SharonA

(South Forsyth county, just south of Stony Point airfield)

There's about 2" now on top of the deck railings, furniture and tree limbs.  The lawn is starting to become smooth-white instead of patchy-white bumps where it stuck to the grass and melted on the ground.   Still coming down, although not as intensely as an hour ago.

It's finally switched over to big fat flakes, and lots of them, about 15 minutes ago.  The elevated deck is *almost* white covered ... another 5 minutes, perhaps?  We'd been getting tease with little flurries of white specks off an on for an hour+ until it finally committed.  This is South Forsyth county a bit south of Stony Point Airfield ...

40 minutes ago, ST21 said:

Not sure how high elevation I am honestly

You can click on the map below to get Lat/Long/Elevation, or key in a specific address:

https://elevation.maplogs.com/poi/cumming_ga_usa.62930.html

Not as bad as 2009's week-of-rain, but the flood warnings and water levels in northern Georgia were pretty amazing.

We ended up with what looks like about 5.5" in south Cumming/north Alpharetta.  I missed the first part due to driving home from a road trip Weds evening, during which (unintentionally) my timing was perfect for the maximum time spent in torrential rain as the line crossed I-75.  From about 50-60 miles north of the FL/GA border until nearly the Perimeter, it was continual rain ranging from near-whiteout to just heavy. 

Husband reported that we had 1-2 minutes of light snow flurry early this morning.

Impressive how widespread the high wind reports are in Florida.

It is going to be an unholy mess, all those gorgeous old live oaks.

Couplet that passed through Pinellas/St Pete and is about to hit Tampa looks nerve-wracking for friends near there.

I was showing someone how the radar software worked and it served up a very impressive peak of 77.5 dB returns over Houmont Park/Beaumont Place NE of downtown Houston.

31 minutes ago, wotan said:

At my home.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

You beat me to it.  Didn't have a quarter to compare it to, but ours looked about like that.  I had to help wrestle a couple of completely wired kids so getting GOOD photos of the hail didn't happen.

"Here" is about a mile NE of the #2030 gauge at Buffalo Bayou at Greenbusch Road - I think that's a few miles N-NW of you.

I'm currently in Katy, Texas, where it's been sticky-hot for a couple of hours - no thermometer here, unfortunately - as activity initiated mostly further east.  But in the last few scans there is some activity starting to pop up around Houston and points south.  EMS here is preparing for intense heavy rain and flooding, with Harvey's floods still very fresh in their minds.

What's happening today is that I get radar data fine, but am not getting the warnings.  The warning window is empty, no polygons plot, and there are no counters next to the tickboxes for which warnings to display on the map.  I've got paid versions of GRLevel3 and GR2Analyst, and a few months ago purchased a new Windows 10 system, downloaded then-current versions of the programs from the website and successfully installed them.  Or so I thought.  This machine doesn't get used much and today I'm using it for what I think is the first time in an active severe event - and warnings do not plot.  It's possible that the warnings didn't work before but I didn't catch it.

I've tried the GR site forums but get taken to a Facebook group - I don't do Facebook.  Google is producing results that aren't working ... so ... help please?

Under Warning Settings, for the server, so far I've tried both warnings.cod.edu/  and warnings.allisonhouse.com, with and without the https: instead of http:

Thanks!

The second round has been organizing itself for the last couple of hours and finally develops callable circulation right before it passes me by ... (in S Forsyth County)

We've had thunder and light rain for some time, now it's just much louder, much windier, and much heavier rain.

Quote

BULLETIN - EAS A REQUESTED
Tornado Warning
National Weather Service Peachtree City GA
503 AM EDT Fri Apr 19 2019

The National Weather Service in Peachtree City has issued a

* Tornado Warning for...
  Southwestern Forsyth County in north central Georgia...
  Northwestern Gwinnett County in north central Georgia...
  Northeastern Fulton County in north central Georgia...

* Until 530 AM EDT.
    
* At 503 AM EDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado
  was located near Berkeley Lake, or 14 miles west of Lawrenceville,
  moving northeast at 30 mph.

  HAZARD...Tornado.

  SOURCE...Radar indicated rotation.

  IMPACT...Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without 
           shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. 
           Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur.  Tree 
           damage is likely.

* Locations impacted include...
  Sandy Springs, Roswell, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Duluth, Sugar
  Hill, Suwanee, Buford, Norcross, Berkeley Lake, Buford Dam-Lake
  Lanier Parks and Brookwood.

