Belski's Blog

Thursday mid-day 5/16

More rain is possible in Shreveport, Louisiana today after they had up to 10 inches Tuesday night. Here is an update on the damage.... With fifty percent of the area surveyed for damage, the American Red Cross report shows eight homes destroyed by Tuesday's storms. 10 homes have major damage, 20 homes reportedly have minor damage and over 300 homes were affected.

From Salt Lake City.... Temperatures are expected to soar into the upper 80s this weekend. That means a lot of snow in the mountains will be melting. Fast, furious, ferocious water is expected this weekend as streams run two to three times faster than normal. "You venture near any of these waterways, they're going to be really dangerous, incredibly dangerous to get near," said hydrologist Brian McInerney. He says some of you can expect basement flooding if you live near the Jordan River.

Snow is falling in the Colorado mountains this morning. Amounts are generally expected to stay under 3 inches.

All you fishermen...check this out from Minnesota....Here are a couple of guys and their dog on a floating slab of ice. They decided to have some fun with fishing rods, waders and a camera while putting in the dock at the family cabin near Nevis, Minnesota. They say it was on May 4th; the same day as the lake's ice-out. Here are 3 titles they came up with: "Late season fishing in Minnesota," "Flag's up," and "Reel Minnesota fishermen never give up."

Wednesday late afternoon 5/14

If you throw a boomerang in space where there is no gravity, will it come back to you?

Find out the answer at this video....click  here

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From Washington, D.C....in a statement issued this afternoon....The U.S. Interior Department is listing the polar bear as a threatened species because of declining Arctic sea ice, caused by global warming....click  here

Here's new video of the Oklahoma-Missouri EF-4 tornado from Saturday. Two things to note....the twister is vertical. The size of the funnel is the same aloft as it is on the ground which is a sign of a strong tornado. Also note how close the tornado is to the edge of the storm. The sky looks clear just to the left of the storm....click  here

Here is the forecast for tonight for much of northern Indiana.... TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. PATCHY FROST AFTER MIDNIGHT.

On the 14 day the main question is how cool will it be for the Memorial Day holiday weekend and how fast it will move out. Current indications are that the last few days of the month will be in the 80s.

Wednesday mid-day 5/14

If you have 3D glasses, take a look at this photo of the International Space Station. Click on the photo for a larger view.

The director of NOAA is proposing the creation of The National Climate Service. The division of NOAA would look at all sides and reports concerning global warming. All would be the key word here as it seems too many look for papers and articles that only back up their views. FOr more on the proposal....click here

Bad news for the Memorial Day weekend. The GFS brings in a pretty deep trough into our part of the country which would result in daytime highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. That would be a cool pool.

Tuesday late evening 5/13

Here is an interesting report about strange animal and insect happenings in China leading up to the earthquake.....click  here

Mount Etna in Sicily is starting to erupt again and there has been some ash....click  here

From New Orleans.... With just 19 days before the start of hurricane season, today the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers put its pumps and flood gates to the test. In a simulated hurricane, pumps at four canals were tested to make sure they're working properly. Tons of water gushed from pumps at the London Avenue, 17th Street, Orleans Avenue and Harvey Canals. The hurricane preparation exercise went well with flood gates stopping the surge from Lake Ponchartrain and the pumps at the canal activating once the water rose another two feet.

A stormy night in the Shreveport, LA area with lots of flooding and this.... Caddo Parish Fire District 5 and Caddo Sheriff Hazmat units are on the scene of a tank explosion that has the tank fully engulfed in flames. The fire is located about three miles South of Highway 175 and Highway 1. The fire started when lightning hit a tank filled with salt water and oil. The Hazmat unit is currently checking the interior of the equipment for damage.

Tuesday early evening 5/13

It is almost like a disaster a day. Today it is the fires in Florida. More than 15 brush fires are burning in central Florida at this time. Interstate 95 has been shut down along with many other roads. More than 160 homes have been burned.

