11/30 - 4pm - MSU Forecast Video / Severe Weather Aftermath

An EF2 tornado touched down in Starkville last night according to the National Weather Service in Jackson. Mobile homes, roofs of buildings, gas stations, and street signs were all damaged in this tornado that came through just after the 11:00 hour last night. I have a picture of the damage from a mobile home park here in Starkville in my forecast video below along with the full text of the NWS damage survey below that. Forecast-wise this week here in North Mississippi, we should be clear and cool with no more severe weather on the way:

COUNTY/COUNTIES:   OKTIBBEHA

BEGINNING POINT: 1.5 MILES SW STARKVILLE AT 1108 PM CST

ENDING POINT: STARKVILLE AT 1109 PM CST

RATING: EF2, MAX ESTIMATED WINDS 115 MPH

PATH LENGTH: 1.5 MILES

MAXIMUM WIDTH: 200 YARDS

FATALITIES: 0

INJURIES: SOME MINOR INJURIES

SUMMARY OF DAMAGE:  INITIAL DAMAGE WAS ROOF AND SIDING DAMAGE TO A CHURCH ALONG LYNN LANE. THE TORNADO MOVED NORTHEAST THROUGH AN AREA OF APARTMENT BUILDINGS, CAUSING MINOR TO MODERATE ROOF DAMAGE TO A NUMBER OF BUILDINGS, AS WELL AS DOWNING SEVERAL TREES.  THE TORNADO THEN MOVED INTO THE PINES TRAILER PARK, WHERE IT DESTROYED A NUMBER OF MOBILE HOMES.  TWO LARGE MOBILE HOMES WERE ROLLED AND DESTROYED, AND SEVERAL MOBILE HOMES WERE MOVED A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE AND DESTROYED.  NUMEROUS LARGE PINE TREES WERE SNAPPED NEAR THE BASE, WITH SEVERAL LANDING ON MOBILE HOMES CAUSING MAJOR DAMAGE.  NUMEROUS UTILITY LINES WERE SNAPPED AND DOWNED, AND A COUPLE OF POLES WERE DOWNED.  THIS WAS THE LOCATION OF MAXIMUM DAMAGE.  THE TORNADO THEN MOVED  NORTHEAST ACROSS LOUISVILLE ROAD, CAUSING ROOF DAMAGE TO SEVERAL HOMES AND CONTINUING TO SNAP TREES.  IT MOVED THROUGH ANOTHER TRAILER PARK, BLOWING OUT THE SKIRTING ON SEVERAL MOBILE HOMES AND CAUSING MINOR ROOF AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO A COUPLE.  AS THE TORNADO PASSED THROUGH THE EAST SIDE OF THE STARKVILLE HIGH SCHOOL COMPLEX, IT TWISTED SOME LIGHT STANDARDS ON THE ATHLETIC FIELDS AND CAUSED SOME MINOR FENCE DAMAGE.  IT THEN CROSSED YELLOW JACKET DRIVE, BLOWING OUT A PORCH ON A RESTAURANT AND CAUSING SOME MINOR ROOF DAMAGE.  AS IT CROSSED HIGHWAY 12, IT BLEW DOWN A COUPLE OF TRAFFIC LIGHTS, BLEW OUT A BUSINESS SIGN, AND DAMAGED ANOTHER PORCH ON A RESTAURANT.  THE TORNADO SNAPPED A FEW TREES AND CAUSED SOME SHINGLE DAMAGE TO A COUPLE OF HOMES ON SOUTH MONTGOMERY STREET, AND THEN APPEARS TO HAVE DISSIPATED.  THE TORNADO WAS RATED EF2 BASED ON THE SMALL AREA OF THE MOST INTENSE DAMAGE IN THE PINES TRAILER PARK; THE REMAINDER OF THE DAMAGE WAS GENERALLY EF1 IN NATURE.

11/28 - 5pm - Post-Thanksgiving Odds and Ends

Weekend in Jackson, TN
I just got back to Starkville after a nice weekend up in Jackson where I did my regular weather shift on Saturday morning at WBBJ and spent some time touring the area with my family. It really warmed up today up there (into the 60's) and the weather was quite pleasant all the way back to Mississippi. Another cold front is poised to sweep through the South tomorrow, bringing with it some rain and possible severe weather for portions of the region. Cooler temperatures will be on the way behind it on Tuesday. Check out some clips from yesterday's ABC 7 Good Morning West Tennessee show below:



You might be able to tell from the video above that I have a severe cold. I'm surprised the show went as well as it did even though I was nearly losing my voice.

