Brett's WeatherPlus Blog

Hot Weekend means the Fishing Slows Down

wxman5 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:43:00 GMT

Happy Friday,

Summer is starting to really settle in now and typically this time of the year the fish starting heading to deeper, cooler water. I did find one local hot spot, Leavenworth State fishing lake seems to be a place where the large mouth bass are still biting. The bluegill are active feeding on worms dangling at the end of bobbers. The Lake of the Ozarks is apparently a good place for night fishing, for all kinds of fish. Crappie are hitting a little bit around the docks.

I don't have a fish picture this week, but I do have this awesome weather pic from Ben & Claire Griswold.

They took this picture while on a sailing vacation in the Mayan Riviera. One night they were docked at a small island about 20 minutes north of Cancun. They were watching the sun set behind some big thunderheads when they saw what they describe as "rainbow clouds" Local fisherman say they see this every five years or so. What did Ben & Claire see? Well likely the thunderstorms were reaching thousands of feet into the atmosphere, up to a level where the winds were blowing relatively strong. I think what they saw were cirrus clouds or ice crystals being blown off the top of the thunderstorm with the sun hitting it at just the right angle to give the clouds a rainbow appearance.

Ben & Claire, great picture! Glad to see you had a memorable vacation.

Have a great weekend,

Brett

Update on Bertha & China Algae

wxman5 — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:54:00 GMT

Good morning,

Last week I showed you a satellite shot of the waters off the coast of China. Remember it was covered in Algae, well today Chinese officials say the site of the Olympic sailing competition is clear of the bright-green algae. The Chinese government set today as the goal to clear the sailing site. The sea blanketing algae bloom which officials blamed on natural causes, had disrupted practice for the more than 30 Olympic sailing teams already on site. Over the last couple weeks, thousands of volunteers, including soldiers and fishing boats helped remove the algae.

Now onto Bertha,

Here is the latest of satellite image of what is now Tropical Storm Bertha. Maximum sustained winds are near 75 miles an hour. Notice the bright, almost white, shaded area on the tropical storm's right side. Those are not high clouds, but rather something called sun-glint. It is just what you think it is, the sea water is reflecting the bright sunshine back at the satellite and causing a lot of glare. "Bertha" is moving north-northeast now and away from Bermuda. It could strengthen again today into a hurricane. The tropics are starting to heat up so more active tropical weather is beginning to happen.

Have a great day,

Brett

Send me Pictures of your BIG Fish

wxman5 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:28:00 GMT

Happy Friday,

It is Friday and time for the fishing forecast, but before we do that I have a favor. If you have a picture of you, your kids, your parents, grandparents catching a fish e-mail it to us. There are lots of e-mail addresses you can send it to. anthony@nbcactionnews.com, midday@nbcactionnews.com, weather@nbcactionnews.com. Any of those I will get the picture.

Okay, on to this weekend, long time & loyal weather blogger John Moon III from Clinton reports Truman Lake is especially high this Summer but that means the fishing is GREAT! There are lots of areas where the water is providing great hiding places for the fish, especially near the trees and overthanging branches, around flooded vegetation.

The Missouri Department of Conservation reports Truman Lake's water temperature at 79 degrees and of course its dingy but that means, the black, white & hybrid bass are biting and the Crappie fishing isn't bad either. Top water lures and even spoons are looking good to a few lunkers.

Otherwise, I was down at Lake Pomme De Terre last weekend. Didn't get a chance to fish, but the lake is high and there are lots of great spots, especially back in the coves. A lot of people were fishing the Pomme De Terre River down below the Dam near the campground. I hear the bluegill & catfish are biting, but not much else. Its summer.

While checking out the Kansas Department of Wildlife website, I noticed some pretty good fishing at Banner Creek Resevoir, that's a mile and a half west of Holton, Kansas in Jackson county. Here is a link, http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/fishing/fishing_reports/region_2 Just scroll down until you get to Banner creek.

Good luck this weekend,

Brett

China fighting Algae as Olympics Get Closer

wxman5 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:47:00 GMT

In less than a month, Beijing hosts the 2008 Summer Olympics which you can watch right here on NBC Action News. In the city of Qingdong, roughly 340 miles to the southeast, there is trouble in the coastal waters where the games’ sailing competitions will take place. Chinese officials and residents are struggling with a stubborn adversary: algae.