Speaking of fishing, anyone gone striper fishing on Lake Lanier?  I've been thinking of trying out one of the guide services, but that sort of thing is more fun (and less expensive!) with a group so I've never actually called one of the services to book.

South Forsyth County just north of Alpharetta - the first "real rain" just started, accompanied by a couple thunder rumbles.  Until the current cell started to move in, the morning was simply a series of wind gusts and the occasional intermittent splattering or drizzle of rain.

There was enough wind to blow the remaining flowers off the trees.  My little pineapple sage purchases needed to be transplanted ASAP.  They are loving the weather we've had this last week and exploding out of their tiny pots.

Odd juxtaposition of "CONFIRMED LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO" with "RADAR CONFIRMED TORNADO" with the east-of-Griffin cell.  Usually the confirmed-large-etc source is spotter or EMS.

Meanwhile it's just gusting and damp in S Forsyth County, for now.  Not complaining.

5 hours ago, LithiaWx said:

Man,  I can now see there are very few ga posters left here.  It may only be a very light event but there is some snow coming and this thread is dead as a door nail.  Wow

Still here, just watching and reading.  I don't have much to contribute to the meteorological discussion and this wasn't the banter or Obs thread.

We don't have a ton of little birds frantically stuffing their faces, and zero juncos to be found amongst the birds I have tabulated the last two days here.  So that would hint it's not going to be Snowmaggedon.

back to lurking ...

There's an optimistic wren singing away outside and I've got the windows open to get some fresh air - 68F outside so far.  It was sort of surreal seeing low 60s overnight so soon after having mid-20s kill off the last of the basil and sage.

14 hours ago, snowman21 said:

 Consider the cloud height indicator by itself can use more than 5A when the heater and blower are active. Most of the instruments have heaters that run nearly continuously in cold weather, so power consumption can add up fast. Plus there are various components and peripherals (computers and communication devices) inside the equipment cabinet which is about the size of a server rack. The whole system is pretty power hungry, more so than a major household appliance, when everything is maxed out.

Interesting information.  I hadn't realized it was that power-intensive.  TILSN.  Thanks!

48 minutes ago, NicInNC said:

Is it normal for the trees that broke or are leaning to look as though they were twisted. The bark where they are broken is actually all twisted on several trees. I automatically think tornado but there were no reports of tornadoes here in Winston.

Power still out all over the place and another huge tree just fell this morning right by my work (off Robinhood Rd) so I'm sure that will delay power being restored. But we aren't as bad off as those in Florida. 

Yes, and that twisting can result in huge spiral slashes in the trunks.

Those pines are super flexible, as the videos show.  The twisting and bending action when the upper growth catches the winds can cause spiral-like cracks.  If the tree isn't actually blown over or broken off, sometimes those huge cracks end up being closed again, sometimes closing on objects so it looks like the item was shoved through the three when what happened is it was blown into an open crack which then closed around the object.

Somewhere here i have a series of B&W photographs from Ocala National Forest after a major landfall.  It was acre after acre of bent, broken, and cracked trees and many of them had massive curling cracks.  Some others that were still standing had sap drips down the bark that revealed severe internal damage.

13 minutes ago, Pellice said:

Putting this in the banter thread since it's not directly concerned with storm forecasting and movement.

Is Mexico Beach even likely to be rebuilt? That is, are the property owners there wealthy enough to tenaciously pursue insurance settlements and governmental subsidies and grants so as to rebuild?  I am in New Jersey, and there was a bifurcation of outcomes from Sandy.  Some poorer areas, mostly inland along rivers, were abandoned and residents sought buyouts. Wealthy barrier islands are completely rebuilt to even wealthier standards.  

I guess the two possible outcomes in Mexico beach are abandonment to a return to a natural state, or bargain sales of lots to those wealthy enough to build housing to the most rigorous standards. Somewhere I read that many of the barrier islands along the Florida panhandle are largely the domain of fewer, but wealthier, residents due to the succession of storms over the years.  

It will be rebuilt.  That region is a popular tourist destination and snowbird spot for those who want oceanfront-type activities without paying the prices of Cedar Key and South Florida.  Plus, it's several hours closer than South Florida destinations which for a family driving in from the western side of things, coming down the I-65 corridor, that can mean an extra day or two vacation.

I'd happily buy a big chunk of land there if I had the money to spare. 

