JoMo

Accuweather looks to be going with La Nina climo https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/2017-2018-us-winter-forecast/70002894

Thought I'd try my luck at making the winter thread. Hopefully it won't turn out like the last few winters, and we'll actually have a winter this year. This year looks like it's probably going to be a La Nina year. Strength is still TBD, but it appears it's most likely to be either be weak to moderate. You can check out the latest forecast on ENSO here: https://iri.columbia.edu/our-expertise/climate/forecasts/enso/current/ La Nina years typically give us sporadic cold shots (sometimes very cold) followed by warm ups. It seems to give us a 'backloaded' winter a lot of the time. Meaning Dec is usually warm and Feb is usually colder. The CFS v2 has been showing just that. Latest can be found here: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/CFSv2/CFSv2_body.html As far as analogs, I've seen 1999-2000 mentioned and 2007-2008 mentioned. 99-00 was an averageish winter, except for above normal snow in much of AR (minus the far NW portion), and eastern OK. 07-08 was the year of the ice storms.

Tornado hit parts of/near San Antonio it sounds like.

We're almost exclusive winter mode there. Everyone disappears from that thread during the Spring/Summer until it's time to talk about winter again. The big severe thunderstorm outbreaks get their own thread. Otherwise there is/was a thread for short term discussion on flood/severe weather threats outside of the big days. And a thread for talking about the severe threats down the line in the medium range. This thread looks to cover observations.

Today's the 5th Anniversary of the Joplin tornado. It's a day to look back and see how far we've come. It's a day to remember those who were lost. Graduation day is here again for Joplin High School students. In addition to graduation, there's a community picnic at Cunningham Park (free food) followed by a memorial service. I still remember everything very vividly even though it was 5 years ago. I can still recall the day and moments of the tornado as though it were yesterday. I'll never forget the sound of the tornado or the devastation that followed. Looking out at areas you have known for your entire life and not recognizing them anymore is quite an experience. Coming that close to possibly losing your life, or everything you own, brings the sudden shock of your own mortality. Realizing that others were not so lucky brings a sense of sadness. I don't think I'll ever be able to understand the complete randomness of people losing their lives in a tornado. People who were doing the wrong thing, such as driving a car into the tornado on accident, survived. People who were doing the right thing, such as taking shelter in their basement, died. Even a few feet seemed to make all the difference in some cases on whether people lived or died. I'll never forget that around 200,000 volunteers came to our city to help. Those volunteers logged over 1.5 million hours of work. Using those volunteers enabled organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Rebuild Joplin to repair and build new homes for those displaced. Habitat for Humanity has built over 105 homes since the tornado. They were averaging around 1-2 homes a year before the tornado. Rebuild Joplin rebuilt or repaired over 180 homes. I will also never forget the first responders, police, fire, who came from everywhere to help in the days after the tornado. The city/state/federal agencies ended up doing a great job when it came down to it. There were problems though. Development along 20th street has been very slow. A lot of that can be blamed on the city hiring a 'master developer' who promised a lot but delivered very little. The 'speculation' of what would be built where, and developers buying up and holding land hoping to get in on increased land prices, caused very little development to happen on 20th street. Personality clashes happened and attempts to shift blame occured, and because of this, the city manager was ousted. Several city council members lost their seat in Joplin's next election. The Joplin School Board suffered a similar fate after citizens expressed concerns about how much was spent on the new schools, some believed they were 'too extravagent', and because of this friction the superintendent ended up retiring and several board members resigned, but all of that is behind us now. The city has largely built back, there are still empty lots that will eventually fill in as time goes on. The injuries people have sustained (both mental and physical), and the loss of loved ones will never be forgotten but for now, we can only look toward the future, while remembering our past, and we can all hope that we don't experience anything like that ever again. I'm proud of what the people of Joplin have accomplished in the last 5 years. This thread contains the history of the past 5 years of Joplin's recovery after the May 22nd tornado. I feel as though it has served it's purpose, both to inform others of what has occurred, and as a form of therapy for me. This is probably the last time I update my little tornado 'journal' here on AmericanWx. I may occasionally bump this thread every year around the anniversary. Thanks for reading.

