thursday and Friday for much of North and Central Alabama. Now to Next week There is a dynamic system that will bring our next chance of storms by Tuesday afternoon and into Tuesday Night.We will need to monitor it closely, if we have enough moisture and instability this could be an active day for strong to severe storms.

Just Killing Time

Going through some pictures from this past spring.

New Week Same Story

After starting today off in the upper 30s and low 40s we will warm nicely to around 70 degrees. a weak front will push thru the Valley later today and it will bring some cooler weather for Tuesday. Most places will remain in the 50s all day tomorrow as we will struggle to reach the 60 degree mark with a cool north wind. The sky will remain mostly cloudy, making it feel cooler, a big difference from the mild weather we have enjoyed in recent days. Wednesday will be just as cool with no chance of rain yet.
Thursday looks like a mostly sunny day with a high in the upper 60s, but we will bring back a chance of showers Friday night with a short wave passing through(no severe weather expected) and most of the weekend ahead looks dry with seasonal temperatures (60s during the day and 40s at night). We will have to watch the model runs for next week as we could see a round of showers and storms in here by next Monday or Tuesday.

Sun Dog Warning

What is a Sun Dog? A sun dog, or parahelion, is a bright spot of colored light on either side of the sun, at the same height above the horizon as the sun. They are caused by ice crystals in high altitude cirrus clouds.

Have I ever seen a Sun Dog? More than likely and you just did not know.
Plenty of cirrus clouds spreading across the area from the west to east today made for a photogenic sunset. I took these in Madison.

20 Years Later

On Sunday November 15th 2009 Huntsville will be remembering the horrific tragedy when around 4:30 pm on Wednesday, November 15, 1989, a tornado touched down near Madkin Mountain on Redstone Arsenal, southwest of Huntsville (but was not reported until 4:37 when it reached the old Airport and golf course area). The tornado moved northeast towards the heavily-populated Airport Road area, where it would destroy or damage 80 businesses, 3 churches, a dozen apartment buildings, and more than 1,000 cars. It moved on, climbing over Garth Mountain, demolishing Jones Valley Elementary School, and destroying 259 homes in the Jones Valley area. The tornado then moved out into eastern Madison County, where it damaged the equipment and maintenance headquarters of Commission District 2 as well as a state forestry office, destroyed 3 more homes, a volunteer fire department, several barns and sheds, and numerous electrical towers.

All told, the tornado killed 21 people and injured 463. Rated an F4 on the Fujita Scale, it inflicted more approximately $250 million in damage.

The tornado struck during the beginning of rush hour and touched down initially on Redstone Arsenal and then moved into a business area crossing two major north-south highways. Twelve of the 21 deaths (57 percent) occurred in automobiles, a striking similarity to the 1979 Wichita Falls, Texas, tornado. In the Huntsville tornado, most of those killed in cars were in the process of performing normal tasks as opposed to seeking automobiles for safety.

As the thunderstorm moved into the southwest corner of Madison County at 4:15 p.m., the staff on duty at the WSO at Huntsville International Airport observed a wall cloud and rain-free base with the thunderstorm. The wall cloud showed no signs of rotation and dissipated shortly after being spotted.

Shortly after this, between 4:20 and 4:30 p.m., meteorologists working for NASA on the Redstone Arsenal observed a wall cloud and rain-free base with the thunderstorm as it moved across the southern portion of the Arsenal. Around 4:25 p.m., they observed rotation in the wall cloud.

According to information shared with the National Weather Service by Duane Stiegler with Dr. Ted Fujita's group from the University of Chicago, the initial point of damage occurred one mile south-southwest of Madkin Mountain on the Redstone Arsenal near the intersection of Fowler Road and Mills Road. Trees were downed and some roof gutters damaged. From eyewitness accounts of the wall cloud, circulating air may have reached the ground without a visible funnel.

The tornado continued on a northeast track passing northeast of Building 5250 on the Arsenal. Little damage was done to that building. The storm then moved into a sparsely developed area, but it did do about $1 million in damage to Huntsville's garbage-burning plant which was nearing the end of construction.

At this point, the tornado began to cross the old Huntsville Airport and a large portion of the adjacent municipal golf course. It was here that the tornado struck the Huntsville Police Academy which generated one of the first reports of the existence of the tornado. Two officers were injured at the Police Academy.





Over $100 Million in damage was caused by the Huntsville tornado

From the golf course, the tornado entered a business-filled and heavily populated area of Huntsville. The tornado crossed Memorial Parkway (US 231 and State Highway 53), a major north-south traffic artery. The tornado destroyed a number of shopping complexes, office buildings, much of the Waterford Square apartment complex, and churches as it slowly crossed Airport Road. It crossed Whitesburg Road, another relatively major north-south highway. Nineteen of the twenty-one fatalities occurred in the area between the intersection of Airport Road and Memorial Parkway and the intersection of Airport Road and Whitesburg Road. Eleven of the deaths occurred in automobiles, four in apartments, and four in commercial buildings.

From the intersection of Whitesburg Road and Airport Road, the tornado moved up Garth Mountain, as it continued on a northeast course. This took the tornado into a heavily wooded section. As it crossed the top of Garth Mountain and moved down the east side, it struck Jones Valley Elementary School on Garth Road. Thirty-seven children, five teachers, and seven painters were in the school when the tornado struck. The children were part of an Extended Daycare Program conducted at the school. The lead teacher of the day-care program moved the children from the second floor of the school building into a small open area under the stairway on the first floor. This action, first suggested by the school principal as she left for the day, saved the lives of the children.

One woman was killed in an automobile driving along Garth Road en route to the school.

