Severe Weather Awareness Week (part 1) - Severe Thunderstorms

No snow, but rain coming...
Well, the snow didn't materialize on Saturday as hoped. Honestly, I'm not exactly surprised. Each day last week, the situation looked a little grimmer and the rain just ended too early on Saturday afternoon for the cold air to catch up with it. It was cold... but not cold enough.

This week will see a warming trend with slight chances of rain Tuesday afternoon through Thursday morning, then a pretty good chance of t'storms later on Thursday and Thursday night. See my forecast.

TN Severe Weather Awareness Week
This week (Feb. 23-27) is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Tennesse, with a different type of severe weather highlighted each day. You can visit this NWS-Memphis site for more information. I'll also post blogs each day this week highlighting the topic of interest for that day. Below is today's topic: Severe Thunderstorms.

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AWARENESS DAY...

THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY TWO THOUSAND THUNDERSTORMS IN PROGRESS AROUND THE WORLD AT ANY GIVEN TIME. MOST OF THESE STORMS ARE BENEFICIAL AND BRING NEEDED RAIN. ONLY A SMALL FRACTION LESS THAN ONE PERCENT ARE CLASSIFIED AS SEVERE. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE THOSE THUNDERSTORMS THAT PRODUCE HAIL THREE QUARTER INCH IN DIAMETER...OR LARGER...AND OR STRONG WIND GUSTS OF 58 MPH OR GREATER. HAIL THAT IS THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH IN DIAMETER IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A PENNY.

A SMALL FRACTION OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE TORNADOES. ALL THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DEADLY LIGHTNING. THE HEAVY RAINS OR THE LIGHTNING ACTIVITY IN A THUNDERSTORM DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH A THUNDERSTORM BEING CLASSIFIED AS SEVERE.

SOME OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SAFETY RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

* FIND SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. GO TO A STURDY BUILDING THAT WILL WITHSTAND HIGH WINDS. AVOID ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES AND TELEPHONES.

* IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO BRING YOUR CAR INSIDE A GARAGE AND TO SECURE LOOSE OBJECTS.

* REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING MEANS THAT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS OCCURRING. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM HAS BEEN DETECTED BY THE DOPPLER RADAR...OR REPORTED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY OUR SKY WARN SPOTTER NETWORK...OR THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY IN A PARTICULAR COUNTY.

* A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP...BUT NONE HAS BEEN OBSERVED. FOLKS SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY AND LISTEN TO COMMERCIAL BROADCASTS...OR WEATHER RADIO FOR ANY SUBSEQUENT WARNINGS.

* WHEN A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR LOCATION....TREAT IT THE SAME AS YOU WOULD A TORNADO WARNING. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS LARGE HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.

Courtesy: NWS-Memphis