Yeah, the worst destruction was just a few blocks away. I was so caught up in everything that was happening that I didn't think to log on to here until power was restored 4 days after the tornado. When I logged on, I was greeted by my private mailbox being filled with people asking if I was ok. That's when I found this thread and posted my first message. I'm not even sure if I properly thanked them now that I think about it. Thanks to everyone that sent me messages and was worried about me.

Pretty good article from a Springfield paper, but one mistake in this article was the mention of Walgreens not being rebuilt. Actually both the Walgreens built back in record time. I suspect the author of this article was talking about a gas station that was located on the corner of 26th and Maiden Lane that has not rebuilt back. http://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2016/05/21/five-years-after-devastating-may-2011-joplin-tornado-heres-what-city-looks-like/83589110/ AP's article on the Joplin tornado: Survivors of tornado that leveled Missouri city look back http://bigstory.ap.org/article/7e1d990a8fa74a9994d16fb5b5774b86/survivors-tornado-leveled-missouri-city-look-back National Geographic's "Witness: Joplin Tornado" I'll probably post one last summary of the entire 5 years later today.

Desiree was also someone I posted stories about. She was trapped inside Dillons supermarket and had a crush injury, she was also pregnant at the time and medical professionals thought she had lost the baby. Her words, 5 years later........ Five years ago I was at the Joplin Dillons to get groceries for a date night with Matthew. I was in the first trimester of my pregnancy with Leo and tired to boot. Little did I know my life was going to change forever. I was in the ground zero path of what is now known as one of the deadliest tornadoes in the United States. I happened to also be the only person (and pregnant) in the front produce cooler that ended up trapped and suffered a crush injury (the medical diagnosis I learned is: rhabdomyolysis). There are days where I can recall what happened at the Joplin Dillons so vividly and I have days... lots of days...where I want to forget this experience ever happened to my family. It has been encouraging to see all of the stories on media outlets of other survivors. People who should have died, and miraculously didn't. I like to think my son Leo is one of those survivors, although, I'm sure he'll never understand the magnitude of him being a "tornado survivor" means. With steel and concrete crushing my body and leaving me breathless I should have suffered a miscarriage or worse. Even medical professionals thought I lost him. I felt the same relief from the literal tons of weight on me when I was pulled out of the rubble by the Carthage Fire Department as when I found out Leo was still "viable." Leo is still as strong, stubborn, and free-spirited as he was when I was pregnant with him. Sometimes I wonder if anyone who recalls my story wonders how myself or my family is doing. There are so many lives affected by May 22, 2011 it can be easy to lose track. After debating about it... I decided to take a moment to reflect and provide an update. It's been a roller coaster. PTSD comes in all forms. It took me years to finally conquer a lot of my anxieties. It took me years to stop being mad at how the tornado changed me. I don't want to be remembered as the pregnant woman underneath a building. I want to be remembered as the woman who fought hard enough to change circumstances. Because sometimes, with enough determination (or being entirely stubborn in my case. Gee. I wonder where Leo gets it.) you can change circumstances. I shouldn't be walking and here I am. Leo is almost 4 and a half. He turns 5 in December. He has a little sister now named Emma who is 2. They are best friends. It melts my heart watch them interact with each other. I also have a cat named Cheeto and a bunny named Cinnabun. I have found my calling in the social entertainment industry. I am now an Associate Product Manager and Cash Shop Manager for an online community I have personally been a member of for almost 12 years. I'm excited to get to fly out to San Jose regularly to be physically there with my team. Next week I fly out to San Jose for one of those trips. I love being able to provide for my family in more ways now. I want to take this time to thank everyone along the way who helped us recover. Thank you to the groups who donated furniture, clothing, and food when we lost it all. I want to thank the ASPCA for finding my beloved Freya when she was gone for days. I want to thank the media outlets who spoke to me years ago and used my story to bring hope to others. I want to thank the Carthage Fire Department for saving me & Leo. I want to thank the woman who flagged the Carthage Fire Department right after the tornado hit. I want to thank my husband for staying with me the entire ordeal. Most people would have ran and he stayed. I want to thank my friends & family who understand I'm not entirely crazy when I hear loud noises and my ears perk up. After the tornado happened I wasn't sure what life would be like. I didn't know what life was like to be a tornado survivor. I am living proof life can be beautiful after the storm... no matter the storm. If you know someone struggling please share my story with them. You can make the best out of every situation and everything will eventually be okay. I promise.

