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WOW!  I am pretty far from the Greensburg area but still to this day that just gives me chills.  The loss of lives could have been alot worse so there is something to be thankful for.  My family was in Moore during that terrible tornado outbreak and it brings it all right back home.   Hopefully alot of people will see these pictures and take severe weather a little more seriously from now on.  Thanks you guys for all you do.  I know it is hard when these events happen with the lack of sleep, stress and criticisms but know how many peoples lives you have saved or how many little terrified kids you have calmed and know that it is all worth it and we appreciate all that you do!  Thanks a bunch!

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Thanks for the positive words.  When it comes to severe weather coverage it is usually the silent majority that rule, but often it is the people that really want to see their shows that we hear from.  In the future we will continue to interrupt programming as needed during severe weather.  The public's safety is priority number one. 

Jeremy

Thanks for the Greensburg links. The before and after pictures are amazing.  I lived in Dodge City from 1997 until 2003.  I spent considerable time in and around Greensburg. I was at a Royals game on May 4,2007, and got home about midnight. I was up much of the night watching reports and trying to get as much info as I could on what had happened. I have family just north of there in Stafford County, and they were under the gun that night as well.  One of these days I need to get back to visit Greensburg.  It will be hard.  I remember so well what it used to look like.  It is incredible how well the town has come together to rebuild.

It is already warming nicely in SW Lawrence this morning. I am into the upper 50's. Now let's bring on some rain this week so I can try out my new digital wireless rain gauge.

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Thanks for sharing!

Looks like a great Sunday!

Jeremy

Perfect, BEAUTIFUL morning. The Sun is shining. The Birds are Chirping.

Embrace the day

I am happy to see that we are going to have a beautiful day! :)  Today is my niece's bridal shower and was hoping it would be a perfect day for her! :)

Kristi

Also the anniversery of the 2003 tornadoes. ************ You are correct! Let me see if Brett's story he did for our special is online... Jeremy

I don't even wanna remember the May 2003 tornadoes..  too many sad memories ************** I think Gary may post some of his memories later

Wasnt the tornado expected to pass just east of Greensburg, but then the tornado hit a weakening phase, causing it to turn in a more northerly direction, and right through the heart of Greensburg.

It is not only amazing that they came together and decided to rebuild the town, but they decided to rebuild the town green! The houses also will be built stronger, and shaped so that they will recieve as minimal damage as possible in the event that another tornado strikes the area. They are also going to change the landscape, and have an area of trees encircling the town, as recent studies have shown that a tornadoes wind speed at the ground may be temorarily reduced by the trees, possibly saving the town from a lot of damage. City hall will be built to withstand a medium size tornado as well, and will also be equipped with solar panels, and a unique virtical wind turbine.

My dad drove to New Mexico last week for a bowling tournament, and went through Greensburg. He said he couldnt believe what he as seeing. It was like the town was wiped off the map. There was huge piles of dibris, trees stripped of brak with pieces of metal lodged into them, and there were some new houses being rebuit.

God bless the people of Greensburg, Kansas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Alex from Marceline

Anyway. Today is a sad day due to the fact that today is the anniversity of Greensburg Kansas. Also the fact that 5 years ago today was the major tornado outbreak that hit north Kc.

Anyway.. Speaking of Severe weather. It looks like we wil have another severe weather outbreak. Or Possibily some moderate to major flooding.

But today lets all Rejoice in this rememberance of this 1 year anniversity and pray for those who lost loved ones and for the contuining rebuilding process that is still happing in Greensburg Kansas.

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The chances of severe weather look different than last week.  Let's not get too excited yet.

Jeremy

2003 and 2004 were big years for large tornadoes in this region, I remember watching closely the large tornado that was tracking to our east in Buchanan county in 2004, I remember watching that supercell form to our south west and start moving northeast, only to take a jog more due east for a bit before going on a more northeasterly path once again, if not for that slight east jog, it could have been a real bad day for St. Joe. Wow what a clear and sunny weekend!!

jeremy, do you agree our severe weather threat here on wednesday is low? since the low looks to travel south of us, and the warm front may not make it here, as it looks now. We may just get some hail?

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At this point I would rule out nothing.  The surface low and ULL will be right by us.

