Indystorm

Sure beats the measly winter we had in much of the Midwest this past season. Dramatic early spring warmup and now freeze warnings that have orchard fruit growers in particular concern for apples and cherries in temps drop to 27 or 28 for awhile.

A medical team from the destroyed Mercy St. John's Hospital in Joplin is sharing their experiences here in my Michiana neck of the woods at South Bend Memorial Hospital and at a conference at Notre Dame. Good to learn disaster preparedness procedures for hospitals from those who were directly impacted. Good coverage of their visit by our local news media, especially since the recent tornados in Henryville IN and Dexter MI.

A blessed New Year to you and all those in Joplin. Glad that the church response went so well. Many religious denominations have well structured and experienced relief organizations. Glad you got your personal tornado shelter that exceeds requirements. Living in the Dunlap area of Elkhart with the 1965 Palm Sunday disaster right here I know many people who were affected as victims or in search and rescue. Thanks for all the updates.

JoMo, this is certainly an historic thread and thanks for all your contributions. One thing I was wondering. Did the tornado hit or miss many hotel/motel complexes along its path through the area? I don't remember reading too much about that, mainly St. John's, the schools, homes, and retail.

We now have two EF-5's...

The Hackleburg, AL & Smithville, MS tor's.

Birmingham mentions they had the foremost national expert in storm damage assessment to assist their team in determining the strength of the Hackleburg storm. That would have to be Tim Marshall IMHO.

AP now reporting 339 dead which makes this the 2nd deadliest tornadic outbreak in U.S. history.

I honestly never thought I would see a death toll from tornadic activity that high again in our day and age. But with so many intense tornadoes churning into densely populated areas it is perhaps almost inevitable even when warnings are timely, heard, and responded to by the general public. Community shelters for mobile home parks and public housing projects could help. I think SPC and NWS forecasters did a terrific job along with local media. I remember in late winter you thought this was going to be a very rough season for various scientific reasons, and I shudder to think we are just now entering May.

FoxAlabamaLive.com ... if you want to watch our live streaming coverage tomorrow guys. We will have live streaming chasers in the field, as well as giving the FasTrac, VIPIR, and GR2Analyst systems a good workout. I'll be the bald guy in the background in a white shirt and red tie.

Good luck tomorrow Fred. I have meetings in Indpls. Wed. and Thursday and will be away from a computer grinding my teeth until I get back to the hotel to see TWC and news media reports of what's been happening.

Yes, and RUC also has a 110-130 knot 300 mb jet rounding the base of the trough in the afternoon in the warm sector. Not good.

That's 30 EF 4 and 6 EF 5...very tough record to reach.

The Superoutbreak got its name because it is one of a kind and rarely invites comparison. However, I believe the progged low pressure on the NAM for tomorrow if it verifies is lower than the pressure of the system with the superoutbreak for what it's worth.

From this evening IND AFD with respect to Wed. system...

VARIANCE STILL EXISTS IN THE EVENTUAL TRACK OF THIS FINAL

SYSTEM...WITH THE ENSEMBLES CONVERGING ON A TRACK FROM SOUTHERN

ILLINOIS THROUGH WESTERN INDIANA ON THE WESTERN END...TO ACROSS

SOUTHEAST INDIANA INTO WESTERN OHIO ON THE EASTERN END. APPEARS

THERE MAY BE STRONG DEEP SHEAR OVER THE WARM SECTOR WITH GOOD

ALIGNMENT OF THE LOWER AND UPPER LEVEL JETS POSSIBLE...SO THE TRACK

OF THIS LOW WILL HAVE TO BE WATCHED.

I think a met commented earlier that it is very rare to see such intensity on a NAM precip display such as this.

Excerpt from Memphis AFD for Monday-Wed, with expectation of more negatively tilted trough

TOMORROW EXPECT A GREATER RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER AS A TROUGH

SHIFTS OUT OF THE PLAINS. A 50-60 KNOT LLJ WILL DEVELOP OVER

WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE MIDSOUTH MONDAY AFTERNOON. MODELS NOW HAVE

THIS TROUGH MORE NEGATIVELY TILTED THAN PREVIOUS RUNS. ABUNDANT

MOISTURE WILL REMAIN IN PLACE...ESPECIALLY ACROSS EAST ARKANSAS

WHERE PW`S WILL RANGE FROM 1.5 TO 1.75 INCHES. DEWPOINTS IN THE

MIDDLE 60S WILL PRODUCE CAPES BETWEEN 1500 AND 2000 J/KG AND

LIFTED INDICES WILL RANGE FROM -6 TO -8 DEGREES. LOW AND MID LEVEL

DYNAMICS SHOULD RESULT IN SUFFICIENT SHEAR TO SUPPORT SUSTAINED

UPDRAFTS AND SUPER CELLULAR THUNDERSTORMS. DEEP DRY AIR ALOFT WILL

LIKELY RESULT IN LARGE HAIL.

SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL INCREASE ON MONDAY REPLENISHING THE SUPPLY OF

WARM MOIST AIR ACROSS THE MIDSOUTH. SPEEDS WILL LIKELY BE

SUSTAINED BETWEEN 20 AND 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH. A WIND

ADVISORY WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED.

STORMS WILL CONTINUE ON TUESDAY...BUT LACK OF UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT

WILL RESULT IN LESS OF A THREAT FOR SEVERE STORMS.

IT STILL LOOKS LIKE WEDNESDAY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO DEVELOP INTO A

MAJOR OUTBREAK. THIS STORM WILL BE ONE OF THE MORE DYNAMIC SYSTEMS

I HAVE SEEN IN A WHILE. FORECAST SOUNDINGS INDICATE INCREDIBLE

0-3KM SRH VALUES OVER 1500M/S2 EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING...AND MORE

REALISTIC VALUES AROUND 300-600 DURING THE DAY. MODELS ALSO NOW

FEATURE A 80KT LLJ CENTERED OVER MEMPHIS LATE TUESDAY NIGHT. THE

MID LEVEL SHORTWAVE DOES NOT LOOK QUITE AS NEGATIVELY TILTED

THIS..RUN BUT IT IS STILL VERY AMPLIFIED. SURFACE WINDS WILL BACK

AS A SURFACE LOW TRACKS FROM CENTRAL ARKANSAS INTO WESTERN

KENTUCKY RESULTING IN LONG CURVED HODOGRAPHS SUPPORTIVE OF SEVERE

THUNDERSTORMS. TORNADOES...POSSIBLY STRONG LONG TRACKED

TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND ARE ALL POSSIBLE ON

WEDNESDAY.

Well< Mac, I have relatives both dead and alive from Anna ne to Marion area. Have been to CAPE many times so I have a strong interest in far southern IL. at this time of year weatherwise especially.

Use this map only as a rough guide for Monday evening and watch how parameters unfold as we get closer to the event, Mac.

As an interested layman, this recent discussion is reminding me that there is more to forecasting than model hugging, like synoptics.

Reuters reports that Henry Margusity says that there could be up to 300 tornadoes the next two weeks from OK to Ohio. With this pattern he may not be exaggerating.

Even without looking at any parameter other than today's 18z GFS precip maps for 120, 126, and 130 hrs. I would be worried. They create extensive precip blotchiness from WI down to ne TX and then form a major squall line. Geesh!

The thing that strikes me at this distance out is the track of the lows farther nw than we have seen with our most recent svr outbreaks, across IA and WI, leading to a larger geographical extent of the warm sector.