Saturday, May 10, 2008

Video Link To Picher-OK Tornado And Damage



The link HERE takes you to KOAM-TV7 in Pittsburg-KS/Joplin-MO where they have excellent news videos of the damage and the actual Picher-OK massive tornado funnel.


The death toll in Southwest Missouri and Northeastern Oklahoma is now at 11- according to the Associated Press.

However- unofficial reports on the Storm Prediction Center's Storm Reports page lists at least 19 dead.

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Tornado Kills One Near Purdy-MO



Add to the tornado fatalities- now at 10 in SW Missouri & NE Oklahoma....


PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
854 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0710 PM TORNADO 1 NE PURDY 36.83N 93.91W
05/10/2008 BARRY MO EMERGENCY MNGR

*** 1 FATAL *** DAMAGE TO 4 TRAILER HOMES...A
CHURCH...HOMES...AND SEVERAL OUTBUILDINGS IN THE PURDY
AREA. 1 FATALITY REPORTED BY EMERGENCY MANAGER.

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Picher-Oklahoma- Five Dead In Tornado



The wild afternoon into Saturday night weather rampage continues to the south and southeasst of the Kansas City MetroRegion.

This from the NWS about Picher-OK:


PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
850 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0542 PM TORNADO PICHER 36.99N 94.83W
05/10/2008 OTTAWA OK EMERGENCY MNGR

*** 5 FATAL ***
EM REPORTS 20 BLOCKS OF STRUCTURES HEAVILY DAMAGED

Also attempting to access more info on Commerce-OK being struck as well as the Stuttgart-AR tornado.

Nine confirmed dead now in MO & OK tornadoes....

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Tornado Has Struck Stuttgart-AR



These reports from the NWS ... photos when available:


NWUS54 KLZK 110120
LSRLZK

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
820 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0807 PM TORNADO STUTTGART 34.49N 91.55W
05/10/2008 ARKANSAS AR LAW ENFORCEMENT

ELDERLY WOMAN TRAPPED IN HER RESIDENCE. NUMEROUS TREES
DOWN ACROSS STUTTGART.


58


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


000
NWUS54 KLZK 110117
LSRLZK

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
816 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0806 PM TORNADO STUTTGART 34.49N 91.55W
05/10/2008 ARKANSAS AR TRAINED SPOTTER

STRUCTURAL DAMAGE AND TREES DOWN OFF HIGHWAY 130 ON THE
SOUTH SIDE OF TOWN.



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Tornado Fatality Reported East Of Carthage-MO

Here's the report:


PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
801 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0620 PM TSTM WND DMG 4 E CARTHAGE 37.18N 94.24W
05/10/2008 JASPER MO FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

*** 1 FATAL *** TREE LANDED ON TRAILER HOUSE
APPROXIMATELY 4 MILES EAST OF CARTHAGE SOUTH OF HIGHWAY
96 NEAR COUNTY ROAD 80. DAMAGE PATH FROM COUNTY ROAD 80
TO COUNTY ROAD 130.

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BREAKING WEATHER NEWS: NWS Reports 3 Fatalities In Tornado Near Neosho-MO



Here's the storm report just received:


PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
738 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0603 PM TORNADO 5 NNE SENECA 36.91N 94.58W
05/10/2008 NEWTON MO EMERGENCY MNGR

*** 3 FATAL *** TORNADO HAS STRUCK NUMEROUS RESIDENCES
BETWEEN SENECA AND NEOSHO. THREE FATALATIES AND NUMEROUS
INJURIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED AND HIGHWAY 60 IS CLOSED DUE
TO DEBRIS OVER THE ROAD.


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BREAKING WEATHER NEWS: Tornado Reported Near Neosho-MO With "Numerous Injuries"



This is a new report from the NWS- with no further details yet.


Also- a tornadic storm is approaching Bentonville-AR..
000
NWUS53 KSGF 102332
LSRSGF

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
632 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008

..TIME.. ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE.. ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION.. ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0605 PM TORNADO 3 NNW NEOSHO 36.91N 94.39W
05/10/2008 NEWTON MO NWS EMPLOYEE

SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE ALONG HIGHAY 71. HIGHWAY CLOSED.
INJRIES POSSIBLE. UNKNOWN NUMBER.


