A Open Thread Talking About Weather!

[DMW1960]

I like all the info accuweather gives, gonna have to download that app. I think all this weather talk has the weather gods stirred up, mother nature was ticked off this morning around Washington!

Yeah I saw on the evening news about all the hail up there around St. Louis. You maybe so busy with hail damaged cars you won't have time to fish!!!

And just FYI the AccuWeather app is free!

[Clownfish]

Downloaded some of the weather apps, really like the Accuweather one. Thanks again for the good info.

[DMW1960]

Downloaded some of the weather apps, really like the Accuweather one. Thanks again for the good info.

NO THANK YOU!! All I am is just someone who is a weather nut. And I remember what it was like to get my smart phone. All these stupid apps and no one to help me pick out the right one for me. And then I got to know some Skywarn folks and they gave me some additional information.

Just like Slab said when I asked him about doing something like this! Slab said it's more than a weather deal. Its the safety of our members.

All I am doing is passing it forward brother!

Come back here and tell everyone about your experiences with some of these apps.

[DMW1960]

Guys first off I am no expert on this stuff. But I know what I like and when I like it. I am sorry I kind of feel like with the imap weather radio I dropped the ball. There is no instruction manual on a phone app. And I have had several of you PM me telling me thanks and that you would be downloading the imap app. So what I am going to do is post some screen shots from imap weather radio and go into it further. It helped that we had some storms the last couple of days in Missouri where I could show you just why I like imap weather radio.

Even with the cost of the app of $4.99 and all you ever do is just use it for the weather radio as far as I am concerned it pays for its self! But there is so much more to the app! So here I go trying to explain more of the stuff on the app!



Ok with the imap weather radio app you also get the imap weather radar. The above screen shot shows one of my preselected locations of Springfield, MO which I get all weather alerts for. It also shows a area of Severe Thunder Storm Watch in pink. Now this is the radar showing this. After you click on the app just keep clicking on the top left to get you to that menu. Also notice the size of the radar. Ok that's fine if your just wanting to see local stuff! But you can zoom in or out by taking two fingers and either pulling them apart or pushing them together just like you do on all of your phone pictures. That's nice because its fast and if your wanting to see whats going on in the state west of you or even a national picture.




Ok this screen shot shows a Severe Thunderstorm Watch and a storm between Parsons and Pittsburg, KS.



Ok the above screen shot shows in Yellow Okie City under a Tornado Watch, with storms southwest and northwest of the city.



Ok the above screen shot shows my preselected locations that I want to receive weather alerts from. Springfield, MO being my home. Preston, MO being the family farms where my folks live. And granted its stupid because Hermitage is only 6 miles west of my folks at Preston. But due to my knowledge I know that the NWS broadcast location is Hermitage and I want to make sure I know whats going on up there. Plus this app is so easy to add or delete locations. I am going to use Slab as an example. Say Slab is heading to Mississippi Camp and he wants to check on the weather before he gets there. He can put in where ever he is headed as a location. Then when he heads or home he can delete it. Some weather apps are not that easy when you want to change locations.

[DMW1960]

Attachment 198664

Ok what this screen shot shows is what alerts I want to receive in the settings for all of my locations. Guys there is even a Earth Quake alert along with coastal flooding for those of you that live on the coast. And even Hurricane watches and warnings, like I need them here in Missouri! But they are all there!



Now this is where it gets deep! If you have read the Thread, I talked a little about the National Storm Prediction Center in Norman, OK. They issue a lot of the storm warnings as well as your local office. Plus they do all of the National Predictions on storms. What the above screen shot shows is the day 1 out look all the way thru the day 3 out look. Granted its a little more detailed than most folks want to know about the weather. But this is what your local NWS office uses to make your forecast plus info from other means like weather balloons and other data. So some of you guys can go to the break room at work and just blow the minds of some of your buddies with all your new weather knowledge! Any bets won on weather forecasts are to be split with yourself and Slab!

Attachment 198666

Ok this screen shot shows no active alerts and also shows in the top right corner that it was night time when I snapped the shot! You can also click on the play button and hear the 5 day forecast for that location. You can also see it in print too just by clicking on the screen.

