A Open Thread Talking About Weather!

[DMW1960]

After putting this idea to Slab he thought it would be a great idea for me to share some information about weather on CDC. Normally due to the rules of CDC we are not allowed to share or provide some of the information that I will be covering without Slabs ok. Slab has been nice enough to provide me with enough rope to hang myself!

During the time I have been away from CDC I have been doing some volunteer work for Greene County Missouri Skywarn's Facebook page. Mainly I have been involved with their Facebook page as I am an administrator on the page. I have been a trained weather spotter for several years after my folks we stuck by a tornado at Preston, MO on one of the family farms. Best I remember it was a F2 or F3 tornado. I went back to class again and got caught up on some of the new information that the weather service is doing now. With Greene County Missouri Skywarn's Facebook page we try to provide additional information to the general public and also help the National Weather Service by providing volunteer spotters that are out in the field during storms.

I will be sharing different links from web sites to phone apps, how to get spotter training, different facts about weather, I will be covering a lot of information on this thread. Some of it will be for Southwest Missouri, some will cover the whole state of Missouri and some of the information will help you if you travel to other states fishing. I will be trying to answer questions, if I am not able Patti the senior administrator for Greene County Skywarn's Facebooks page will help me answer them. Some of the folks I have been working with like Patti are also trained storm chasers so I will be providing information from them too.

I feel it is important to share this information as it might safe a life during a storm.

[DMW1960]

Do you know what to expect if we say there's a marginal risk for severe storms? Or an enhanced risk? These terms can mean different things to different people and can be somewhat confusing, so we made this chart to help you understand what we mean by these categories.

Credit NWS Kansas City, MO

[DMW1960]

Myth: If you're caught outside during a thunderstorm, you should crouch down to reduce your risk of being struck.
Fact: Crouching doesn't make you any safer outdoors. Run to a substantial building or hard topped vehicle. If you are too far to run to one of these options, you have no good alternative. You are NOT safe anywhere outdoors.

Myth: Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
Fact: Lightning often strikes the same place repeatedly, especially if it’s a tall, pointy, isolated object. The Empire State Building is hit nearly 100 times a year.

Myth: If it’s not raining or there aren’t clouds overhead, you’re safe from lightning.
Fact: Lightning often strikes more than three miles from the center of the thunderstorm, far outside the rain or thunderstorm cloud. “Bolts from the blue” can strike 10-15 miles from the thunderstorm.

Myth: Rubber tires on a car protect you from lightning by insulating you from the ground.
Fact: Most cars are safe from lightning, but it is the metal roof and metal sides that protect you, NOT the rubber tires. Remember, convertibles, motorcycles, bicycles, open-shelled outdoor recreational vehicles and cars with fiberglass shells offer no protection from lightning. When lightning strikes a vehicle, it goes through the metal frame into the ground. Don't lean on doors during a thunderstorm.

Myth: A lightning victim is electrified. If you touch them, you’ll be electrocuted.
Fact: The human body does not store electricity. It is perfectly safe to touch a lightning victim to give them first aid. This is the most chilling of lightning Myths. Imagine if someone died because people were afraid to give CPR!

Myth: If outside in a thunderstorm, you should seek shelter under a tree to stay dry.
Fact: Being underneath a tree is the second leading cause of lightning casualties. Better to get wet than fried!

Myth: If you are in a house, you are 100% safe from lightning.
Fact: A house is a safe place to be during a thunderstorm as long as you avoid anything that conducts electricity. This means staying off corded phones, electrical appliances, wires, TV cables, computers, plumbing, metal doors and windows. Windows are hazardous for two reasons: wind generated during a thunderstorm can blow objects into the window, breaking it and causing glass to shatter and second, in older homes, in rare instances, lightning can come in cracks in the sides of windows.

Myth: If thunderstorms threaten while you are outside playing a game, it is okay to finish it before seeking shelter.
Fact: Many lightning casualties occur because people do not seek shelter soon enough. No game is worth death or life-long injuries. Seek proper shelter immediately if you hear thunder. Adults are responsible for the safety of children.

Myth: Structures with metal, or metal on the body (jewelry, cell phones,Mp3 players, watches, etc), attract lightning.
Fact: Height, pointy shape, and isolation are the dominant factors controlling where a lightning bolt will strike. The presence of metal makes absolutely no difference on where lightning strikes. Mountains are made of stone but get struck by lightning many times a year. When lightning threatens, take proper protective action immediately by seeking a safe shelter – don’t waste time removing metal. While metal does not attract lightning, it does conduct it so stay away from metal fences, railing, bleachers, etc.

Myth: If trapped outside and lightning is about to strike, I should lie flat on the ground.
Fact: Lying flat increases your chance of being affected by potentially deadly ground current. If you are caught outside in a thunderstorm, you keep moving toward a safe shelter.

[DMW1960]

Well how do you define a normal person? I am sure not normal just ask anyone who knows me.

Most folks depend on their local newspapers, radio or TV stations. Some use social media like Facebook, phone apps, police scanners or even weather radios.

The main thing is to always have a backup plan for weather forecasts and updates.

Folks who have weather radios should also make sure that their radio is programed for additional counties around them. The reason I say this is because there are times that your weather transmitter may be down for repair. I have personally been aware of several times that the NWS Weather Radio transmitter at Hermitage, which covers Lake Pomme de Terre, has been down during the last year for updates and repairs. And I am not picking on the NWS either. Folks its computers, they go down, they wear out and sometimes they can just be a pain in the butt period.

I don't need to know any of this information because where I live there is a Tornado Siren just down the street! Yep I have one down the street too and I have seen the times that it didn't work too! And just why does the National Weather Service is always testing them? Because they do break and they do need repair!

HAVE A BACKUP PLAN FOR CURRENT WEATHER UPDATES!

Last evening (Wednesday) the wife and I had to pull a trailer back to the farms in Preston, MO. For those of you that live in SWMO their were several storms dropping large amounts of rain in areas. Both the wife and I have a few weather apps on our cell phones. Personally we use a couple of the local TV stations free weather apps like KSPR 33 Early Warning Weather, KY3 StormTeam, and AccuWeather. Plus we also use a paid app called iMap Weather Radio, more on it later. Ok so I am rolling right along doing about 60 mph in a rain storm. We both had great cell phone signals, I had my CB radio on that also has weather channels on it. Yeah a CB radio who uses them anymore? Well several truckers still do and they can be a wealth of information for road conditions. Our CB was set on channel 19 and this CB has a weather alert over ride on it. What it does is it kicks to a weather channel when a weather alert is activated for the area which your in. What happens is the CB goes to a weather channel because there was a Severe Thunder Storm warning activated by the NWS for Dallas County. It took our cell phone apps about an additional 5 minutes to activate. Why do I think this is important? Five minutes is a lot of time if it had been a tornado warning.

[got crappie]

With this being the time of year this can be very helpful , Thanks for the info .

[jbornhop]

With this being the time of year this can be very helpful , Thanks for the info .

I totally agree, thanks

[Slab]

If this information helps one person it'll be well worth it. There's some interesting stuff there. Thanks for all your efforts Dan, you're than man. Dan, Dan the weather man.

[perchplucker]

Thanks for the info. Looks like a rough day and night coming.

[Tn Johnboy]

You mean my method has been wrong all these years ?

[Clownfish]

Always got to keep an eye on the weather, thanks for the good information. I got to get one of those weather stones, would look good with my bear trap doorbell.