Below is an image from June 28, 2008, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured these images of Qingdong and the bay of Jiaozhou Wan. The top image is a natural-color image similar to what a digital camera would photograph. The bottom image is a false-color image made from a combination of light visible to human eyes and infrared light our eyes cannot see. In this image, vegetation appears vibrant green, including the strips of algae floating in the bay and in the nearby coastal waters.

These images show the bay at the beginning of a local cleanup effort. Sailing events are scheduled to begin on August 9th, Chinese officials want the algae cleaned up by July 15th. A spokesman for the Qingdao Sailing Committee said the project should be finished today, July 10th. The cleanup effort included 20,000 people and 1,000 boats.

Why the larger than normal algal blooms? Opinions differ, some people blame increased rainfall and unusually warm waters in the Yellow Sea. Others blame wastewater, and industrial and agricultural pollution for providing excess nutrients on which the algae could thrive. Regardless of the cause, many locals agreed that the algae bloom was the worst they have ever seen. Don't forget, the Olympics begin August 8th, the same day we reveal our new set.

Have a great day,

Brett

Great Hi-res Picture of "Bertha"

wxman5 — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:50:00 GMT

Good morning,

While we wait on a rainy afternoon to arrive, hurricane Bertha continues now to weaken in the open waters of the Atlantic. Here is a great high resolution satellite shot of Bertha taken by a NASA satellite on Monday. Bertha quickly grew into a Category 3 hurricane as this picture was taken.

Bertha, this morning, weakened to a category 2 hurricane with top winds at 104 miles an hour and higher wind gusts. It is still 1000 miles southeast of Bermuda and slowly moving northwest. Our in-house computer model indicates "Bertha" will turn northward and weaken as it moves into the cooler waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It should miss Bermuda before falling apart.

Have a great day,

Brett

4th of July & the Fishing Looks Great!

wxman5 — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:03:00 GMT

Happy 4th of July,

Since high gas prices are keeping most of us closer to home this holiday weekend let's focus on a couple of nearby lakes. It looks as if James A. Reed Lake is a good spot this weekend. The Missouri Department of Conservation's weekly fishing report says the largemouth bass & sunfish are good.

Staying close to home in northeast Kansas it looks like, according to the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks, Atchison State Fishing Lake is one of the hot spots.

ATCHISON STATE FISHING LAKE - Last Updated: 7/3/2008

Species	Rating	Size	Baits, Method, & Location
Black Crappie	Fair	Up to 1.0 lbs.	Fish around the brushpiles with jigs and minnows off the ends of piers.
Bluegill	Good	Up to .5 lbs.	Fish those brushpiles with a small jig or meal worm, work those beds with a small spinner, are done spawning.
Channel Catfish	Fair/Good	up to 3 lbs.	Shad side lake wide, fish feeders are in and feeding sinking feed. Feeders are feeding at 7:30, 8, noon, 7 and 7:30 pm. Fish the west end when the water is running in.
Largemouth Bass	Good	Up to 4 lbs.	Spinners worked slow around the piers, a little top water around the brushpiles in the mornings or evenings.
General Comments
Water is turning a pretty green! New Electrofishing pictures , check out the fish by clicking on Atchison State Fishing Lake . We electrofished a couple weeks ago, even saw a few smallmouth bass! Stocked the potential State Record smallmouth bass along with 3,300 other fish today, check out the picture! Stocked 1,000 channel catfish a couple of weeks ago, some keepers. Click on the fish species and it will take you to the Fishing Forecast Data.

WYANDOTTE COUNTY LAKE - Last Updated: 7/3/2008

Species	Rating	Size	Baits, Method, & Location
Black Crappie	Fair	Up to 12 inches	Fishing jigs for fish suspending over breaks in 15 to 20 ft. of water.
Bluegill	Fair	Up to 8 inches	Small baits such as mealworms, jigs, and sinking flys or nymphs around rocks and laydown trees.
Channel Catfish	Good	Up to 4 lb.	Cutbait and prepared baits over shallow flats and points in the morning and evening.
Largemouth Bass	Fair/Good	Up to 3 lb.	Spinnerbaits and plastics along shoreline vegetation and crankbaits or plastics over points.
Wiper	Fair	Up to 19 inches	Casting small spoons or floating crankbaits into surfacing schools.
Walleye	Fair	Up to 2 lb.	Jig and worm combo over mainlake points.
General Comments
Effective January 1, 2007, a Wyandotte County fishing permit is required. For more information on permit requirements and availability contact Unified Governement of Wyandotte County Kansas City, KS Parks and Recreation at (913)-596-7077. Attention: Wipers were stocked during June 2006. An 18 inch minimum length limit and 2/day creel limit is in effect for wipers. Be sure to check the toothpatches located on the fishs' "tongue" to distinguish wipers from white bass. For more information relative to wiper identification consult page 17 of the 2006 KDWP Kansas Fishing Regulations Summary or log on to http://kdwp.state.ks.us/news/fishing/fish_id_gallery and click on the "Fish I.D. Poster-Temperate Bass Family" link.