Absolutely gorgeous outside, with some decent strong breezes.  Things are getting a chance to dry out after last night's drenching.

We didn't get tons of rain from Michael's outermost-NW-bands, but it was several hours of near-continual rain that just moved from light to moderate to misting then back to light, accompanied by gusts I'd estimate as sometimes maybe hitting 35-40.

Amusing "jump out of the skin" time last night:  the local coyote family was having one of their noisy walkabouts, and thanks to the rain and wind sounds, even with the windows open I didn't hear the usual telltale yips and yapping conversation as they approached.  So it was a complete shocker when they broke into howling a few feet away from the house.  Like having a horror movie soundtrack on, what with wind in the treetops and WOLVES HOWLING RIGHT OUTSIDE OMG WE ARE GOING TO DIE.

That section of the Florida Coast has a high number of winter homes and vacation rentals owned by people From Up North.  Lots of calls being attempted to property managers today, I'd bet.

If one of my professors wasn't the "Absolutely no extensions.  Late homework is a zero" diehards I'd be en route with a volunteer group to spend a week.  They need donations and hands.

Speaking of volunteering - If you have the time but aren't up to hard physical cleanup-type labor, OBR can still use you - www.facebook.com/OperationBBQRelief/posts/1852743314816447

There's been an impressive increase in the continual wind and the gusts just in the last 10 minutes.  FFC radar shows western Douglas/east Carroll County as getting some sharp wind changes, which is about what I'd expect.

So far it's just lots of rain, and wind well below SVR criteria.  No damage at my place (yet) although the line of strongest winds hasn't yet hit.

Actual footage, fer sure.

Some of the posts from drone flights were intense.

On 6/1/2018 at 3:39 PM, frazdaddy said:

Mama bought me a new toy. I thought I knew something about grilling. Wife says up to this point I've just been cooking outdoors. Lo and slow for 6 hrs. BGE is the real deal!

 

Welcome to the joys of BGE ownership!  LoveloveLOVE mine!  Pricey but it was worth every penny.  I went to the Atlanta EggToberFest several years ago out of curiousity about BGEs, bought a demo, and called husband to tell him to clear a path from garage to back deck, be prepared for some heavy lifting, and by the way he was off the hook, he'd just bought me a Big Green Egg for anniversary, birthday, and Christmas that year.

His coworkers the next week:  "Surrrrrrre she wanted it for her birthday.  What are you getting her next, an outboard motor?"

What kind of gasket do you have on it? That picture didn't look like the usual factory-felt or silver-gray high-temp replacement.

One suggestion - move that puppy further away from the siding.  The heat that comes off of them can get very intense and they stay hot for a long time (which is great when you are doing 800F sears and quick fired-pizzas).  I've seen many a photo of siding that was discovered to be warped when they moved the Egg for cleaning or whatever.

Downside:  It's ruined us for going to to fancy steakhouse dinners.  When my team was taken out to Morton's, I found myself realizing the steak we'd grilled at home the previous weekend was much tastier than the $50+ cut they were buying us.  Now when I have to eat out I find I'm always analyzing the meal with an eye towards "what did I like / what was neat here that we could try at home?".

Last night around midnight it had tapered off here (Freeport) ... now it's snowing again.  Not heavily, but at about the same clip as the early stages yesterday morning.

Hard to guesttimate the snowfall considering the high winds we had for a bunch of it.  Lots of scouring of areas then huge drifts at the edges.

I'm envious of those of you with the 20+ totals.

We in Freeport had a late start, nothing showing when I peeked out the window at 7:50 then about 40 minutes later it was going OK.  It's basically been continuous all-day with light to moderate snow in between spurts/bands of heavier stuff, vis about 1/4-1/2 mile when it gets heavier?  There were a couple of memorable moments of a minute or so white-out.

I'm going to guess about 6-8", tops, so far, over the previous stuff that hadn't yet melted.  Snowblower sidewalk cuts are > a foot deep but some of that is the leftovers from last week. The wind has been strong to blast-gusty, 40mph+ IME at times.  Cars in the parking lot facing into the wind are snowless on the front and huge piles on the back windows and rears.

The wind was strong enough to blow enough snow under the overhang that it kept triggering the automatic doors to open.  So much for working from the lobby, I quickly got tired of a freezing blast of air every minute or five.

Hopefully we'll get more in the next few hours ... late to start, late to stop?