What’s that noise? Oh, this bed is so nice and warm… ZZZZZ… what’s that noise? It’s my text alert… must be a bug on one of the security cameras, it’s still dark… ZZZZ… Darn there it is again, just the repeat of the camera bug alert… wait, two alerts in a row, Darn what’s going on? Ughh, wake up, uggh… “New event. Severe Thunderstorm warning from…” UH oh, when did that happen, no watch? I thought it wasn’t supposed to rain this morning, much less be severe. Cobwebs not clearing well in my head… wait, who has the SKYWARN Net? Oh crud, it’s me…

So that’s how my morning started one day a couple of weeks ago. And thus began HAIL week. We had several activations and numerous reports of various sizes of hail, hail coverage, and for some folks hailed cars. It was surprise attack from the weather gods and provided some tests of our ability to respond while caught flat footed. You all did really well, and though we didn’t have a great number of spotters that very early morning we were effective in providing information to the Local EOM team and the NWS on which they could base sound decisions as to their response to changing weather.

As a result of some of that weather, I had a chance to participate in a damage assessment with our county EOM team and with NWS in their investigations as to whether tornadic activity was present in the Whitesboro area. Both increased my knowledge of these processes and a big limitation in our “view.”

In the damage assessment the focus was an area on Highway 377 south of town. By observing direction of damage and debris the wind appeared to be from SW to NE, and was apparent mostly in the spotty debris found as it crossed roads. Everything from damaged limbs, trees and small structures yielded clues as to the path of damage. Fortunately in this area no severe damage occurred to homes, nor were there any people hurt. Later that day the NWS representative came up to review the sites and determined from the debris pattern and other visible damage patterns there was no tornado but instead high wind, maybe a microburst. Wind lays debris out in a line, while a tornado will mix debris up and lay it every which way with no discernible pattern other than when viewed at a more area type view. Then we moved to an area northwest of town I had not heard about, but the NWS and Local EOM had. There was substantial damage to a barn, several smaller sheds and fences. Some shingles were blown off houses and a few trees were down. Again, no tornado. But, this area pointed out to me how big our county is and how little we see as spotters. Our view is limited — earth curvature, trees, buildings, terrain, etc.

Darkness is a horrible time to try and spot; mobiles even from hilltops can’t see very well. Our entire spotter corps is valuable. Never think that just because you spot from home that your info or “no report” are not valuable. NO reports mean that it’s not happening in your area, which is good for you but may be bad for another area where it is happening. This also allows the rest of the team to focus on areas where information is indicating a more substantial event. There is no prize for spotting a tornado in your backyard! Just a lot of work and possibility of loss of life. Be glad you didn’t have to report. For the folks who go mobile I can’t emphasize enough to pay attention to the weather: wind, temperature, or if there are drastic changes that may be because you’re in the inflow or outflow, think about what that means and report. Review your SKYWARN training and the info sheet we received. It may help the NWS with understanding what they are seeing with their tools. Remember, their radar can’t see the lower 6,000-8,000 feet of a storm up here, and you provide great clues to them with good reporting.

Thanks for your time and efforts to help protect our communities!

73
Rick
K5ECX