Storm Photo of the Week, Storm Chasers Episode 2 Airs Tomorrow!

Check out this amazing photo by Tom Hannan on April 27th, 2011 near Rose Hill, MS.  He estimates he was about 500-600 feet away and could hear the roar--a little too close for comfort!  This tornado was rated an EF-4, had a damage path of 65 miles and sadly took the lives of 7 people.  TVN stayed the night in Meridian, MS that night and heard of the fatalities, from this tornado, while chatting with local law enforcement.  A lot of these areas, affected by the April 27th deadly tornado outbreak, had very little media attention as some did this year, and are still picking up the pieces and dealing with the aftermath.  Hopefully, everyone is in the process of healing now and can get their lives back to as normal as possible, as soon as possible.

Storm Chasers, continues tomorrow (Sunday) at 10/9 E/C on The Discovery Channel, with a memorable chase near St. Louis, MO, where an EF-4 tornado affected the international airport after dark!  What did everyone think about the first episode(s)? See everyone tomorrow night.

Stay tuned, as this quiet week of weather ends, a much more active weather pattern week is in store...

Northern Lights over the US, Italy Waterspout, Snow in Colorado, Hurricane Rina!

On Monday night, one of the most spectacular northern lights displays (especially for myself) happened across the US, anywhere from Wisconsin to Del Rio, Texas!  It was sparked by a CME (coronal mass ejection) that weakened earth's magnetic field and sparked a nice Aurora Borealis show across the United States.  Visually, to the naked eye (from the Kansas City suburbs), I could only see the majestic red "wave" for about 5-10 minutes, but my camera picked up the red and green glows for a good 30 minutes afterwords.  Due to no tripod, I was only able to capture them on my car roof and they didn't turn out as well as I've liked.
Instead, I'm showcasing fellow storm chaser and "king of storm photography", Mike Hollingshead's stunning capture of the event (left) near Blair, Nebraska during the peak intensity.  Mike really has a niche for storm photography and has been a huge influence on my own personal photography--he's nothing short of humble and a nice guy as well.  Be sure to check out his account of this event, which hasn't reached this far south since December of 2006!

On Tuesday, Extreme Tornado Tour's Olivier Stagier and swiss meteorologist, Dean Gill, had an exciting afternoon where they drove all morning to Northwest Italy, where a powerful system was affecting the area.  In the Cinque Terre area in Liguria, between Portofino and La Spezia and near the coastal town of Riomaggiore, they saw the formation of an intense waterspout!  This system was responsible for killer floods which destroyed homes and closed down interstates and railways.  Stay tuned for the video of this amazing video!

From record highs in the 80's, to over a foot of snow in some places, Colorado has seen its wild swing of weather already this week!  On average, Colorado only receives about 4 inches of snow in October, but some places have easily surpassed that.  The snow, wet and heavy, on the fall branches, was responsible for numerous power outages in the Denver metro area.  1-2 inches of snow is also possible tonight in the western Texas Panhandle, where a winter weather advisory is out until morning.  This area needs all of the moisture they can get due to the extreme drought conditions.

Hurricane Rita is currently at a Category 1 with winds of 85 mph sustained and is located about 120 miles south of Cozumel, Mexico and is expected to reach the eastern coast of the Yucatan Penninsula.  She should maintain hurricane strength but a gradual weakening tonight and into Friday is expected.  Stay tuned to TVN for the latest!

Severe Weather Expected Today, Strong Tornadoes Possible!

The Storm Prediction Center has a slight risk out today for portions of SW OK and NW TX.  The risk for strong tornadoes is also there for this afternoon/evening as the low-level jet cranks up and the greatest area is depicted in the photo to the left.  TVN is deploying from Norman shortly in D2 and will be testing out the new quad helicopters in the field that have cameras attached to them (and eventually will record data).  Stay tuned to Reed's Facebook page and his Twitter account (@reedtimmertvn) for live video blogs throughout the day and continuous updates!  And also check out the LIVE video page for storm chasers streaming this event!

Damaging Tornadoes currently in the South US, Italy Tornadoes!

A Tornado watch is in place for the deep south and there are already reports of tornadoes doing damage in Montgomery, AL and currently is heading for Harris County, GA--where this image Reed sent me of a strong couplet is on radar near the town of Opelika, AL on the GA/AL border!   Storm spotters reported that a damaging tornado JUST moved through the town and also Auburn, AL and is now headed for Hamilton, GA!  If you are in the tornado watch, please pay special attention to the weather and local media outlets, this is a dangerous situation!

Storm chaser Marko Korosec filmed two tornadoes near the town of Geneva, NW Italy and major flash flooding occurred, unfortunately killing at least 6 people.  Check out his video below, or for more of Marko's incredible work, check out his website here!

Also, check out the LIVE video page for streamers and Reed's Facebook Fan page / Twitter account for live updates as things unfold!

First significant tornado of the year, CES show in Las Vegas!

After a couple of tornadoes in SE TX this week (rated EF-1, EF-0), the first significant tornado (EF-2 or greater) occurred on January 11th, near Ellenboro, NC and was rated an EF-2.  Unfortunately, there were several reports of injuries, one serious, and people trapped in homes.  Just a day before, in Texas City, TX, and EF-1 impacted the mall, but thankfully, no injuries were reported.

This same system, dumped over 10 inches of snow in Midland, TX where they shattered an all-time record for total snowfall in a year with over 20 inches, set in 1947!  It eventually dumped snow in portions of IL, IN, WI and MI, where much needed snow was welcomed across the area.  It has been an unseasonably mild winter and that looks to be the same for the next 10 days across much of the nation, thanks to a strong La Nina in place.

Chris Chittick and Dustin Feldman attended the 2012 International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas this past week, where they were exploring all of the new technology being shown off for 2012!  It's one of the largest shows Las Vegas has, where over 150,000 people were expected to attend with over 2,000 vendors! Here is a photo from their trip!

Mid-South braces for 2012's first severe weather event

A powerful Winter storm system currently making its way into the Ozarks and middle-Mississippi Valley region will interact with an unseasonably warm, moist Gulf airmass later this evening, prompting what is likely to be the first large-scale severe weather episode of 2012.

Forecast models continue to suggest that strong, southerly wind-fields in the lowest levels of the atmosphere will readily transport this uninhibited current of Gulf moisture well into the Mid South and lower Ohio Valley, allowing dewpoints in the mid to upper 60s to migrate potentially as far north as the Missouri bootheel by sunset or just thereafter; this should provide plenty of fuel for thunderstorms that are likely to develop ahead of a cold front that will sweep across Arkansas later this afternoon. Low and mid-level wind shear is very favorable for thunderstorms with sustained rotating updrafts; any storms that are able to develop along and ahead of the front will have the potential for strong, possibly long-lived tornadoes, especially, and unfortunately, after dark, as the low-level wind shear is forecast to intensify in conjunction with the arrival of the most abundant moisture from the Gulf. The possibility of a nighttime tornado event presents an especially dangerous situation for residents of central and Eastern Arkansas, west Tennessee, northern Mississippi. As always, persons in the outlined areas are strongly urged to have their severe weather plans in place, monitor local media and, above all, heed warnings when they are issued--NOAA Weather Radios with fresh batteries are a must for events such as these. Numbers of storm chasers will be in the field as well; their activities can be monitored by following our Live Page. Stay tuned, as Reed will be providing updates as possible, from Twitter and Facebook, as the day unfolds.