Have a Happy & Safe 4th of July,

Brett

California could only get worse

wxman5 — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:05:00 GMT

Good morning,

Wildfires continue to spread over northern California and now as we can see from this satellite image below more are igniting over southern California.

This picture was taken from NASA's aqua satellite as it passed over southern California on Monday. The areas outlined in red are where the sensors detected actively burning fires. You can see the smoke spreading north up the coast. The two fires seen in this image are among the largest of all the fires burning within the state. The Indians Fire is said to be 81-thousand acres, while the Basin complex fire is nearly 40-thousand acres and burning mostly out of control.

Rain would most definitely help the situation but as you can see from this morning's GFS rainfall forecast for the rest of this week, all of California is rain free. That's why you will hear on the news that it could take months to get all the fires under control.

The GFS, however paints a very wet scenario here Wednesday night & Thursday. Just look at the bullseye in the middle of the map, That's KC and that's about two inches of rain. I don't know if that will happen yet, there is a chance for the heaviest rains to be isolated and for some of us to miss out on a good rain.

Have a great day,

Brett

Look at these Big Fish!!!

wxman5 — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:54:00 GMT

How's that for a Big fish, Its a 70 pound flathead catfish caught in the Wakarusa River. The photo is courtesy of the Kansas Department of Wildlife & parks. Or this one, Jake Allman caught this one May 28th, on the Platte River. Allman is a Fisheries Management Biologist with the Department of Conservation, he was sampling catfish when he caught this blue catfish that was 57 inches long and weighed a whopping 91.4 pounds.

Happy Friday, The weekend is upon us, time to pick up the poll and wet a line. It may be tough fishing, especially over northern Missouri where almost 10 inches of rain fell in some places this week alone. High water can be dangerous, so take it easy and use common sense if you are fishing rivers or streams that are running high. One place it seems where the waters are too high is Smithville. Smithville Lake may offer up some of the best fishing this weekend, here's the report from the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Smithville: 73 degrees, normal, dingy; largemouth bass fair using Brush Hawgs, crankbaits and other plastic lures along weedbeds; walleye fair off shallow water points on the main lake using shallow crankbaits and nightcrawlers; white bass good using spoons and Rattle Traps off of humps; catfish good on nightcrawlers; crappie fishing is slow, but better on the north end of the lake; Smithville Lake Spillway: all species good.

Jake Allman says Smithville Lake is only two and a half feet high, and rarely gets over 4 feet high so it will be a good place to fish this weekend.

On the Kansas side, some waterways west and southwest of Kansas City may be muddy. Nearly two inches of rain fell overnight into Friday and more is on the way for Friday night.

Here's what the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks has to say about this weekend's fishing prospects. It is a direct link to its site. http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/fishing/fishing_forecast

Good Luck & Happy Fishing,

Brett

The Weather--A California Adventure

wxman5 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:14:00 GMT

Greetings bloggers, Its been a couple weeks since I've put anything together on this blog. We took a family vacation to California, no not Wally-world, and we didn't drive the family truck-ster. We flew, bought our airline tickets at the begnning of the year before all the fare increases and add-ons for 2nd pieces of luggage. (They charge you to check carseats) We saw some snow on our way out there, here's the view from 35-thousand feet as we flew over the Rockies in southern Colorado.

The snow is probably around 10 or 11-thousand feet elevation. Once we got to California, we landed in L-A. The temperature was 88 degrees. Our cousins, Bill & Susie Buchko picked us up at L-A-X and we went to their house in Riverside. It is inland and southern California last week was dominated by a huge & hot ridge of high pressure. The temperature at their house all week, 105 to 110 degrees. Even nearby Anaheim and Disneyland were in the upper 90s. There was hardly a cloud a sky which means we hit the sun tan lotion hard, I mean look at my kids they have skin that burns with minimum exposure.