Attachment 198667

Ok this is the last one for tonight! And I am going to cover a lot of stuff here. On the left top just left of Springfield, MO those 3 lines are the menu bar. Ok on the right of Springfield, MO is shows a diamond with a ! in the middle of it. Notice this is dark, if its YELLOW in color that means there are alerts for Springfield, MO. Now below all of that what I have done is clicked on the daily forecast and expanded it to show hourly daily forecast with all sorts of cool stull like the feels like temp, wind direction and speed, pressure and dew point.

I have had several folks PM me telling me thank you and also some have commented that on here. I am not doing this for any thanks! The reason I am doing this is because I fully believe that having some weather information along with a weather cell phone app safes lives. And I have met several great folks on this site that I would like to see stick around for a while longer!

Guys when your family has been hit by a tornado you have a different out look on life. When you have a tornado siren within 1/8 mile of your home and it doesn't go off when a tornado is in the south part of the city. All because some green pea dispatcher didn't think it mattered because the tornado was heading straight east!

Tornados are not anything to play with! We have always heard that tornados only travel North by North East. They never go to the South or Southeast! YEAH RIGHT! Several well known and very experienced Storm Chasers lost their lives or good friends at Moore, OK last year when the big one turned south to south east and caught them off guard!

[DMW1960]

Sorry folks been busy getting boat ready for another trip. Plus I am behind with doing some other things like baling the yard. I said when I started this thread to keep checking back on it as I plan on adding additional information.

In this post I am going to share some Tornado Myths from the state of Missouri! Some of these are just common sense but there might be some surprises again for you. So if you want to share them with your friends here is the link: 403 Forbidden

Commonly accepted misconceptions about tornadoes often lead people to make mistakes when preparing for tornadoes – so read up on these myths!

“Opening the windows in your house before a tornado will reduce damage by balancing the pressure inside and outside the structure.

”False! Homes are damaged and destroyed by the extremely strong winds in a tornado, not pressure. If a tornado is approaching, you should seek shelter immediately. Taking the time to open all of your windows will put you in danger and will not protect your home from forceful winds.

“Tornadoes cannot cross lakes, large rivers or wide bodies of water.

”False! Tornadoes that form on land can cross bodies of water, including rivers and lakes. Tornadoes can also form on water. These tornadoes are called “waterspouts.” Never think that a body of water will protect you from a tornado.

“Tornadoes never strike the same area twice.

”False! Tornadoes can strike any area at any time, regardless of past history. For instance, Cordell, Kansas was hit by tornadoes on the same day, May 20, three years in a row. Also, three different tornadoes hit the same church in Guy, Arkansas on the same day.

“A tornado is more likely to hit a mobile home park.

”False! Tornadoes are not more likely to hit a mobile home park, but the chances of them doing more damage and destruction to mobile homes are greater than to other structures. There are thousands of mobile homes located in tornado alley, and the damage seen in mobile home parks is significantly worse than what would occur in a neighborhood of frame homes. Even the weakest of tornadoes can flip and destroy a mobile home, when a frame home would receive little to no damage in the same storm.

“Tornadoes can always be seen from far away.

”False! Not only do tornadoes not always have to appear as a visible funnel cloud, but they can also be hidden by heavy rainfall during the day or by darkness at night.

“If I am near a highway overpass, I should abandon my vehicle immediately and take shelter there.

”False! While a highway overpass is a sturdy structure that may offer protection from flying debris, it will not protect you from dangerous winds. In fact, an overpass can act as a wind tunnel and may cause accelerated wind that collect debris, causing you more harm. If you are in your vehicle and a tornado is approaching, you should pull your vehicle to the side of the road immediately, get out, and lay flat in a nearby ditch covering your neck and head.

“The safest place to take shelter from a tornado is in the southwest corner of a basement.

”False! While it was once widely believed that debris would not fall in the southwest corner of a structure that has now been rethought. The safest place to take shelter during a tornado is an interior room on the lowest floor of your home or building, as far as possible from exterior walls and windows. Even in a basement interior walls can provide additional protection from flying debris.

“If a tornado is not coming directly towards me, I am out of harm’s way.

”False! Tornadoes do not follow a specific path or route, and can change directions at any time. The only safe place to be during a tornado is in a location that offers shelter from high winds and debris.

“The damage to homes during a tornado is caused by an explosion from changes in air pressure.

