Monday March 31, 2008 - Buffalo, MO Hit Hard

Blog post updated at 3:38pm 4/1/08 with tornado information.

At least 43 businesses and 13 homes were damaged or destroyed in Buffalo, MO today from the storms that roared through the area. The city of Buffalo was surprised by the storm, and was not able to sound the sirens.

Justin Gann (KC0EUJ), a fellow amateur radio operator whose truck is pictured to the right, had this to say:

"We were all in the PIP Internet building where I work watching it rain out the window and all the sudden everyone was running and looking for cover. The next thing we know the windows are blown out and we were looking at all the damage. It was all pretty sudden no tornado sirens or anything. The girlfriend of one of the guys was in the white car in the pic. She said she got in the back seat and laid down as it busted her window out. She was lucky."

The National Weather Service survey team has determined the following:

A TORNADO RATED EF-2 TOUCHED DOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF PRAIRIE GROVE AND NEILL ROAD WHERE A TURKEY FARM WAS DAMAGED. INTERMITTENT DAMAGE OCCURRED ALONG A 5-MILE PATH WITH A MAXIMUM WIDTH OF 300 YARDS...WHERE 40 HOMES WERE DAMAGED AND NINE HOMES WERE DESTROYED. THREE MINOR INJURIES WERE REPORTED. THE STORM LIFTED NEAR THE BUFFALO AIRPORT.

Monday March 31st, 2008 - Earthquake in SE MO

The severe weather was the headline, but did you know a 2.8 earthquake hit just north of Poplar Bluff, MO today?

USGS Info

Details

Severe Weather Expected Monday 3/31/08

From the National Weather Service regarding Monday:

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT WITH A FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND TORNADOES. THE GREATEST CHANCES FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE IN AREAS FROM SOUTHEAST KANSAS INTO WESTERN MISSOURI...GENERALLY IN COUNTIES ALONG AND WEST OF MISSOURI HIGHWAY 5 FROM 2 PM THROUGH 10 PM.

It's spring folks, have the weather alert radios ready, and a plans in place.

UPDATE: We are already under a tornado watch. The forecast calls for a tornado possibility all day long into the night. We are going to get 3 waves. One preliminary line this morning, the main threat this afternoon, then a squall line tonight. Please monitor the NWS or local media to keep abreast of the situation.

March 27, 2008 - Severe Wx

Much to my surprise, Southwest Missouri was put into a slight risk box on Thursday, March 27th. Shortly after realizing this (as Jeff Kerr KC0VGC predicted) we were issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch. I didn't have a strong feeling we would see anything out of this weather system, but things started rapidly changing at 6:56 PM when a tornado warning was issued for Barry County.

I had been watching this cell develop on radar and it appeared to show signs of a hook echo, so I wasn't surprised when the warning was issued. I geared up and headed out to intercept. While heading south to the Christian/Taney county line I met up with Ian Horton (KB0UTW). We proceeded south to Branson West after debating whether or not we could get south of the storm in time. Once there, the storm fell apart and below severe limits.

While heading down, we talked with Tyler Costantini (KB0PQP) who was observing this storm from the back side. He reported that it did have turbulence and rotation at one time. I did grab a screen shot from video of this storm observing from the south looking north to the Christian and Taney county lines. The picture isn't impressive at all, but you can see the clear slot in the back of the storm and the anvil.


After this I headed home, and monitored as more storms fired up and moved west to east. One storm in particular came just south of my house, and appeared to have a hook echo. In fact, there was indication on GRLevel3 of a meso and other radar images appeared to indicate opposing winds inside the storm. Since it persisted for about 15 minutes, I went ahead and took the family to the basement as it passed by. The little red plus symbol west of Ozark is my house, which is on the south side of Nixa. The little red circle is the meso indicator. I'm not questioning why the NWS did not issue a warning, but this storm concerned me, so I took precautions. Just after this radar image, this storm broke up.


All in all, it wasn't a horrible night. I understand there were confirmed tornadoes in the Rolla area, but nothing too bad.

Above Normal Flood Conditions Exist

According to to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) this spring will present a higher than normal risk of flooding, as already evident by the recent flooding in the Midwest. From an article on NOAA's website:

“We expect rains and melting snow to bring more flooding this spring,” said Vickie Nadolski, deputy director of NOAA’s National Weather Service. “Americans should be on high alert to flood conditions in your communities. Arm yourselves with information about how to stay safe during a flood and do not attempt to drive on flooded roadways – remember to always turn around, don’t drown.”

March 18, 2008 SW MO Flooding Followup

Images have been flying around the Springfield emails in the last 24 hours with great aerial footage of the flooding in the Greene and Christian county area. The website where these are posted lists Josh Martin as the photographer, and the date of pics were from one day after my photos, on Wednesday March 19th, at around 2pm Central time.

Based on the timing of these pics, the water had receded from the day before when I grabbed pics and video.

This image below from the US 160 and AA highway area just south of the Christian/Greene is from the same area as my photos here and here and here.


The images below correspond to my photos here and here.

Severe Flooding in SW MO

A severe flood event is underway here in SW Missouri. Water rescues are happening all around the region, at least 1 fatality has been reported today. I documented some of the flooding events around the Nixa, MO area this afternoon. I took video and still shots. The rain is STILL coming down. More than 6 inches of rain has fallen in about 24 hours in the area in which the images are from.

There are so many areas covered by flood waters in Christian county, they have run out of Road Closed signs and barricades. People, be careful out there. It's entirely possible, as you can see at the end of my video, to come across a flooded area with no barricades. From what I understand, they are feverishly working to get more barricades to block off these spots.

Be smart. Turn around, don't drown.

Here is a Google Maps layout of the locations documented in the video and stills.

Pictures of the James River at Highway 160 and AA just south of the Christian County and Green County lines.

Image from just north of the intersection of Farm Road 192 and 141.

Image from Tracker Road in Nixa, MO just west of Highway 160.


Image from the Riverdale area, West of Ozark, MO



-- KB0WVT