Here's an update on a couple of kids stories that I remember quite vividly. Mason Lillard (10 at time of tornado) and Lage Grigsby (14 at time of tornado) are cousins. They were at Home Depot in their grandparents truck when the tornado hit. The truck was thrown from the parking lot into part of the store. Mason had been impaled by a metal rod that had pierced the truck, destroyed part of her shoulder blade, pierced part of her lung, separated some ribs and pinned her in the truck. First responders cut the top and bottom of the rod so they could get her out of the truck and sent her to the hospital with the bar still inside her. She's has 12 surgeries over the last 5 years and is basically fine. Plays softball and is a cheerleader at school. http://www.fourstateshomepage.com/news/doctor-and-patient-reunite-five-years-after-the-joplin-tornado Lage's injuries were far more extensive. He had a massive head injury and was oozing brain matter at the scene. First responders didn't think he would survive the ride to the hospital. At the hospital they 'black tagged' him (meaning they thought he was dead or would die) until a nurse saw him and put her hands on him, he opened an eye and let out a massive scream, so they rushed him to get a brain scan. Doctors ended up removing nearly 1/4 of his brain. They sewed two pieces of his skull into his abdomen for safe keeping. His recovery time was longer and he basically had to relearn a lot of things. His right hand is paralyzed so he had to become a lefty, but he can talk, walk, use a cell phone, do chores, and even drive... 5 years later. http://www.kspr.com/content/news/JOPLIN-TORNADO-Lage-Grigsbys-recovery-through-the-years-380208531.html

Gary Bandy, former Chief Meteorologist at KSNF in Joplin will be on TWC Wxgeeks this Sunday: https://www.wunderground.com/blog/DrShepherdWxGeeks/after-the-storm-stories-from-the-joplin-and-pilger-tornadoes Joplin was featured on the TornadoTalk podcast. http://www.tornadotalk.com/ Future football player had his life changed by the tornado/PTSD. http://www.kspr.com/content/news/JOPLIN-TORNADO-Still-recovering-five-years-later-380056951.html EDIT: Helicopter today flying around the tornado disaster area taking footage 5 years later of the area. EDIT 2: Governor's office has released a website that deals with Joplin's recovery over the last 5 years.... http://governor.mo.gov/joplinrising

KC Star started their coverage of Joplin up by republishing the stories they did right after the tornado. They have added some new stuff though: They have written a fair article that talks about Joplin's successes and failures. http://www.kansascity.com/news/special-reports/joplin/article78154942.html This mom is looking for her 'real, living angel' that stood by her side the night of the tornado while she was searching for her daughter: http://www.kansascity.com/news/state/missouri/article78135292.html UPDATE: Found her: http://www.kansascity.com/news/state/missouri/article78348047.html Probably the most interesting section is a set of 'mini stories' from people impacted by the storm, now 5 years later...... The best one is probably Steven Weersing. He's the kid who basically had his entire chest rebuilt by surgeons after he got the flesh eating fungus. Sounds like his story could be made into a Lifetime movie or something.... http://projects.kansascity.com/2016/joplin/vignettes/ Before/After pictures that are from after the tornado and now. The next to last picture on this page is from the neighborhood where I posted many pictures from in this thread. Hard to believe at one point between the destruction and rebuilding, there was nothing there. http://projects.kansascity.com/2016/joplin/before-and-after/

The Joplin Globe has a big story today about Joplin's recovery. http://www.joplinglobe.com/news/local_news/six-miles-of-recovery-the-journey-back/article_5cd49f43-5a76-5316-9aed-b6a6362e41f6.html But one corner of Joplin remains untouched. The bedroom of Will Norton — one of the first victims of the storm — remains as he left it five years ago, right down to the socks sitting underneath the desk. Joplin Globe youtube video of pictures of some of the areas after the tornado and drone footage of what they look like today.