”False! Homes are damaged by the strong winds produced by a tornado, not by the changes in the air pressure.

“Downward-bulging clouds mean that a tornado is forming.

”False! While downward-bulging clouds that show signs of a rotating motion can certainly mean a tornado is forming, not all downward-bulging clouds indicate a tornado. Some of these clouds are simply storm clouds and are completely harmless.

“Tornadoes do not hit big cities.

”False! Tornadoes can hit anywhere at any time. Several large cities have been hit by tornadoes throughout history, including Dallas, Miami, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Wichita Falls, Salt Lake City and St. Louis.

“A tornado cannot travel up and down hillsides.

”False! Tornadoes can travel up and down hillsides, and are just as violent and dangerous. Living on a hill will not protect you from a tornado.

“A tornado always forms and appears as a funnel cloud.

”False! A tornado can cause damage on the ground even when a visible funnel cloud has not formed. Also, if you see a funnel cloud that does not appear to be touching the ground, the wind and circulation may still reach the ground and cause extensive damage.

[DMW1960]

Here are some photos to keep in mind when deciding where to take shelter in a tornado.

MANY people have survived strong tornadoes in homes without basements. The key is to find a small room away from exterior walls. These photos will help you see why.

[DMW1960]

This was posted by the NWS office out of Springfield, MO at 5:40 am. I thought I would share it after I saw the amounts predicted.

Keep an umbrella handy the next few days. Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms will impact the region through the weekend. There will be the potential of moderate to heavy rainfall totals through the weekend especially across eastern Kansas into western Missouri. Monitor the latest weather information at weather.gov/springfield and also follow us on Twitter @NWSSpringfield





And its a good example of social media. This was posted to Facebook about 6:30 am, where I found it, but it was published on the NWS Springfield, MO website at 5:40 am.

Doesn't look like I will be fishing this weekend.

[DMW1960]

I really haven't covered this subject much in this thread. But I am going to stick my neck out wide enough to get it cut off. First off Professional Storm Chasers are a very big help to the National Weather Service. They are the eyes and ears to the folks in the National Weather Service Offices. They provide a lot of useful data with their reports to the NWS. Its not a job for someone who doesn't know what they are doing.

I see folks advertising that offering trips to Tornado Alley and tours with Storm Chasers. I am totally against this due to the dangers involved in Storm Chasing. Tornadoes are dangerous and there is no way to really predict which way or how long they will be on the ground. As some of you know some Professional Storm Chasers lost their lives last year out in Okie.

But I do follow a Storm Chaser due to the amount of information that he provides. This is not an endorsement of him just my person liking of him. Reed Timmer is a Storm Chaser that has a Facebook page that I personally follow. You can find him on Facebook by looking up Reed Timmer: Meteorologist and Extreme Storm Chaser.

Ok what is the difference between a Storm Chaser and a Storm Spotter? Storm Chasers normally cover a lot of ground following super cell thunder storms across Tornado Alley. A Storm Spotter is usually dispatched to a certain area and stands by in that area. Their main job is to report changing weather conditions to a base station, which can either be a local ham radio group, Skywarn group, fire department, law enforcement agency or directly to the NWS office. The NWS radar is a great tool but it still doesn't replace eyes in the field. Lots of folks are trained as storm spotters, they can be fire department members both full time and volunteers, law enforcement and also private citizens like myself who are unpaid volunteers.

Normally when storm spotters are needed the NWS office will send out a notice saying if spotter activation will or will not be needed within the next 12 hours. During times of severe thunderstorms storm spotters will go to their assigned areas to monitor changing weather conditions and report in information about the storms. These reports are used by the NWS to issue Warnings, Watches, Forecasts and other informational reports to the public.

All Storm Spotters are trained by the NWS offices. These free training sessions are offered each spring and summer in every county.

I have just lightly touched on this subject. If you would like to learn more contact me or your local NWS office.

My goal in this thread is try to provide some information about weather and sources for getting the best weather reports. Because being caught on the lake during a storm is a dangerous thing and its a safety issue to me. Its just important to know about weather as it is using your life vest.

[perchplucker]

Yes that is a dangerous job and giving "tours" is crazy. Thank you for the info. Gonna be a busy weekend for weather here plus all the snow coming out west and plains.