DSA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


000
NWUS53 KSGF 102326
LSRSGF

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
626 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0603 PM TORNADO 5 NNE SENECA 36.91N 94.58W
05/10/2008 NEWTON MO EMERGENCY MNGR

TORNADO HAS STRUCK NUMEROUS RESIDENCES BETWEEN SENECA AND
NEOSHO. NUMEROUS INJURIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED AND HIGHWAY
60 IS CLOSED DUE TO DEBRIS OVER THE ROAD.


KARDELL

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


000
NWUS53 KSGF 102324
LSRSGF

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
624 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0614 PM TORNADO 2 N NEOSHO 36.90N 94.37W
05/10/2008 NEWTON MO AMATEUR RADIO

STRUCTURAL DAMAGE NORTH OF NEOSHO
.


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KANSAS CITY MetroRegion WEATHER: Tornado Watch No. 293 Remains In Effect



Tornado Watch No. 293- issued just before noon- is still in effect until 7pm this Saturday evening.

In the Metro- the watch includes Johnson & Miami counties in Kansas and Cass county in Missouri. No other Metro counties are included in this watch.

All other MetroRegion counties southwest- south and southeast of Kansas City are also included.

Note the radar image. The short line segment of thunderstorms is moving toward K.C.. The cluster of storms in S.E. Kansas will move toward the Joplin- Neosho-MO areas over the next several hours.
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Friday, May 09, 2008

BREAKING NEWS: Rioting In 2 Los Angeles High Schools



It's in south-central L.A.- where police have surrounded 2 high schools where disturbances involving "hundreds" of students have occurred this afternoon- according to this story from KTLA-TV in Los Angeles.

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Kansas City (Area) Bloggers Blog



Although it'd take less time to call each of them- posting this to encourage my 3 or so readers to check out some other K.C. MetroRegion blogs.

How do we do this they so curtly ask as he leaves the room?

Click where it says HERE and you will find the Kansas City Bloggers blog- and as comprehensive list of the incomprehensible as you'll find anywhere.
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The Gouge Continues ... Part 2


Incredible Video Of Tornado Tossing Cars



Clicking HERE will take you to the video- shot yesterday- a tornado passing by an Alabama business with a surveillance camera.

This is one of the clearest videos I've ever seen where cars were lifted and tossed.
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Thursday, May 08, 2008

Storm Chaser Arrested In Crane County-TX



I recall a very intense situation with a Raytown-MO cop while working a fatality wreck in front of my brother's house in 1990- so the following does not surprise me in this society of cops and corporations getting their way even if that way is WRONG.

A storm chaser with a tour van full of people was arrestedby an apparent shoddy copy of Barney Fife in Crane-TX on what appears to be bogus charges.
Here's an email posted on a storm chaser's mailing list by the "suspect" himself:


Dear All –

It finally happened, a storm chaser was arrested on May 06 for “storm chasing” and unfortunately it happened to me (while I was conducting a tour) and I spent the night in the Crane, TX lockup.

I’m not going to post all the fine details here and I’m going to ask you to please reserve your opinions until after the details come out (likely after I go back to court) – but here is the basics:

We were parked in a rest stop area south of Crane, TX with a developing wall cloud just to our due south and I was shooting video. The storm had already produced one brief tornado while it was about 15 miles west of Crane and I called that into the San Angelo WFO and they relayed the message to MAF and the storm was tornado warned.

I then drove east into town and then south until we found the rest area along the highway, we pulled into the rest area and pulled all the way over to the left side near some picnic tables with the intention of leaving plenty of space to allow other cars to pass through the rest area and to keep our tour customers safe from the traffic.

A cop didn’t like us being there and told us to leave. He was upset, nervous and very erratic. But the basic is that I wouldn’t leave and he decided to take me to jail - he said at the time (and on video) that it was "for my safety". I was on public property and I was legally parked and doing nothing to break the law.

After we “core punched” the storm in the police truck (golf ball to tennis ball hail) and arrived in the flooded town of Crane, I was taken to a holding cell and it took the deputy 5 hours to “manufacture” a charge. He came up with this – “obstruction of a highway and/or passageway”.

Just so you know (and there is a LOT of photo and video evidence) I was not obstructing anything, in fact, I was a little perturbed before the arrest happened because cars were driving in front of my camera in the rest area – so there was plenty of room. I also explained the storm situation to a fire fighter from a nearby town and he was appreciative.

The local newspaper reporter was behind me and taking pictures and witnessed the entire thing and it was recorded “cleanly” on my video camera, pictures/videos from my tour customers, etc… The newspaper guy was so upset about it that he almost went to jail with me and the former sheriff of Crane County is my bondsman and he said the charges were “BS” and he’s a great guy.

