Tornado outbreak annniversary

[johnhicks]

Just a reminder why we don't blithely wander around the southeast in spring:
https://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/archive/event.php?date=20110427

[wa8yxm]

Back in the 1960's there was a "Super storm" though not nearly as bad as that one (Late 60) hit the very south edge of Michigan dead center in the state. I was one of the folks who worked on clean up for a bit.

The thing is that the Weather Service, now called NOAA. sounded the all clear minutes before the Oh S**crappy (storms hit).

The result was a great increase in Storm spotters (I'm trained as a storm spotter) who.. in times of danger... Scan the skies and look for the indication of a possible tornado.. FROM ONE HOPES A SAFE DISTANCE. We track the storm.. Report funnel clouds/tornados and other server storm situations. Flooding. Downed power lines.. Accidents and so on to either NOAA or 9-1-1 (Depending on the incident) Not only do we do it for no pay. We have to buy our own radios.

Oh well.. it's what we do and it's a labor of love.

Thankfully much of the "Work" I do where I use my own radios is not like that. Later this year I'll help provide communications and control for a pair of races. I've done parades and 'thons (marathon bikeathon walkathon) and more.

I've also babysat a crashed airplane. (it was a 4 seater. 4 died).

That was a long night (midnight to around 10 am) with the county amateur radio emergency coordinator as my partner.

[BurbMan]

Clicky

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

That was a horrific outbreak - but it was well-warned. As "nomads" we RVers should always be aware of the weather forecasts and be prepared to go where the bad weather isn't going to be - we have an advantage in that ability. I'm not just talking about tornadoes - heavy rainfall can impact those lovely creekside campgrounds that we find so appealing; and straight-line winds can do a lot of damage, too.

The good news is that the Nat'l Weather Service does a pretty good job of warning us days ahead of most major outbreaks. Most people carry phones - set those phones for weather alerts in your area.