Jeremy

Gary said:

I was wondering why we hadn't heard from you.  This year's LRC has not been kind to you.  There is always a big hope for  west coast trough next year that could end your drought situation, and revitalize your enthusiasm for weather.  Maybe a cut off low will form in the right spot to get you some rain.

Gary,

Thanks for your response and kind thoughts.  The fact is that for the western high plains, the last 9 LRC's have not been kind to us.  I don't know what its going to take.  As far as a cut off low forming in the right spot to get us some rain (which would be tracking across the southern border of Colorado for us), this has not happened in the spring for many years.  We used to get one or two of those each season and they would bring 2-3 days of rain each time over a wide area, but for whatever reason this just doesn't occur any more.  

What seems to be happening this year is fronts with a lot of wind keep moving through scouring out the moisture each time (probably sending it out to you; you're welcome).  There does not appear to be an opportunity for moisture to flow southward into eastern Colorado, and even if it did we do not get the lows in the right place long enough to pull it up against the mountains and rain on us.

Such is life.  Believe it or not Fort Collins has not yet cracked 2 inches of moisture for the YEAR and we are into the fifth month.  If something doesn't change soon we will be lucky to see 7 or 8 inches for the entire year.

Stormdog here - been quite a while since I've posted - working on first shift and changing my schedule have left me wiped out at the end of the day.  Weekends off with my wife is a plus, a big plus, despite having to be around "the bosses" a lot more.

Interesting to read, somewhere, that Missouri leads the nation so far with 100 twisters.  I read in a mammoth work on tornadoes (The Tornado Project) that the foci (the geographic center of greatest tornado occurrence) for tornadoes revolves around the center of the country - NW TX, OK, AR-MO, NE-IA, KS, and back towards western OK and the Panhandles.  I think this is exactly what we are seeing this year - the foci happens to be zeroed in on eastern KS and MO - not a cheery thought.

If anyone recalls (or even cares), I did forecast a very active and severe weather season for us, much like 1978-79, based on the very active and volatile winter systems - looks like that is continuing, at least for now.  The next system sounds very trenchant (potent), providing on its atmospheric menu a "very wet-bar", or some "ground-beef" earth and housing style (hope that doesn't happen.)

Anyhow, just thought I'd check in with my thoughts - not worth a lot, but interesting to ponder anyway, I think.

Anyone who doesn't have a good weather radio should purchase one NOW!  I did today at an electronics store, which while outside of my budget, seems a very good investment, given what this year could hold in store.

Later,
The Dog

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Dog,

Thanks for stopping by.  I think the severe weather season will really be picking up this month.  With so many systems in the pipeline and it being Spring about any storm can produce severe weather.  Looks like the next best chance will be Wednesday.

Jeremy

Wasn't Sean the only one who took that video? I feel bad I only got to see the last ten minutes of the Greensburg Special on the Discovery Channel  yesterday. Still, the last ten minutes were very intresting.

Well I did it, FINALLY got most of my garden planted today.  Wonderful outside right now, sure wish we could have a week of dry weather & blue skies, (yeah I'm dreaming, I know).  I saw the word flood mentioned above, do we have a guestimate on rainfall amounts for this week?  And hopefully no more frost!  I've been covering up the tomatoes, got them planted a couple weeks ago and they're doing great.  But covering up the whole garden would be a real pain.
Thanks!

5 years ago today roughly at this time I was transmitting a report of a tornado in the vicinity of the Kansas Speedway in western Wyandotte County to the KCK PD Cental Patrol dispatcher.  I was the first to officially report it to any emergency communications dispatcher.  When I made that report, they at the 911 center and NWS were not aware of it.  Initially they did not believe me, but within a minute or so they did.  By then it was too late and had already passed on into Wyandotte County lake and that portion of KCk.  By the time the warning was issued and sirens sounded it was almost over the Missouri River.  So for me today is a day that I will never forget.  When I finally made my way out there I could not believe the devastation that the tornado left.  Few if any of the people that happened to be home that day even made it to their basements.  For the few that did, basements were not that helpful.  A tornado that size and powerful pretty much has its way with everything in and near its vortex.  A man came up to me that lived in that area, he was in shock and thought it was 50 years earlier and he was seeing the devastation from Ruskin Heights.  So this wasn't the first tornado to hit the big city and rest assured it won't be the last.  Some people effected that day on both sides of the state line are still dealing with that day.  You can still drive through that area and see a mangled tree here and there or a piece of debris lodged in wooded areas.

