Good Sunday everyone. Here is hoping the weather out there today turns out to be better than what a lot of folks had to go through on Saturday. Showers and storms hit parts of the state and caused some serious flooding in the northeastern counties. Areas just across the river into southern Ohio got in on some big time storms that caused a lot of damage. More on all that in a moment.
Rolling into our day today… we find the chance for some scattered showers and thunderstorms across the area yet again. The best threat will be across the southern counties. It is not going to rain all the time and we should see some pleasant weather hours thrown in there. Whatever storms are on the move… you can track them here…
Temps today will generally be in the lower to a few mid 80s.
More scattered showers and storms will be possible later tonight into Monday and we will have to keep an eye out to see exactly where these things set up as they will likely bring more heavy rains for the areas that get in on them. Looking down the road…
1. Tuesday will still run the risk for an isolated thunderstorm with temps back in the low to mid 80s.
2. Wednesday and Thursday will see warm temps fighting back in with some mid and upper 80s possible. Can we get to 90 for the first time in forever? I will believe it when I see it. There could be a stray storm or two around.
3. I am already watching for a possible severe weather outbreak by later in the week as another strong cold front moves in from the north. This front will bring a return of cooler air to the region and may also see the stormy pattern try to really crank back up again.
Before I end this post… I have to throw in my thoughts on the big Saturday evening flood event across northeastern Kentucky. We received literally hundreds and hundreds of flood pics. Since I cannot show them all… here is a small sample…
I posted a video I took of the flooding in my last blog post and it’s still there if you want to check it out. In that post… I pointed out that warnings were never issued by the NWS in Charleston, WV. This marks the second time in just over a month this has happened across northeastern Ky. Flooding is the number ONE related severe weather killer. Our region of the world is especially vulnerable to flash flooding and we have seen that firsthand this spring and summer.
Flooding is life threatening and it is the job of the NWS offices across the country to issue severe weather warnings. They are the only ones with the “power” to do so officially. When you look at the pics… it’s a no brainer. Warnings should have been issued. I reported directly to the NWS via instant chat about the flooding I was seeing and the reports we were getting. (EDIT) Upon further review of the chat log I did get a simple thanks.
Why were warnings never issued? I cannot answer that, but I hope to get an official answer this week. Why do they owe me an answer? They don’t. They owe all of us one since our tax dollars fund the NWS.
I spent some of my Saturday evening looking over some of the rainfall data and found something that may be a serious problem. You know how two people can be looking at the same exact thing at the same time and see things totally different? Take a look at two of the NWS radar rainfall estimates for the same areas at the same exact time.
NWS Charleston Radar
NWS Jackson, Ky Radar
Wow! Talk about two radars seeing something totally different in terms of how much rain fell. These radars are roughly equal distance away from the featured areas so that is not playing a factor. Ground truth shows that the Jackson radar was spot on while the Charleston radar was WAY underdone.
I then went and looked at how the two radars were actually seeing the intensity of the showers and thunderstorms at the same exact time. Again… the Charleston radar was way too weak when compared to the Jackson and Wilmington, Oh radars that were looking at the same storms. Is the radar behind all this? Very possible!
Have a great Sunday and take care.
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Wow! Chris. those pictures are something else! And the video is downright scary. I can’t imagine what was gong through the minds of the NWS on this.
Question, is the area in question covered by Jackson’s radar, or by Charleston’s, and would JAckson have been able to issue a warning covering this area, if not?
It seems to me that it both radars are picking it up, but Jackson had the more accurate take, they should be able to issue the warning, or at least be able to touch base and urge charleston to issue one.
Storms missed us yesterday. So far this morning, they are to our south into Tennessee. Very uggy and cloudy outside though. Temp is already at 75 degrees.
Good morning, everyone. I agree that Jackson NWS should have been able to alert Charleston NWS if their radar is the problem. But Chris tried to talk to them, and they didn’t respond. Well, Chris, you tried. Wow, that flooding looks bad, and those poor folks didn’t even have warnings out. That’s terrible. My sister lives in Hurricane, WV so I definitely want answers, too. Those folks’ lives could have been lost in the flooding. Thank you again, Chris. I don’t know what we’d do without you.
Didn’t get a drop here yesterday and we sure could use a little rain.
I think you should check your story again Chris. You were thanked on the chat log and they acknowledged your input. I have the logs right here in front of me. 7:11 PM you were thanked by Batty.