I think Aaron is doing his best Pirates of the Carribean impression. If you don't like the heat in SoCal, head to the beach. We went to Oceanside, where it was 77 with a light wind, about as perfect weather as you can get.

Perfect for a little surfing, We think Seth will one day move to Cali as he seems to fit in.

Its the first time I've been to California, for me I was amazed at the different climates, say over 50 miles. From 105 inland to 77 at the shore. The hot, dry weather is not helping folks out there this week as they are dealing with numerous wildfires. Hopefully, they can get some rain minus the lightning, which often sparks new wildfires.

Have a great day. I'll have the fishing forecast in the blog entry tomorrow. Brett

Fishing Forecast for the weekend of June 14th & 15th

wxman5 — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:19:00 GMT

Happy Father's Day weekend everyone,

Weatherwise it should be a great weekend to take Dad fishing. We've had a lot of rain around here the first half of this month. Rivers, streams & Lakes continue to run high but this weekend as you look at the map below, it looks like a chance to dry out.

Heat & humidity should take a break Saturday morning, clouds today may have some of the bigger fish coming up from the deeper waters. I think the fish will be biting tomorrow morning. By late Saturday, heat & humidity start to make a return. Here's a look at the Missouri Department of Conservation's Fishing report for KC area waterways.

ames A. Reed Area: 79 degrees, high, dingy; largemouth bass, bluegill and redear sunfish good; channel catfish fair; all other species slow. (Report made on 6/11/2008)

Montrose: 72 degrees, high, muddy; catfish good; all other species slow; light fishing pressure. (Report made on 6/12/2008)

Schell-Osage (Atkinson Lake): 74 degrees, high, muddy; catfish and crappie good; all other species fair. (Report made on 6/11/2008)

Schell-Osage (Schell Lake): 74 degrees, high, muddy; catfish and crappie good; all other species fair. (Report made on 6/11/2008)

Smithville: 69 degrees, high, dingy; white bass good using Pepper spoons, jigs and minnows along main lake humps along the dam and Trimble Dam; catfish fair using shad sides and nightcrawlers in back of coves; walleye fair using minnows, leeches and nightcrawlers on the bottom around flats; largemouth bass fair using spinnerbaits and jigs off secondary points; crappie fair using minnows and jigs in the back of coves or around the riprap; Smithville Lake Spillway: all species good. (Report made on 6/12/2008)

Truman: 76 degrees, high, muddy; catfish fair on live baits; crappie fair on jigs and minnows; all other species slow. (Report made on 6/11/2008)

Truman Tailwaters: 72 degrees, dingy; crappie fair on jigs and minnows; catfish fair on live baits; all other species slow. (Report made on 6/11/2008)

RIVERS

Missouri River: high, muddy; all species slow. (Report made on 6/11/2008)

On the Kansas side of things, here are the reports I have been able to gather. I found this on the website. www.kansasangler.com This report is Shawnee Mission Park Lake in Lenexa.

6/6/2008

Species	Rating	Size	Baits, Method, & Location
Bluegill	Good	Up to 8 inches	Small baits such as mealworms, jigs, or sinking flys and nymphs around structure.
Channel Catfish	Fair/Good	Up to 10 lbs.	Worms off the bottom at the upper ends of the lake and coves.
Crappie	Slow	Up to 13 inches	A few have been caught on jigs off the courtesy dock.
Wiper	Fair	Up to 9 lbs.	Crankbaits or minnows along the dam or off mainlake points.
Largemouth Bass	Slow	Up to 4 lbs.	Swimbaits, plastics, or spinnerbaits around laydown trees and brushpiles.
General Comments
Shawnee Mission Park Lake is a 121 acre impoundment located in Shawnee, KS. Shawnee Mission Park Pond, an approximately 1 acre impoundment is located within the same park. In addition to a state fishing licence, a Johnson County fishing permit is required. Johnson County fishing permits are available through Johnson County Parks and Recreation District and other select vendors.

Ok. Have a great weekend, good luck & Happy Father's Day.

Brett

Championship Fathering

wxman5 — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:34:00 GMT

Good day bloggers,

Despite 3 hours of sleep I am amped up today. Not on caffeine but excitement over being a Dad. How much fun is this? My son Aaron, with Sluggerrr!

The picture was taken last night at last night at the 13th annual National Center For Fathering's Father of the Year Awards. For the sixth year, I was honored and privileged to emcee the event, which has grown leaps & bounds.

