Jared W. Smith

Oklahoma Mesonet readings over the last 24 hours. Can you spot the tornado impact?

Get a load of this meteogram from the Oklahoma Mesonet in El Reno, OK, tweeted by Base Velocity, LLC. Not only did it measure a 150 MPH wind gust around 4:30 PM, it also recorded a pressure drop to 940 millibars and a complete loss of solar radiation around that time — suggesting it was pitch black outside at the time of the tornado. I’ve seen early reports on Twitter suggesting pretty serious damage there. Here is a Doppler base velocity image from around the time of the tornado strike. Extremely strong couplet in play. I hope people heeded warnings and protected themselves from what appears to be an extremely violent tornado.

Severe weather season roars back to Charleston today. I’m in “hunker down” mode here, monitoring all sorts of varying weather information. Here’s how to keep up:

• On Twitter, I’ll live-tweet the storm event at @chswx. If you just want warnings and forecasts, I recommend @CharlestonWX. Also see @weatherwatches for advance notice of potential watches. Don’t forget local media, as well, including Rob Fowler, Josh Marthers, Joey Sovine, and the Live 5 Weather Team.
• I’m uploading radar images periodically to radar.charlestonwx.com. There’s an animation script which gives you 10 frames and many Level III products to play with.
• If time permits, I’ll do some writing with more detailed analysis at my new weather blog. Given the fast pace of these storms, blogging may be somewhat prohibitive. (It’s much easier to blog a hurricane than it is a springtime weather event.)

Despite all this technology we now have, your best defense is to have a NOAA Weather Radio and make sure to heed all warnings that come down from the National Weather Service or other emergency management officials. Remember, the Internet is a great tool, but is not intended for life-or-death decisions. Stay safe out there!

We in Charleston have reverted back to October, apparently. If you’ve stepped outside, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the return of warm, mid-70s temperatures, Charlestonian humidity and a familiar urge to dodge mosquitoes. Funk-nasty. This is happening thanks to a system pumping a very warm southerly flow into the area.

Well, this sort of thing doesn’t last too long in December, and typically, these temperature differences resolve themselves with force. A fairly potent storm system is sweeping through the middle of the country, causing plenty of problems with severe weather across Texas and into Mississippi and Alabama. So, as you might expect, we’ve got a slight risk of severe weather tomorrow, which primarily hinges on how much sunshine peeks through before the front arrives. In fact, the outer portions of the storm are showing up on radar.

So, keep an eye out during the day tomorrow — it could get a little rough at times. It’ll be through by Friday, and we’ll get back into upper 50s for highs (though the lows aren’t currently projected to be as low as they have been, which is good for my getting up on time). One thing is for certain, this late fall has been anything but normal; we just can’t seem to figure that out this time around.

Who knows what kind of soggy mess we’re going to see when day breaks tomorrow — I can imagine it’s going to be pretty bad for folks at Northwoods Mall and in the Shadowmoss subdivision. My buddy Tom called and said he had to try three different ways to get in before he could actually access his house near the golf course. He said he saw a river running through the cartway.

Well, rivers generally begin running after ridiculous storm totals like these, which just came over the wire from the National Weather Service.

Public Information Statement
Statement as of 12:48 PM EDT on October 25, 2008

The following are unofficial storm total rainfall amounts for the
last 24 hours ending at midnight EDT Saturday.

…South Carolina…
Beaufort 2 N 4.54
Beaufort mcas 3.67
Bennetts Point 4.11
Charleston Airport 6.57
downtown Charleston 5.23
Dorchester 4.96
Goose Creek 4 se 6.74
Hardeeville 7 S 3.62
Hardeeville 13 S 4.17
Huger 3 NNE 6.58
McClellanville 6.41
short stay 3.13
west Ashley 5.62
Witherbee 6.10

Here’s hoping that in the end people are minimally impacted, but tomorrow morning will provide the grim details of the aftermath of today’s record rainfall.

Midday update: The Digitel says Ashley Ave. downtown is still underwater this morning. Having lived there for several years, I’m not surprised in the slightest.