Cloud Stalker: Just what the doctor ordered

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Just what the doctor ordered

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (AP) — The National Weather Service says tornadoes touched down in two locations along the west coast of Florida on Saturday, causing some damage but no injuries. Meteorologist Mike Cantin says a tornado touched down at 5:26 p.m. in New Port Richey. It felled some streets signs and trees. Cantin says there were no reports of injuries. The second tornado touched down in west Hernando County at 5:45 p.m. The extent of damage, if any, wasn't immediately known.
I didn't see a funnel but the sky was amazing, I so needed this! I wish I had a better camera to share my experience with you! The gust was strong I don't have an anemometer(Its on my wants list and after today it just got push up, right after a tripod.) Anyway the wind was crazy it seem to come from everywhere. My husband was getting nervous it was lightning and I'm in the middle of the driveway taping and after the last lightning jolt i agreed to come in my body was shaking to hard to hold the camera. That's why I need a tripod even with my crappy camera! I received 1.48 inches of rain I don't know if the video is gonna work on this, if not i will post tomorrow. We had a some wind damage my neighbor's dead kumquat tree snapped

there were garbage cans flying everywhere and we received 1.48 inches of rain all all a nice cure for the wx blues.
Pardon my swears in the video i was a bit excited.

Jess.. :-)
Cloud Stalker

2 comments:

Dewdrop said...: Sorry you didn't catch the nader, but great coverage regardless. Next time, Meso Momma!!!; January 21, 2008 at 1:32 PM
CloudStalker said...: Yes there is always next time!; January 21, 2008 at 2:22 PM

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HAIL (3/4 inch or greater)

Hail can cause significant damage to your vehicle, break windows and damage roofs of homes and businesses.
Hail can cause significant bodily injuries such as broken bones and even blindness if wind blown.
Softball (4.5 inches) sized hail was reported in Lake Wales, Florida on March 30, 1996.
Haildrifts, up to four feet deep of dime to nickel sized hail, occurred in low-lying areas near Zephyrhills, Florida on January 29, 1997.
Hailstones the size of softballs can fall at speeds faster than 100 mph

supercell

Supercells derive their rotation through tilting of horizontal vorticity (an invisible horizontal vortex) caused by wind shear. Strong updrafts lift the air turning about a horizontal axis and cause this air to turn about a vertical axis. This forms the deep rotating updraft, the mesocyclone.
A cap or capping inversion is usually required to form a downdraft of sufficient strength. The cap puts an inverted (warm-above-cold) layer above a normal (cold-above-warm) boundary layer, and by preventing warm surface air from sinking too far, allows one or both of the following:
Air below the cap warms and/or becomes more moist
Air above the cap cools
This creates a warmer, moister layer below a cooler layer, which is increasingly unstable (because warm air is less dense and tends to rise). When the cap weakens or moves, explosive development follows.
In North America, supercells usually show up on Doppler radar as starting at a point or hook shape on the southwestern side, fanning out to the northeast. The heaviest precipitation is usually on the southwest side, ending abruptly short of the rain-free updraft base or main updraft (not visible to radar). The rear flank downdraft, or RFD, carries precipitation counterclockwise around the north and northwest side of the updraft base, producing a "hook echo" that indicates the presence of a mesocyclone.