There was lots of star-power, Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards, current Chiefs players, former Royals players, KC mayor Mark Funkhouser, well known Kansas Citians such as Carl DiCapo and Crosby Kemper but the real heroes last night were the Dads. Five-thousand kids from metro schools submitted essays explaining why their dads are the best. 12 students are picked, one from each grade level, as winning essayists.

Five Dads are chosen as Father of the Year finalists and go into the Center's Hall of Fame. This year, the 2008 Father of the Year is Greg Smith, seen here accepting the Dan Quisenberry award, named in honor of the former Royals pitcher who exemplified what being a great father is all about.

Greg, seen above with Coach Herm Edwards & Carey Casey is the father of Kelsey Smith, who you may remember was kidnapped and killed last year. His 7-grade daughter Codie nominated him for the award. Thier family has been through a lot and Greg is very deserving of the award. Carey Casey is the C-E-O of the National Center for Fathering, based here in Kansas City. This year they started a new iniative called Championship Fathering. The goal is to get 40-thousand dads here in the metro to commit to being a "Championship Father". For more information, please visit. www.fathers.com

Have a great day and a very Happy Father's Day.

A Hot, Hot Hospital Hill

wxman5 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:06:00 GMT

Hello Bloggers,

A cloudy, cool Monday is making for a tough day of recovery for many weekend warriors. Almost 5,000 runners laced em up to race the 35th annual Hospital Hill run. Look at this picture below, the starting line was in front of Crown Center.

Can you see me? Neither can I! It was a mass of humanity. On top of that, it was hot! 77 degrees at race time and the dew point was around 70. Remember, when the dew point tops 63 it starts to feel humid. So 70 was very humid and can slow a runner down considerably.

In fact, I read today that for every 5 degrees above 60 degrees a runner should run about 30 seconds slower than his best pace. So for instace if your best pace is 9-minutes a mile, then on a hot, humid day like Saturday you should run 10-minute, 30 seconds a mile. Several runners who ran the 2007 Chicago marathon, which was marred by hot weather, said these conditions were similiar. Good thing this was only a half-marathon, 10k or 5k. And here's the amazing thing, the half-marathon winner ran the race in an hour and six minutes. Incredible! By the way, I finished in two-hours, and twenty minutes. I sweat so much, it can become dangerous to my health so I really have to measure personal goals versus just finishing. I chose just finishing. If you want a challenge sign up next year for Hospital Hill, it will likely be the first Saturday in June. If you want a chance to run Kansas City, your chance is Saturday, October 18th in the Waddell & Reed, Kansas City Marathon. There are also half & 5k options. Here's a link. www.waddellandreedkcmarathon.org/

Good luck, Brett

Gone Fishin'

wxman5 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:09:00 GMT

Hey bloggers, Here's a quick update, the MO Dept of Conservation brought this to my attention, It's Free Fishing Weekend in Missouri. June 7 and 8 anglers may fish in Missouri without a permit. For more information, visit their website at: http://www.mdc.mo.gov/events/freefishdays/index.htm

Whew, a wild week of weather is over and what better weekend to go fishing. It will be a little warm and humid this weekend so sitting under the shade of a tree next to a babbling brook sounds good to me. Please email me your pictures of your lunkers so we can share them here on this blog and on NBC Action News Today. My email address is anthony@nbcactionnews.com. Also if you have tips to share or a secret fishing spot you no longer want to keep secret post it here.

Lots of rain this week have some rivers, streams and Lakes at or near bankful. Be careful with the high water! Most of the water is muddy or at least dingy. Sunny and humid conditions this week have water temperatures on the rise. I read a report this week that said the high water this Spring may help fish populations in area waterways for the next couple of years. Okay so here is the fishing report I found from the Kansas Department of Wildlife for Hillsdale Lake in Miami county.

Walleye	Fair/Good	Up to 9 lbs.	Crankbaits or jig and nightcrawler combo over mainlake points.
Largemouth Bass	Fair/Good	Up to 6.5 lbs.	Suspending jerkbaits, plastic baits, or spinnerbaits around vegetation, laydown trees, and brushpiles.
Channel Catfish	Fair	Up to 9 lbs.	Various baits over shallow points and flats.
Crappie	Fair	Up to 13 inches	Minnows have been best for catching fish suspending over brush and other structure in 15 to 25 ft of water.

On the Missouri side, here is the report from the Missouri Department of Conservation for some fishing spots close to Kansas City.