Louisville Surprise Snow Accumulations
Early Friday morning was pretty interesting back home in Louisville. A cold front has just swept through the area and temperatures were dropping like crazy as the rain associated with the front was almost at an end. Just as I was getting into bed, I checked the surface conditions real quick to see if we would get any flurries with the moisture we had left. I was shocked to see a temperature of 37 degrees and dropping quickly at our house with the amount of precipitation left on the radar to our west. Within the next hour we dropped to just above freezing and snowflakes the size of golf balls started mixing with the rain. It turned to all snow just minutes later and the temperature bottomed out to around 30 degrees before the snow ended. I was very surprised to see nearly an inch of snow on the grass and elevated surfaces when it was all said and done because the ground was still wet and supposedly warm from the day's rain. A few runs of the GFS model before the front came through hinted at a possible snow accumulation, but I wasn't buying it because of the lack of moisture on the back end of the front... guess it proved me wrong! Check out these pictures I took at my house after the snow stopped:

Mississippi/Louisiana Severe Weather Threat Tomorrow
As I said before there could be some severe weather in the South tomorrow, especially in Louisiana and Southern Mississippi. The threat for severe weather in Starkville tomorrow afternoon and into the late evening will most likely be smaller than in areas in the south near I-20. With that said, computer forecast model differences in instability are making it difficult to pinpoint exactly how far north the severe weather threat will extend. With the amount of upper level wind support and shear (latest GFS model run says we could get 60kt of bulk shear tomorrow evening... only 30-40kt is needed for severe weather), this event looks like a tornado-maker for the aforementioned areas. The SPC seems to favor areas just south of the Golden Triangle for tomorrow's severe weather with their Slight Risk issuance (above image). We'll see how it goes with the overnight computer model runs and the surface conditions tomorrow morning. I'll be posting updates for the MSU/Starkville, MS region on my Twitter and Facebook accounts tomorrow on this threat, along with any other significant severe weather developments in the South.

11/20 - 3pm - WBBJ Video

It was a chilly morning in Jackson, but things have warmed up and a pleasant day is in progress. Storms are on the way for Tuesday and Wednesday, some of which could be a bit strong. Clearing will take place on Thanksgiving, but temperatures are going to take a tumble into the 40's. Check out the video below (there are a few audio/video issues with it):

11/15 - 10:30am - Great Weekend at WBBJ

This weekend was quite busy for me as I did weather for the 6pm and 10pm Saturday shows on WBBJ in addition to the morning show that I appear on. It was good experience to work both morning and evening shifts on the same day and it was actually pretty fun! The forecast was a little tricky in Jackson for this week because of a stationary front and multiple areas of low pressure riding up over the South that the computer models did not want to be consistent with. Check out the videos below of my morning, 6pm, and 10pm newscasts:

11/9 - 6pm - MSU Video Forecast... With New Intro!

Sunny skies, warm temperatures, and overall pleasant conditions will be the rule over the next few days in Starkville as high pressure continues to dictate our weather. The next chance of rain will happen on Saturday into Sunday as a cold front passes through the region and more rain is expected early next week as well. If you're headed out to Tuscaloosa, AL for the Mississippi State vs. Alabama football game this weekend, you'll want to take a raincoat because there is a chance of rain in the forecast that evening. Check out my forecast below, which features a brand new video intro that I put together over the weekend:

11/6 - 5:30pm - Chilly Morning in Jackson!

It was downright cold this morning in Jackson, TN as temperatures bottomed out at 24 degrees during our newscast. High pressure will keep skies clear and conditions dry for about the next week or so, but stormy changes are on the way as we head toward next weekend. Check out some of my weather clips from this morning's episode of Good Morning West Tennessee on ABC 7:

11/2 - 4:30pm - Rainy Days Ahead

The rest of today and tomorrow will be pretty rainy as a warm front just to our south keeps pumping in the moisture and lift needed for rainfall. Temperatures will take a nose dive after Thursday as the moisture clears out of the area and cool north winds take hold. Expect overnight lows to be in the 30's by the time the weekend rolls around. Check out the video below for more details: