Please continue discussion of this tornado outbreak in imonlylurking's diary here. Thanks! -weatherdude
I'm back after spending a wonderful five hours sitting outside a North Carolina gas station in the 90 degree heat while they fixed our A/C. Funny, that. But that's nothing compared to what the folks in the midwest are going through right now, with a major tornado outbreak underway. There are 7 tornado watches in effect as of 430 Central Time, and boy are they necessary.
Jump the fold for the latest.
You know the drill...don't be a jerk and don't bring politics into this. As imonlylurking said yesterday, "these are people, not political game pieces."
Updates
Update 18 652PM PDT
KCRA.com has helicopter footage of the tornado near Chico, CA. Amazing stuff. Screenshot below. Click here to watch coverage
Update 17 813PM CDT
With the loss of daytime heating, the SPC has dropped the high risk zone. However, there are still very dangerous storms out there that could do a lot of damage to life and property, so don't let your guard down yet.
Update 16 728PM CDT
Fox out of Memphis needs to lose their broadcast license for switching from major tornado coverage to American Idol. Make calls if you live in the area. Just sayin'.
Update 15 518PM PDT
Tornado warning for Butte and Glenn Counties in Northern California. Very strong rotation on radar, probably tornado associated with this storm. Yes, northern California.
Update 14 705PM CDT
Spotter reports a tornado on the ground in midtown Memphis. Another screenshot of the wall cloud:
Update 13 700PM CDT
Large wall cloud in Memphis with power flashes occurring underneath it. Amazing stuff here. Screenshots from Fox.
Update 12 653PM CDT
Amazing that they're going to air American Idol on Fox and just do "cut ins" instead of solid coverage. Fuck the people who sing and cry and go "you made my dreams come true." One person's success isn't worth another's life.
Screenshot out of Memphis from the local Fox station:
Update 11 644PM CDT
Beautifully detailed radar image from the TDWR Radar in Memphis, showing the inflow and area with the possible tornado going into the city of Memphis.
Update 10 642PM CDT
Funnel cloud spotted 6 miles southwest of West Memphis AR.
Update 9 640PM CDT
Tornado warning for Shelby County TN, including the city of Memphis. Tornado sirens going off, and any tornadoes that go into the Memphis area will be rain wrapped. Here's a sky cam screenshot from My Fox Memphis.
Update 8 635PM CDT
High-def live video from the local Fox station in Memphis. Click here to open in a new window.
Update 7 632PM CDT
Very good chance of a tornado going towards western Memphis. The rotation will go very close to, if not through, the city of Memphis.
Update 6 600PM CDT
Tornado on the ground near Trumann AR.
Update 5 519PM CDT
Very strong hook echo in Hickory Ridge, AR. Spotters report a funnel cloud about to touch down.
Update 4 459PM CDT
It's getting hard to pick these things out on radar as they're tending to be discrete, but here are the strongest ones I could find so far. (Meta: I've hit my upload limit on Imageshack from this season's severe weather, with 599 (!) images. Darnit.)
Strong rotation moving through Brookville, IN towards the northeast, will cross into Ohio shortly.
Strong rotation moving northeast towards Saint Genevieve, MO:
Update 3 454PM CDT
Spotters report a large tornado on the ground near Egypt, AR moving northeast at 55MPH.
Update 2 444PM CDT
Screenshot of a webcam out of St. Louis from Earthcam:
Satellite picture of the area from the College of DuPage:
Update 1 440PM CDT
Storm going through downtown St. Louis with a hook on it. Rotation isn't terribly strong but still a possible tornado w/ tornado warning out for the area.
Watches
PDS Tornado Watch #370 -- Parts of MO, IL, IN and KY until 900PM CDT
PDS Tornado Watch #371 -- Parts of AR, MS, TN until 1000PM CDT
Tornado Watch #372 -- Parts of IN, KY, OH until 900PM EDT
Tornado Watch #373 -- Parts of MO, IA, IL until 1000PM CDT
Tornado Watch #374 -- Parts of TX, LA, AR, MS until 1100PM CDT
PDS Tornado Watch #375 -- Parts of Indiana