LAKES

James A. Reed Area: 79 degrees, high, dingy; largemouth bass, bluegill and redear sunfish good; channel catfish fair; all other species slow. (Report made on 6/4/2008)

Montrose: 74 degrees, dingy; catfish good; all other species slow; light fishing pressure. (Report made on 6/5/2008)

Schell-Osage (Atkinson Lake): 73 degrees, high, dingy; catfish and crappie good; all other species fair. (Report made on 6/5/2008)

Schell-Osage (Schell Lake): 75 degrees, high, dingy; catfish and crappie good; all other species fair. (Report made on 6/4/2008)

Smithville: 68 degrees, high, dingy; white bass good using jigs and minnows along face of dam; catfish fair using shad sides and nightcrawlers in back of coves; walleye fair using minnows, leeches and nightcrawlers on the bottom around the flats; largemouth bass slow with some success using minnows in the shallows and riprap; all other species slow; Smithville Lake Spillway: all species good. (Report made on 6/5/2008)

Truman: 72 degrees, high, dingy; catfish good on live baits; crappie fair on jigs and minnows; black bass fair on spinnerbaits and worms; white bass and hybrid bass fair on spoons and jigs. (Report made on 6/5/2008)

Truman Tailwaters: 72 degrees, dingy; releasing 23,500 cfs; crappie fair on jigs and minnows; white bass fair on jigs and Road Runners; catfish fair on live baits. (Report made on 6/5/2008)

RIVERS

Missouri River: high, muddy; all species slow. (Report made on 6/4/2008)

Good Luck this week and weekend, and don't forget to send in those pictures & tips.

Have a great weekend,

Brett

Storm Chasing in a Helicopter!

wxman5 — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:42:00 GMT

Hello,

Wow, what a night chasing storms. For the second time this Spring, I chased supercells while riding shotgun in Skytracker. Captain Gregg Bourdan is the pilot and Tom Babb is the videographer. It is a wild ride at times. First let me start this picture of my car. Why? Because notice the specks of mud on the hood.

Where did they come from? Tuesday morning's rain! Often strong low level jet stream winds pick up mud and dust from Kansas or Oklahoma and dump it here in the form of a muddy rain. I told Christa DuBill Tuesday afternoon, that was a sign of possible severe weather. Why? It indicated that winds aloft were strong enough to aid lift in a growing thunderstorm. Just one reason, I flew with skytracker.

We took off around 5pm and checked out a couple t-storms up north but they were having a hard time overcoming the cap, so we headed south to check out a growing cell in Johnson county. Its best to get behind a storm, one, for safety and two for the view. Check out this picture I took about a thousand feet off the ground of a developing wall cloud over Lenexa & Olathe.

We followed that wall cloud as it lowered and rose for nearly two hours. It rotated slightly at first but near Longview Lake the rotation increased and the cloud lowered. But never did it produce a tornado or tornado warning. At one point a gust of wind tossed skytracker around enough to make all of us uneasy. We saw power transformers taking lightning hits and then we got re-routed to Kansas City, Kansas for the big gas tank fire. Forgive me for the blurry picture.

The fire, as you may know by now, was caused by a lightning strike. Strong southerly winds blew flames near an adjacent tank. A heavy thunderstorm raged toward the fire forcing skytracker to land. As we put skytracker into the hangar, I grabbed this shot of the sun setting after an exciting, yet at times, scarry day. Brett

More Hail Storm Pictures

wxman5 — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:31:00 GMT

Greetings bloggers,

We will be tracking the possible severe weather on the NBC Action Weather blog today so I thought I would take this chance to apply the name "Brett's WeatherPlus" blog. I set out to make this a supplement to the weather blog, add things or do something extra when there is so much to talk about. We continue to get pictures of Monday's hail storm that hit the west & southwestern sides of the NBC Action WeatherPlus Viewing area. Check out this picture from Dana Dunn in Osawatomie in Miami County.

This hail came from the last of the cells to go through that area. Overall there were 115 reports of hail on Monday. Everything from quarter to softball sized hail.

Here's another photo from Matt Harvey, He took this picture at 143rd & Lamar in Overland Park last Friday as thunderstorms were developing near Kansas City and racing east. It is what we thought would happen and why we seemed to "downplay" the severe threat last week.

As for tonight, Our in-house computer model predicts thunderstorms will form over northern Missouri and then move south into Central Missouri. It may be a night where you hear or see me in Skytracker.

Brett