Gah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy crappoli! Strong tornado plowed through a portion of the city 8-10 miles away this afternoon. The city where I do all my shopping, have medical appointments, etc. The city where my Brother lives.

I watched it on TV from start to finish, having been alerted to possible severe weather at my online-weather-site-of-choice. Turned on my local TV station. Solid severe weather reporting, to the exclusion of all else, which is still going on. The tornado was first reported south of us, heading Northeast. The funnel then disappeared. Our weatherman said not to trust it, as it looked as if it would reform, possibly over the city. Which is exactly what happened. Class 3 or 4 was his guess, not yet confirmed. They had a live-cam active, pointed at the storm cloud. We saw the funnel reform, touch the ground, and carve a path through the city, debris flying. Darn scary! The city's big mall, where I worked some years ago, was hit hard. Among stores receiving the most damage, our area's only book store, and Best Buy. (A little sad irony, when talking on the phone earlier today, pre storm, with my brother, he mentioned the that only reason the visit the mall these days is its book store. I agreed. So much for mall visits.)

I called my bro soon as it was safe after the tornado passed beyond the city. He's okay, as is his property.

I'm fine too. Well, as fine as a decrepit person can be. My little town was at first included the tornado's possible path, but it ended up passing us to the east.

I suspect clips of this to appear on YouTube, but at the moment my internet is responding at a snail's pass. Oh...here it is...what we saw as the tornado touched down and passed through the city!

(YouTube Video) KAIT8 ABC live shot from Skycam of Jonesboro AR tornado, March 28th 2020 (YouTube video)

I do have to say this, though: In the face of and throughout the crisis; that news crew was amazing! They went street by street; they know their town by heart to be able to know which cross streets are coming up; etc. Also = throughout the broadcast they gave detailed warnings that someone might not have thought of (like putting football helmets on the children; getting to a spot with only inner walls; etc). Best news crew coverage I've ever seen on any tornado or even any hurricane landings.

Agreed. KAIT8 has somehow been able to retain an amazing weather team for decades, despite occasional personnel turnover. (The fellow we see in-studio is, I believe, 'fairly' new to the station. The fellow whose voice we hear is a well-established veteran.)

Doh! Severe Thunderstorm Warning just issues. Tornado watch too.

Urgh; stay safe! Good luck for both you and your Brother!

Thanks. The area indeed had another long-lasting tornado on the ground. Thankfully, due to the direction this front traveled (east southeast) it stayed a bit to the south of us (and Jonesboro). Had it taken its normal path (roughly northeast) it might have been a different story. Or not. Who's to say? KAIT again covered the tornado to the exclusion of all other programming. I watched from the sofa until around 2100. Nodded off. Woke around 2120 to see regular programming on the tube. Don't know what if any damage this tornado caused, other than hitting one mobile home. While I was watching it mainly passed through open fields.

Glad the ice storm wasn't so bad and that you can stay inside, Decrepit

Today - Wednesday are our theoretically scary winter storm days. Up to 8 inches today, a break tomorrow, then up to 5 inches Wednesday. (Up until a few days ago snowfall was predicted to be considerably lighter.) With grocery shopping out of the way, I'm good to go, barring lengthy power outages. <crosses fingers>

Same here. A windy, 3degree F or -16C day. Good for staying in and doing taxes. But I still have to take the dog for a walk.

Got some thunder this weekend, followed by some rain (!) which was much needed to say the least.

I hate Spring.

Me too. It's my least favorite season. Winter might be my overall favorite, excepting THIS winter, with its rare severe ice/snow storm and super low temps. Summers are next best, except these days they are normally far too hot, which brings their score down a few notches. (Were I younger, I could tolerate the heat better.) Autumn? Hmmm... storms then too, but not normally as bad as spring.

All things considered, my best to worst is, during a 'normal' year: Winter, Summer, Autumn, Spring. Then again, should I have to start mowing my yard again Summer drops below Autumn.

Autumn, Spring, Summer, Winter here.

@Khajiit, yes, in the black mountains south of, and looking down into, Las Vegas, NV. I enjoy spring, autumn and summer here. Happy as a torchbug in amber at 100 degrees because it is so dry. Don't like the cold though so winter's a distant 4th place. Had an inch of snow a couple weeks ago!

I've lived in lots of places and learned long ago that, for me, dry air rules. Pensacola and Washington DC were among the most miserable climates I've seen (in the US) due to the humidity.

Don't like the cold though so winter's a distant 4th place. Had an inch of snow a couple weeks ago!

Me too.

Interesting, Crow. So when does everything turn green / bloom? What month?

In fact, global warming has had an opposite effect in Maryland.

What the.....?????

This was predicted to be a mildly stormy day. A couple of hours of rain, lightning, gusty winds, and the potential for non-worrisome small hail. That was the extent of it. This forecast held sway the previous time I checked, only a couple of hours ago. I just double-checked. We're now facing some hours of severe storms, beginning not long from now. I'm in the path of what looks to be the worst of them. Expected hail damage. A much stronger chance of tornados.

I think what happened is the front is moving in an unusual direction. Looking at the weather map, I'd expect it to pass us by to the west traveling northeast. Nope. It's headed East Southeast.

Here's hoping whatever happens is less dire than forecast.

ADDENDUM:

Now a bit past 1500, all I can say is "What a day!". Looking out the front window right after posting the above, I was greeted to a lovely afternoon, blue sky and a few fluffy clouds. Looking out the computer window (back of the house) showed dark, scary totally storm-cloud infested sky. Now, looking out the computer room window I see a lovely sun-drenched afternoon with a few fluffy clouds. Looking out the front windows shows much the same close by, but heavy clouds further back. Luckily, those are traveling away from us. Looks as if whatever might have befallen us passed us by unscathed. There a little water build up in the center of the road, so it must have rained a bit while the front passed above up. It takes a super heavy rain for me to hear it hit the roof.

So far as I can tell, that's it for the day, threat wise.

My area was hit by tornadoes yesterday, 10 Dec. I wasn't aware of the danger until faintly hearing the town's sirens a bit past 2030. I was at the computer at the time, where else would I be?, working on a TS2022 YouTube episode. Looking out the living-room window, nothing looked amiss. I decided to play it safe and turn on my TV (which gets used only during severe weather threats). The local station's Storm Team was broadcasting nonstop updates on a nasty front moving through the region.

A minute or two or three later they announced a tornado spotted a few miles to my southwest, heading northeast. Soon after, the tornado was reported to be 'at' my town. I'd used those few minutes to fully dress and stick in my teeth, then sat glued to the TV hoping for the best.

Thankfully, the best did indeed come to pass. So far as I know, the funnel remained in the sky as it passed over us. In any case, I've heard of no damage in my immediate vicinity.

Much of the local area wasn't so lucky. We were hit by multiple tornadoes. Lives were lost, people injured. One Nursing Home took a direct hit. Another, in a different town, was damaged. Lots of property damage across the region. I don't (yet) know the full extent of it, this being a Saturday with no daytime TV news coverage.

But again, I came through okay.