Yep, in the EF-1 part, barely. I think it was everything factored in. The waiting and listening as the roar got louder, waiting for it to destroy the house. The sound of the air being sucked in the garage door, the loud bang of debris against the house. I never figured out what dented in the steel garage door, or what dented the satellite dish and broke the neighbors chain length fence. Part of someone's ceiling, (with a/c vents still attached) was located half in the street and in someone's yard just down the street. Seeing all the destruction that night just 3 blocks away is what really brought home the realization that there was a decent chance I wouldn't be here or I would have been seriously injured if it had been just 3 blocks closer. A quick glance at all the damage in those areas gave enough evidence that the walk-in closet I was in would not have fared well. A better location would have been a hallway where 4 rooms connect and where a water heater is located. Anyway, this is what I wrote around 5 years ago when I returned here about (4 days?)after the tornado:

On a happier note, this story is about Chad Crilley. Chad was 12 years old at the time of the Joplin tornado and lived in San Diego, California. He had a passion for meteorology. He wrote an email to a bunch of meteorologists in the Plains because he wanted to see some severe weather. Doug Heady (local met) responded and told Chad and his mom when they should come out to see some severe weather. They arrived on May 22nd. Chad and his mom were narrowly missed by the tornado, and the next few days featured more severe weather so Chad got to see what it was like working on-air during a severe outbreak, he even did some reports for his hometown station on the Joplin tornado. 5 years later...He's graduating high school now, and will be attending Eastern Illinois University, where he will be pursuing a meteorology degree. http://www.koamtv.com/category/164379/video?clipId=12433075&autostart=false

10 days until it's been 5 years so local news is starting to ramp up the tornado stories. This story I can relate to because I had PTSD symptoms and know of many people who had similar symptoms as well. The story describes the symptoms quite well...... For me, the sound of rolling thunder over the last 3-4 years has been rough as it would take me back to that day and I'd experience the symptoms listed, it was pretty much like a panic attack. Even adding a tornado shelter to the house didn't stop that fear. Even on days when I knew there wasn't a chance of a tornado, my brain would tell me that one would just drop out of the sky unnoticed if I heard rolling thunder. I never really had that fear before the Joplin tornado. Thunder (even distant) will wake me up from sleep now and I'll turn the TV on or check Radarscope to see if it's warned. Luckily those symptoms have really faded and I don't experience that fear as much. I'm not sure what changed, I guess it just took some time. For other people, they still experience PTSD symptoms. Someone I know can't go to an automatic car wash because it reminds them of the sound of being inside the tornado. Someone else I know leaves the area completely on days when there are chances of tornadoes, driving hours and hours away from the area before the storms form. This man, who was trapped under a wall in Home Depot and was injured, still struggles with chronic PTSD. http://www.fox14tv.com/story/31960536/tornado-ptsd

Thank you Beau. 417 magazine has written an article about Joplin's recovery over the last 5 years: http://www.417mag.com/417-Magazine/May-2016/Winds-of-Change/ Also an interesting article from back in January from the AP: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/joplin-rebounds-strongly-after-tornado/article_cfac876e-4151-5bfd-ad2a-69256129db88.html "Joplin’s population of about 50,000 people dropped by 1.3 percent within a year of the tornado. Many wrongly expected that slide to continue; U.S. Census Bureau figures from May showed the city’s population has risen to 51,316."

It's hard to believe we are coming up on 5 years since the tornado. I still remember it like it was yesterday. It looks like Joplin is planning a Disaster Recovery Summit on Thursday, May 19th and Friday May 20th. Speakers will come from Greensburg, KS, Tuscaloosa, AL, Cedar Rapids, IA, Minot, ND, Moore, OK, Vilonia, AR, Pilger, NE. There's various breakout sessions covering disaster related topics. Full agenda: http://www.joplinproud.com/joplin-disaster-recovery-summit/agenda/ Joplin Memorial Marathon is on the 21st.... A community picnic will be held Sunday the 22nd, along with Joplin High School graduation (creepy that it's on Sunday the 22nd, just like the tornado) and it'll all end with a Memorial Service for those lost in the tornado. http://www.joplinproud.com/

I didn't know you were involved in this. It's great!

