Ross' Blog

By now, you have probably heard about or even seen the video of the meteorologist in Tupelo, MS that ordered the news staff to the basement during the tornado. (copy and paste the link in a browser if you want to watch it)

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/wtva-meteorologist-orders-staffers-to-the-basement-as-tornado-sweeps-through-tupelo_b120067

Matt Laubhan (the chief meteorologist at WTVA) and I went to college together and graduated at the same time. He was interviewed on ABC's Nightline last night saying how we (meteorologists) order everyone to shelter, and what better way to set an example than to go there yourself when a tornado is heading right for your station. I've only done that once and it was during my time in Lawrence while working at Channel 6. We knew the rotation would be passing right over the station, and just to be safe, we left the radar up while seeking a safe place across the road from the station. At KWCH, we have the advantage of using wireless mics and what we would do is leave the radar picture up while moving to a secure hallway just outside of the studio. We don't have a basement at the station, but we do have some very secure areas that would help protect us. We just hope we never have to use them.

Wind forecast (in 6 hr increments)

Everyone is sick of the wind. Wednesday will see wind gusts between 35 and maybe 45 mph, but then they will start backing down heading into Thursday. You can see the wind graph shows most of the wind that we get is during the afternoon, and then backing off some during the night. The wind is actually going to be helpful during the early morning hours by preventing any widespread frost the next few days. As long as we keep the air mixed up in the early morning, we shouldn't have to worry about covering plants (or killing off the state's wheat crop if the drought hasn't done that already)

The pattern has been blocked up by this slow moving low pressure system over the upper Midwest. It will finally move Thursday and allow for some warmer changes to return by the weekend. The winds will go down for Friday and Saturday. And overall, the weather pattern looks very benign for about 3-4 days. There is some discussion about severe weather chances returning during the middle of next week, but for now, let's focus on getting out of this windy stretch we've been on. It's making a lot of people crabby... and I can't blame ya. Have a good day.