Subj : Re: Tornado Outbreak
To   : August Abolins
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Sun Dec 12 2021 01:08:00

August,

 AA> So.. is the Thunderbolt BBS still *in* Little Rock?  :/

  Thankfully, yes...and I'm still on this side of the grass. :)

  Just as I turned over running the Trains Net on ham radio on Friday
evening, to another ham radio operator in Alabama, there was a Tornado
Warning issued for my area. Thunderstorms were basically nonstop over 
the next 6 hours, and it was after 1am Saturday before I could bring 
everything back online, due to the intense lightning. 

  The worst of the storms were northeast of Little Rock...especially
from southwest of Monette, Arkansas (where a nursing home was hit 
by a tornado, with at least 2 fatalities and several injuries), 
through southeast Missouri, northwest Tennessee, and much of Kentucky. 
The community of Mayfield, Kentucky sustained severe damage...and the 
storm continued past Central City, Kentucky. That one supercell spawned
several strong to violent tornadoes (EF-2 to EF-5), although the National
Weather Service is still doing storm damage surveys. 

  That storm is being dubbed "The QuadState Tornado"...which if found to
have been on the ground continuously...would eclipse the record for 
"The Tri-State Tornado" which affected Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, 
on March 18, 1925, which was on the ground for nearly 220 miles. This 
tornadic monster appears to have been on the ground between 250 and 300 
miles.

  An Amazon Warehouse in Illinois had a roof collapse, and another
factory had similar damage. Over 100 people likely were killed in
Kentucky, making it the deadliest tornado in that state's history.

  To add insult to injury, another stormy and unsettled weather pattern
is shaping up for the same areas that just got blasted by numerous
tornadic storms. There were at least 2 dozen tornadoes, likely more...
but some could've been from the same storm. At one time, I think there
were nearly a dozen Tornado Watches in effect...along with numerous
Tornado Warnings. And, most of the tornadoes occurred after dark, when
you couldn't see them, unless they were illuminated by lightning.

  The Doppler Velocity Display of that monster tornado noted earlier,
was (in the words of a local TV meteorologist), "sickening" to look
at. In looking at the "Gate To Gate Reflectivity" that I can recall
with the RadarScop app (excellent product for smartphones), it looked
like at least EF-4 winds of 160 mph, if not more. But, the storm damage
surveys will determine the strength of the tornado. If they find EF-5
damage in Kentucky, and that the tornado was on the ground continuously,
it would be Arkansas' first EF-5 tornado since 1929.

  Most all of the hard hit areas are now under a dusk to dawn curfew, 
with only valid residents and emergency personnel, being allowed in 
and out of the area. And, to make matters worse, the tornadoes, high 
winds, and intense lightning, have knocked out power to many areas.

  If this is a precursor of the spring tornado season, then folks
in both Tornado Alley and Dixie Alley (Arkansas is in both), are in
big trouble.

Daryl

.... The Weather Is Here...Wish You Were Beautiful.
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 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)

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