Yep, I hate ice storms. Usually after you experience a really bad one and don't have any power, lose a lot of tree limbs/trees and are stuck inside for days, then ice storms from then on are no fun. Always neat to experience an alien looking ice covered world, the grass crackling under your feet, once, though.

The findings of how the city government did after the Joplin tornado....... The Missouri State Auditor concluded it's citizen petitioned audit of the Joplin City Government and determined that it has a rating of "poor", which is the worst you can get. There were examples of waste and mismanagement and city leaders who blurred the line between private business dealings and government services. A lot of issues happened with the master developer and selection of the master developer, Wallace-Bajjali, who did absolutely nothing for the city. Other issues had to do with the previous mayor (the mayor at the time of the tornado), and his dealings with a real estate developer. He is currently under investigation by the FBI. Whole story on the findings is here: http://www.joplinglobe.com/news/audit-cites-questionable-property-deals-sunshine-law-violations/article_4c480410-45fd-11e5-b738-c77c7ea1d58a.html EDIT: I guess it made National News as well: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/18/the-associated-press-audit-millions-of-dollars-mismanaged-after-joplin-tornado.html

I see you all are having problems with it being too dry. I've been having the opposite problem here, too wet. My tomatoes have been too wet and are starting to try to sprout roots along the stem outside of the soil due to water stress. Guess I'll pile dirt on them up to where it's trying to sprout new roots and hope for some dry weather.

Signs of a summertime high showing up, eh? Yes please, we need to dry out.

Today is the 4 year anniversary of the tornado. I can't believe it's been 4 years already as it seems like it wasn't too long ago everything was destroyed. St. John's (Mercy) hospital built a memorial garden where their chapel stood at the old hospital site, and the city decided it's going to build a new park on the rest of the land the old hospital was on. This park will be a 'passive park' and have a pond, fountains, trails, but no playground equipment or anything, that's reserved for Cunningham Park across the street. http://www.koamtv.com/story/29048960/joplin-city-council-approves-plans-for-new-park St. John's (Mercy) temporary hospital that was built after the tornado will become a medical school a couple of years from now thanks to the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. It will be the first new medical school in Missouri in 40 years. The Joplin Blasters (an independent professional baseball team) won their inaugural home opener last night in front of what may have been a nearly sold out stadium. And finally... The Joplin First Response tornado fund has closed after distributing around $1 million in donations. There were 991 donations given from people from all over the world. These donations were given to residents and non-profits. 41 grants were made to 27 non-profit agencies including Rebuild Joplin, Catholic Charities, and Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity. The grants were used to repair/rebuild homes, buy appliances for people who couldn't afford them and for storm shelters. Grants were also given to local churches who helped house and feed volunteers (many of the grants were used for storm shelters), and to child care services and mental health help for children who were traumatized. The first grant that was given was for weather radios for residents. One grant for $25,000 was returned by an agency who said it was no longer needed and some grants weren't fully used. The board decided they'd give the remaining $39,000 or so to the city.

Mercy hospital (old St. Johns) opened it's doors today. They moved all the patients from the temporary hospital over to their new hospital and the move went flawlessly. They started moving the patients around 7 AM or so, and were finished moving all 79 patients by around 11 AM. The hospital also had it's first birth this morning, twins.. a boy and a girl.

Coming up on 4 years before long.... Mercy (St. Johns) Hospital had it's open house yesterday: http://www.joplinglobe.com/news/local_news/mercy-holds-open-house-in-advance-of-new-hospital-opening/article_4fa54330-0dc0-552f-b21d-942a7d43a034.html All the rooms are private, it will have a NICU, the cancer center will have a state of the art linear accelerator, they put the ER and OR right next to each other, and lots of other new state of the art technology. http://www.mercy.net/newsroom/2015-03-05/technology-packed-hospital-opening-in-joplin