For more from WESH-TV in Orlando....click  here

For more from WFTV in Orlando....click  here

These has been some snow in a number of locations out west in the last 24 hours. On the left is Colorado just west of Denver whree 6 inches has fallen in the mountains. On the right is Flagstaff, Arizona where 2 to 11 inches fell last night. Not much is left on the ground.

Tuesday late morning 5/13

A quiet day here but for areas of southwest Missouri and northeast Oklahoma that were hit so hard over the weekend....they are under a moderate risk for severe weather including a 10% chance for tornadoes. SPC says:  ALONG WITH STRONG INSTABILITY...WIND PROFILES SHOUL REMAIN/BECOME FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS FROM TX/OK NE INTO THE MID MS VLY AS BROAD CURRENT OF SLIGHTLY DIFFLUENT...40-50 KT WSWLY MID-LVL FLOW PERSISTS AHEAD OF WRN TROUGH.  COUPLED WITH DEGREE OF INSTABILITY AND QUALITY OF MOISTURE INFLOW...THE STORMS COULD YIELD VERY LARGE HAIL AND BOWING SEGMENTS WITH HIGH WIND.  A THREAT WILL ALSO EXIST FOR TORNADOES...ESPECIALLY WITH ANY LONG-LIVED/MORE DISCRETE STORMS THAT MIGHT FORM ALONG OR AHEAD OF THE DRY LINE.
The storm reports continue to come in from that weekend supercell. Look at the softball size hail!!  Cars were carried up to a half mile. Over 90 tornadoes have been confirmed from the weekend outbreak. The national total this year tops 900. That is a number we usually see toward the end of August.

Check out this short video from a cell phone of the Newton Co., MO tornado.....click  here

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I have posted a couple of times about the volcano in Chile. Here is a great photo of a lightining bolt on top of the volcano. Evidently this is fairly common to have electrical disturbances while a volcano is erupting.

To read about the environmental damage caused by the volcano so far.....click  here 

Monday late evening 5/12

The accuweather.com annual hurricane forecast has been issued. A higher risk for landfalling storms along the Atlantic coast. Check out all the details.....click  here

Here is a video made on Saturday. The camera operator was shooting some hail when lightning hit close by.....click  here    Thanks to Jim in St. Louis for the link and hello to all of our blog readers from around the country.

Monday early evening #2 ... 5/12

From the NWS in Jackson, KY....TWO EF1 TORNADOES CONFIRMED IN EAST KENTUCKY ON MAY 11TH...
A POWERFUL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM BROUGHT A LINE OF STORMS TO EASTERNKENTUCKY ON SUNDAY MORNING SPAWNING TWO CONFIRMED TORNADOES ANDWIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORM WIND DAMAGE.

A DAMAGE ASSESSMENT TEAM CONSISTING OF NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EMPLOYEES DETERMINED THAT TWO EF1 TORNADOES TOUCHED DOWN SUNDAY MORNING. THE FIRST TORNADO TOUCHDOWN OCCURRED AROUND 9:15 AM IN CUMBERLAND FALLS STATE PARK...JUST INSIDE THE WHITLEY COUNTY LINE FROM MCCREARY COUNTY. PRELIMINARY WIND SPEED ESTIMATES WITH THE FIRST TORNADO WERE ESTIMATED TO BE JUST ABOVE 100 MPH. NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED WITH SOME OF THE TREES FALLING ON CARS AND POWERLINES. A TREE ALSO FELL ON THE PARK RANGERS CABIN.
THERE WERE NO INJURIES WITH THIS STORM.

THE SECOND EF-1 TORNADO OCCURRED ONE MILE SOUTHEAST OF WOOTON OR 3.5 MILES EAST OF HYDEN IN LESLIE COUNTY. THE APPROXIMATE TIME OF THE BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN OCCURRED AROUND 10:27 AM. PRELIMINARY WIND SPEEDS WITH THIS TORNADO WERE ESTIMATED TO BE UP TO 100 MPH. SOME TREES WERE EITHER SNAPPED OR UPROOTED WITH ONE TREE FALLING ON A POWER LINE.