For those of you who are able to tune in KTWU Channel 11 in Topeka they are having a special on tonight at 7PM about Greensburg.  I didn't see a simulcast or different time for KCPT.

david

did you notice that wyandotte county lake itself was left untouched?  My family n I love to go out to the lake... that's our break away from the city.

i remember may 4 2003 vividly, it was sunday and I had a day off from work we had a pds tornado watch but I remember thinking it was too cloudy to have a major outbreak man was I wrong...I remember the first helicopter out there I think at the time it was skyfox or something I don't remember which newscopter it was but they got close and saw that it wasn't just a wall cloud for once in our lives that it was actually a huge @** tornado and man everything changed from that moment on. it was an amazing day. I look forward to some severe weather next week hopefully nothing damaging like we just had but some Nice and LOUD storms. or an overnight MCS would be nice.

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Thanks for sharing your experience...glad you made it through okay!  I think the day to keep an eye on would be Wednesday.  Should have the ULL and surface low nearby. 

Jeremy

Some Loud Storms would be fun. Maybe some flooding but not to the point where people have water rescues and that stuff. I dont want A Bad SW outbreak like we did Thursday.

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Chiefs...please keep the wishing for any type of severe weather to a minimum.  I certainly am not wishing for flooding...flooding is on average the number one weather related killer in the U.S. each year.  To be honest what good would come from a flood in our viewing area?

Jeremy

Having been thru the flood of 93 myself, and helping others clean up from that mess.. CHFS  
SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GROW UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Point taken and addressed.  In 1993 I was in high school and my parents house was lcoated on the Des Moines River.  It flooded, but our home was high enough that it was okay.  However, many other areas were affected in my hometown.

Jeremy

Jeremy, how much rain are we talking Tuesday-Wednesday?

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Tuesday's stuff may be widely scattered or late in the day.  Tuesday Night - Wednesday Night looks like the best chance.  I think some 1"+ totals could happen.  18Z GFS gives KC 2.37" of rain.  NAM was quite a bit less.

Jeremy

Jeremy
Glad to hear your family got thru it ok.  We didnt' have any home damage, but the flooding made it really rough.  At the time we were living in a place in Excelsior Springs.. that had only one way in or out.. and if it rained over 3/4 of an inch in just a few hours with heavier rain on the way.  We knew we had to run to town n get what we needed for the next 3 days, cuz within 3 hours we'll be flooded in.  
BUT, My mother-in-law's trailer was directly affected by the KS river.. we had to try n follow the flood detours to get back down here to get her moved to higher ground.

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We don't need a repeat of that year...it would take a lot of rain to get to that point though.

Jeremy

Sometimes I think the agressive towards kids on here is taking too seriously on here.

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We want everyone to feel comfortable on the blog and age has nothing to do with any of the responses.

Jeremy 

is that discovery channel special reairing sometime?

I pray we don't have another repeat of Thursday any time soon!  I love weather, but that was too much and way to close to me for comfort.  

I just want to say I'm sorry to everybody who was affected by Thursdays storms.  I never want to know what thats like.  Hang in there everybody.

Jacob

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Hopefully that is the last outbreak this Spring...but something tells me there will be more.  Let's just hope the tornadoes stay away.

Jeremy

Same here Twister. I lived through the Flood of 93. My Grandparents house Is in Chester Illinois. There house was down in the Valley near the Mississippi. There house suffered downstairs water damage. I was there during it and I remember Me and my parents and grandparents being evacuated. They Lived with us for about 2-3 months. Bad times.

I lived down by the Plaza in '93.  In fact, I lived three blocks south of the KSHB station.  I don't want to see a repeat of 1993.  I saw enough flooding the summer of 1993 to last me a lifetime.  That was a terrible summer. :(

Kristi

okay I know that this is impossible to happen without flooding...but I love when thunderstorms just sit and train over my house for hours on in. I never get sick of the flashes of lightning and the loud thunder and the pouring rain. But i'm not a fan of flooding. I am a hobbyist storm chaser and been caught off guard by high water several times but I will never ever get sick of a thunderstorm just going on and on and on. but yeah flooding..no good so its ironic I know. Summer of 93 was my favorite summer despite the flooding SIMPLY because it was the stormiest yeah the flooding was terrible but the fact that we had a thunderstorm almost every day was awesome to me. thats where I stand on that issue. now when I was a kid I loved when sewers would flood(yeah I know it was dangerous) and I would play around in the flood waters of the sewer pipes and stuff during a thunderstorm