Likewise, the people in Crane Texas are some of the nicest people that I have ever met. All that I met today (there were a lot, probably 85% of the town) were very supportive and they all seemed extremely upset at their county law enforcement office.

So we are fighting this and it might get a bit ugly for me, but I at least hope that I have all the support from my fellow chasing friends and I truly hope that you’ll all support the storm chaser on this one.

I have released a small fraction of the video to the local media, but under the advise of my attorney, I am not going to youtube this until he gives me to okay…he hasn’t reviewed it yet, he’s in north Texas and I’m still down along I-20 tonight.

But, I’m sure when you see the video you’ll agree completely that I was doing nothing illegal. Under the law (as it was recently explained to me) a police officer can tell me to move, but he can’t arrest me if I decide to stay (which is why the charges were manufactured they way they were), and this will be considered a “wrongful arrest”.

I’m tired tonight so I’m hitting the sack. I refused all the food they gave me and I didn’t even lay down on that “thing” that they had for inmates to sleep on because it was full of things like dried semen and God only knows what else – so I slept standing up in the corner. I’ve got a top-notch suite tonight at a 4-star, so I’m in the Jacuzzi in 10 minutes and then off to la-la land for awhile.

I’m going to work on putting something on ST in the next few days as
well, along with some video from the local news stories happening in the
Midland/Odessa areas.

Thanks to all.
Brian Barnes
Violent Skies Tours

BTW – the Crane County jail was “third world” at best, and it’s as close to being in a Mexican jail that I ever want to get!
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Tuesday, May 06, 2008

MARC Survey Proves Johnson County Kansans Could Care Less About Missouri



If you can stomach all the negativity- read these comments on the proposed south JoCo connector road to a now-non-existant Cass County-MO parkway.


These comments go a LONG way to explain to me why this Kansas City Metro is in the cowtown shape it's in- and likely to remain if the commenters had their way.
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KANSAS CITY MetroRegion WEATHER: NWS-SPC: Severe Storms Possible Tonight


The latest convective outlook from the NWS' Storm Prediction Center has a large portion of the Kansas City MetroRegion- including Metro K.C.- in a "slight risk" area of possible severe thunderstorms later today and overnight.


This is not nearly as intense of a weather system that struck our area last Thursday night/Friday morning.


However- large hail- damaging winds- and the chance of an isolated tornado does exist inside the risk area. The SPC notes in this latest outlook of the chance for "enchanced" severe winds across "southeast Nebraska and eastern Kansas overnight.


Additionally- heavy- possible flooding rainfalls are quite possible this week in the MetroRegion. You can see by the NWS' Hydro Predication Center's graphic- a bulls-eye of possible 5-inch rains are forecasted just south of the K.C. Metro through Saturday.


Flash flooding is possible with any intense- or repeat thunderstorms over the same areas.


Please- do NOT mess around with flash flooding- it's a quick and nearly certain killer!

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Monday, May 05, 2008

CSW Videos On You Tube



Isn't techology great? Imagine- ELECTRIC can openers!


Oh- I've posted what I hope is the beginning of a flood of video to You Tube under CaptGSpaulding.

The first video posted is that of the Big Storm Friday morning- shot from our front porch as it struck our south Kansas City 'hood.

Look for my videos there after every severe storm event- 'cause I'm a shootin' fool....
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Friday Morning's Storms Tought A Tough Lesson



More than 3 dozen homes and businesses destroyed or with heavy damage. Hundreds others with varying degrees of damage.



Sirens? Heh- no. Tornado Warning on my weather radio? Big nix there too.

Proof that even being under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning doesn't mean a tornado won't form.

All the super-duper Doppler radars lined up in a row won't always see a twister- even an F-3- until it's on the ground doing damage.


This Metro was damn- DAMN lucky there were only 6 non life-threatening injuries in this fustercluck.

I was told the CSW blog was the first to report on the tornado strike north of the river (even though all 4 stations were on-the-air repeating stuff over and over and over...).

My reply? That fact and $5 will get me a small latte' at Scarbucks.

Anyway- risks of severe storms throughout the western half of Kansas- Oklahoma and Nebraska today & tomorrow.

A chance of more severe storms in the Kansas City Metro on Wednesday- and lots of heavy rain too.
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Tornado Strikes Monroe LA With Confirmed Injuries

The tornado struck around noon on Easter Sunday. There is considerable damage repo rted in that northeastern Louisiana city of around 5000...