That reminds me sooo much of our local (Bardstown/nelson Co.)DES….whenever the NWS puts out ANY severe wx warnings for our area, they are to break in on TV and announce it from the dispatch office. I recall some years ago, they did indeed break in-what was toooo funny (now..not then) was that they gave a Tornado Warning for the Buechel area of Louisville!!?? I remember thinking, “Now, WHY in the heck does this matter to us here in Bardstown? Duh-oh!!” Then a couple yrs ago during a TW for us, they never broke in, the never sounded the sirens until the storm had passed nearly into Washington County.
And not making light of the flooding yesterday, by any means…but…not recieving thanks for your efforts alerting them to it reminds me a whole lot of my in-laws right now. My husband is having what could be some health issues & is in the hospital, and when I called to inform his fam, they either didn’t call me back and one was like, “Oh, ok…I’m in my truck..talk to ya later”….(Okey-dokey..you’re welcome..) So, apparantly there are a lot of senseless buttheads in every walk of life!:(
Chris-you just keep doing what you’re doing for us. You’re way better than the overpaid,overly selfish do-nothings @ the NWS anyway,in my opinion! Thanks!
Chris may have overlooked,or not seen, the thank you. Still, NWS did not issue a flood warning when it is so obvious one was needed. Will that office be checking their story?
That was also 15 minutes after Chris’s initial comment about flooding taking place.
Fact of the matter was there was flash flooding in Greenup and Boyd counties, there is photographic, video, and eye witness reports to back it up. Why wasn’t a warning issued? Flash flooding might not be as flashy or played up as Tornadoes or Severe Thunderstorms, but that doesn’t excuse the complete and total disregard for the flooding going on yesterday. Where’s the accountability?
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rlx/science/svrwxclimo/figure1.gif
That’s a map of NWS Charleston, WV County Warning Area. That’s all the counties in KY, WV, and OH they are responsible for issuing warnings for. Therefore Jackson couldn’t issue a warning, but they can communicate what they are seeing with other offices.
Doppler Radars do have a limited range, and can be effected by terrain. The Greenup/Boyd line is roughly 60 miles from the NWS office in Charleston, and 70 miles from NWS Jackson. So you would suspect Charleston’s radar would be more accurate, but speaking from personal experience Charleston’s radar has been less than accurate, especially in Southern WV. There is an area where storms just disappear or mysteriously weaken on radar east of the WV turnpike as it goes into southern WV. My guess is that the radar signal is getting blocked by terrain or a building.
I’m very interested in seeing what if any response the NWS in Charleston has for this.
Hi MJ.
Thanks for that catch. I corrected the blog to add the so called “thanks”. Long story there, my friend! At least I can chat in their room. 😉
Fix the radar or fix the system of who can issue the watches/warnings because people’s lives are at stake. That should be the first concern.
I totally agree with you teacherT. If Louisville can issue a warning for Pulaski County, then I don’t see why Jackson cannot issue one with the situation they saw yesterday. I know that MJ works very hard to get things out, and get them correct.
So, I guess my question to you, MJ, is this…if NWS Louisvill can (and does) issue warnings for areas that are outside their area of service, pleae explain why Jackson cannot, if they have the better soundings, as it were, on radar? I don’t mean to be placing blame here, but, this was a very serious situation, and there seems to be no plan in place to deal with that from the NWS offices. Sometimes, it seems like they just don’t care.
that seems a bit RUDE
You know as a NWS volunteer spotter for the NWS in Jackson I always thought that Radar was just simply one part of data that NWS uses to decide to issue warnings with. In this case it shouldn’t have mattered if the Radar in Charleston, WVA was not working properly or perhaps underpowered. The ground zero data from spotters and Emergency agencies should have been more than enough to issue Warnings for that situation.
When do you think that big blop of storms will be hitting Ky?
it will be intresting to see of tonight’s storm moves east or dive south.
I was just looking at the radar thinking those look like some bad storms
I was beginning to wonder if no one seemed concerned about the storms headed this way….it looks pretty nasty.
Looks like a little SE dive to these storms now.
It’s going to be close on to whether these storms dive far enough south to hit parts of SE KY or if they’ll go into TN before they get there. I personally think anyone south of Berea should be keeping an eye on these, they look strong, just one severe warning in that line that I’m seeing.
SPC considering a watch from Louisville over to Lex, down to TN line, and points west.
That MCS looks like on radar that its trying to start to rotate. If it does that band should start shifting back towards the northeast.