From the school, the tornado crossed Garth Road and moved across a portion of Jones Valley Subdivision, a development of well-constructed single family homes. The tornado severely damaged or destroyed a number of homes in the Jones Valley subdivision. It continued across Jones Valley moving up Huntsville Mountain. The area from Huntsville Mountain to the end of the tornado path is rural with only scattered structures. The tornado continued to destroy or severely damage whatever structures it encountered.

The tornado topped Huntsville Mountain and moved down the east side crossing US 431. It traveled through this valley in the vicinity of Dug Hill before moving up and over Chestnut Knob. From Chestnut Knob the tornado traversed the Flint River valley referred to as Salty Bottoms, crossing the Flint River and US 72 (Trail of Tears Corridor). It crossed US 72 one mile southeast of Brownsboro.

The tornado continued on an east-northeast track over Red Mountain to a small lake at the headwaters of the Killingsworth Cove Branch, a small creek which feeds into the Flint River. The tornado path ended at the southeast tip of this small lake.

The total path length was 18.5 miles from the initial beginning on the Redstone Arsenal to its end at the headwaters of Killingsworth Cove Branch. The damage path was generally about one half mile wide; however, it reached nearly one mile in width in the Flint River/US 72 area. The tornado was classified as an F4 on the Fujita Tornado Scale.

Damage Estimates
Outbreak death toll

State
Total
County
County
total

Alabama
21
Madison
21

New York
9
Orange
9

Totals
30


All deaths were tornado-related

A summary of damage from reports gathered by the Huntsville Times included:

259 Homes destroyed
130 Homes with major damage
148 Homes with minor to moderate damage
80 Businesses destroyed
8 Businesses damaged
3 Churches heavily damaged
2 Schools destroyed
10 Public buildings destroyed or heavily damaged
$1.9 Million in public utility damage


Total number of tornadoes nation wide during the 2 day outbreak was 40 in fifteen states and 1 in Canada with the Huntsville F4 being the worst. A total of 30 fatalities with 21 in Huntsville and 9 students in a New York School.

Click the title for live coverage of the event by WAAY 31. The area was under a tornado watch and only under a thunderstorm warning when it struck. The entire Southeast was in a High Risk potential issued by the SPC. On Sunday in remebrance of this horrible day this blog will be blacked out. God Bless everyone involved. I would love to here any comments if you remember this day.

More Veterans Day Photos

Happy Veterans Day

As we pay homage to the men and women who are serving our country and the ones before them. I have to say that I am a proud father, watching my 2 little girls wave and salute our men and women as they marched by in the Parade in Huntsville this morning. They were waving their flags and I was welling up with pride that they are doing this. My lord they are only 3 and 4 years old and they new what was going on. God Bless America and all who protect its borders. Today is a day that we should all come together regardless of our political views, race, or religion and thank a soldier, shake their hand, and/or give them a hug for what they have done for us. Even if you do not agree with the war now or the wars from long ago it is not the soldiers fault they are doing what they are supposed to do. Without them we would not be free, so think about that before you make any snap judgments. Here are some photos from the parade.Notice the sign the little boy is holding, that says it all.

Big Time Soaking

Well just as most of the local Meteorologists had predicted Ida is nothing more than a heavy rain maker for the state. All the media hype of this is contributed to the fact we did not have much tropical activity this season. Most local meteorologists predicted that Ida would fall apart once it reached the cool Gulf waters and that is what happened. Yes we will get alot of rain but nothing like what could have happened if it hit during August or September. Here is the Radar at 8:45am as you can see we are in for one wet day.

Hazardous Weather Outlook

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL
601 PM CST SUN NOV 8 2009

ALZ001>010-016-TNZ076-096-097-091100-
LAUDERDALE-COLBERT-FRANKLIN AL-LAWRENCE-LIMESTONE-MADISON-MORGAN-
MARSHALL-JACKSON-DEKALB-CULLMAN-MOORE-LINCOLN-FRANKLIN TN-
601 PM CST SUN NOV 8 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA AND PORTIONS
OF SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...

HURRICANE REMNANTS WILL APPROACH THE NORTHERN GULF COAST MONDAY
NIGHT AND SPREAD ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST ON TUESDAY. THIS WILL BRING
A PERIOD OF WET WEATHER TO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY BEGINNING
MONDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUING THROUGH THE NIGHTTIME HOURS ON
TUESDAY.

A STRONG SURGE OF TROPICAL MOISTURE ALONG WITH THE SLOW MOVING NATURE
OF THIS SYSTEM MAY SET THE STAGE FOR A PERIOD OF HEAVY RAINFALL
ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE LOWER TENNESSEE VALLEY TUESDAY AND TUESDAY
NIGHT. AT THIS POINT...THE HIGHEST THREAT FOR HEAVY RAINFALL APPEARS
TO BE ALONG AND EAST OF INTERSTATE 65 WHERE ISOLATED 3 TO 4 INCH
RAINFALL TOTALS WILL BE POSSIBLE. WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 35 MPH ARE
ALSO POSSIBLE TUESDAY...PARTICULARLY IN HIGHER ELEVATIONS.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.

Break In The Rain

Well it seems this will be a great week of weather. There is no hint of rain for at least 7 days and some models even show no rain thru mid month which is very rare since November and early December is our secondary tornado season. So for storm chasers like me this month is going to start very boring except I will be speaking at a local school in a few weeks on storm chasing so that will be cool. So all you fair weather lovers enjoy this weather because it may not last to long. We can expect sever weather somewhere before the month is over it is almost a given. so until the weather breaks enjoy the sunshine.