I know it is a bit late, but I do still remember that day in 2003 real well...
The first thing that I noticed that really made my jaw drop is when I first got up.  Now I don't put much thought into forecasts from TWC, but admittedly it was just a quick and easy way to get a quick look at radar and some weather data before you had time to get to the computer ect. Well I noticed something in the forecast on that channel that I had NEVER EVER seen before, in the forecast for the day it actually said that "tornadoes were likely" with some storms, I have never seen tornadoes actually mentioned in a forecast, accurate or not I knew that meant something unusual was likely going to happen, that morning was cool and breezy with winds out of the SE and low clouds, yes I wondered about instability, until about 1 p.m. then Supercells blew up to our west and south west, the low clouds started to clear in time for the supercells to move in.  We had a supercell move through St. Joe with some gusty wind and hail with a tornado warning, but as our storm was passing the one down in K.C. began to produce its tornado, a newschopper was following it and I realized that I was watching a massive wedge tornado live as it was happening move right through the north K.C. area, I will never forget that bizarre day.

I didn't live through the great flood of '93 and wouldn't want to experience that.  I've lived through the Storm of the Century (March, 1993), the Perfect Storm, the Blizzard of 1978, and hurricanes Bob and Gloria, not to mention a bunch of nor'easters and tropical storms.  I loved the snowstorms, and I found the hurricanes fascinating, but not when people lose property.  
  What I find interesting is how we're not even close the moisture necessary to repeat '93 and we've had a lot of rain.  It must have been an amazing year.
  The other things that I find interesting about that flood are the marks on the water tower down on Route 9 and the fact that the astronauts could see all the water from outer space, and how they thought it looked like another of the Great Lakes.

Gary:

Good beautifull morning to you sir!! Currently sitting at 46 degrees with birds going crazy-just awesome out this morning!! Yesterday-what a perfect day!! You can't get much better than that-warm, low humidity, and no wind!!! Just a spectactular day-I hope you got to get out and enjoy it!!!

Looks like a pretty wet week shaping up if the 6Z GFS is to be believed. The upper level low doesn't look quite as intense as earlier as it doesn't stay as closed off as on ealier runs and on the 6Z GFS it as well as the 850 low looks to to go even a bit further south than on earlier models. I am going out on a huge limb here, but with that far south of a track, looks to be mainly a big rain event this week?? Hopefully it comes in phases (as it appears to on on the 6Z GFS) and we don't get into a flooding situation. Noticed a thunderstorm has developed in Central Kansas this morning I think in response to the return flow. There is a high in Arkansas at 1020 that is beginning to pump moisture back up this way. Time to follow the dew points!!!

I am going to prob. get a chorus of boos for this, but I can't help it-one thing that has kept popping in my head while taking curusory glaneces this weekend of this low is what if this was in January and we had cold air firmly in place. Some of the tracks the models have had this weekend-especially Saturday with the closed off Upper Level Low tracking right across the Kansas/Oklahoma border and the 850 low shooting between Wichita and Nevada, Missouri-man what a snow maker this would have been!!!! Sorry, I just couldn't help myself-imagine as a snow lover this type of scenario with a 1030 arctic High sitting over North Dakota....

Speaking of 1993-one thing about that year in addition to the rain was the massive snow pack from here all the way into the Dakotas-If I remember correctly, that year we had 3 8 plus inch snow storms and some other smaller events-just an awfull situation-you can still to this day see all the small lakes formed by the Missouri River in the bottoms as you drive around-there is one right over the 435 bridge just as you enter Platte County-just a horrendous situation and if we had had one more big dump in late July, downtown KC was prob. flooded-the river was so close to topping the levees. Just horrible-no more of that!!!!!

Well, typical Monday morning rambelings from me!!!! Have a great day-looks to be another good one!! As always thanks for reading and providing such a great place to follow the weather and learn!!

Bill in Lawrence

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Bill,

This is likely going to be a wet week, no doubt. But, if it were winter, the forecast would be a tricky one.

Gary