Capt. Spaulding's World

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Kansas City Treasures: The Ewing And Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden

Mr. Ewing and Mrs. Muriel Kauffman left Kansas City a legacy of generosity- and their heirs left us a lovely place for beauty and introspection- the Kauffman Memorial Garden.

Located west of Rockhill Road between Cleaver (47th Street) and Volker Boulevards-

the Garden is open year-round and there is no charge for admission.

Staffing is provided by Powell Gardens- located in northwestern Johnson County Missouri off U.S. 50 highway.

We- Mrs. Rittenhouse and I- hope you enjoy these photos we took at the Garden last week with a reminder that the blooms in the Garden change weekly and seasonally.

Please pay the Kauffman Garden a visit- and please- leave the beauty for others to enjoy!

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Monday, May 26, 2008

Kansas City MetroRegion Weather: Flash Flood Watch Until Late Tuesday

A Flash Flood Watch is in effect for the green areas indicated on the image (click to enlarge) that includes all but far northern areas of the Kansas City MetroRegion.

The watches are in effect through Tuesday afternoon & evening.

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Preliminary Parkersburg-New Harmony Tornado Assessment By NWS-Des Moines

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
408 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008

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

0448 PM TORNADO 2 S APLINGTON 42.55N 92.88W 05/25/2008 GRUNDY IA NWS STORM SURVEY

*** 6 FATAL, 70 INJ ***
THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 2 MILES SOUTH OF APLINGTON- THEN TRACKED EAST THROUGH PARKERSBURG AND JUST NORTH OF NEW HARTFORD- THEN ACROSS NORTHERN BLACKHAWK COUNTY BEFORE LIFTING NEAR THE BLACKHAWK BUCHANAN COUNTY LINE.

THE PRELIMINARY SURVEY INDICATES POTENTIAL TORNADO INTENSITY OF GREATER THAN EF3- WITH POTENTIAL WINDS GREATER THAN 165 MPH.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS WILL BE ADDED TUESDAY ALONG WITH FINAL EF SCALE RATING RESULTS.

FATALITY AND INJURY TOTALS ARE PRELIMINARY.

&&
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...SEE PRODUCT DSMPNSDMX /PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT/. MORE INFORMATION WILL BE POSTED AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE THIS EVENING AT:

WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DMX

FURTHER ASSESSMENT WILL BE CONDUCTED TUESDAY. ADDITIONAL DETAILS AND THE FINAL EF SCALE RATING WILL BE AVAILABLE BY LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

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BREAKING WEATHER-NEWS: Greensburg-KS In Peril Again

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Parkersburg-IA Joins Picher-OK As 2008 Tornado Victim

Survivors in Parkersburg-IA are cleaning up today after what may have been an EF-4 tornado slammed into that small north-central Iowa community of about 1900 people late Sunday afternoon.

Seven people reportedly died- 5 in Parkersburg and 2 in nearby New Harmony-IA.. Another tornado in Hugo-MN killed a child.

KCCI-TV in Des Moines has video of the tornado itself- as well as the incredible damage left by the storm.

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Sunday, May 25, 2008

KANSAS CITY'S BREAKING WEATHER: Tornado Watch No. 369 Continues - Radar Update

STATUS REPORT FOR WT 369

SEVERE WEATHER THREAT CONTINUES FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS

KSC003-015-017-019-031-035-045-049-059-073-077-079-091-103-107-
111-113-115-121-127-139-159-173-191-205-207-209-260440-

KS
. KANSAS COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

ANDERSON BUTLER CHASE
CHAUTAUQUA COFFEY COWLEY
DOUGLAS ELK FRANKLIN
GREENWOOD HARPER HARVEY
JOHNSON LEAVENWORTH LINN
LYON MCPHERSON MARION
MIAMI MORRIS OSAGE
RICE SEDGWICK SUMNER
WILSON WOODSON WYANDOTTE
$$

MOC001-013-025-033-037-041-047-049-053-061-079-081-083-089-095-
101-107-115-117-121-129-159-165-171-175-177-195-197-211-
260440-

MO
. MISSOURI COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

ADAIR BATES CALDWELL
CARROLL CASS CHARITON
CLAY CLINTON COOPER
DAVIESS GRUNDY HARRISON
HENRY HOWARD JACKSON
JOHNSON LAFAYETTE LINN
LIVINGSTON MACON MERCER
PETTIS PLATTE PUTNAM
RANDOLPH RAY SALINE
SCHUYLER SULLIVAN

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Information For Northeast- Eastern Iowa Tornado Survivors

From KCRG-TV's Web site:

"(WATERLOO) - The American Red Cross Hawkeye Chapter is assisting residents of Parkersburg, Dunkerton, Hazelton and New Hampton due to this evening’s tornados.

The American Red Cross has set up shelters in the following areas:

Aplington Middle School

Dunkerton Community School

Hazelton First Presbyterian Church
100 3rd St. Hazelton, IA

The Red Cross is also asking for time, money, and blood donations. For more information and to learn how you can donate, contact the Hawkeye Chapter at 319-234-6831 or visit www.hawkeyechapter.org.

The American Red Cross is also urging people in disaster areas to register as "safe and well" on their web site. That means family members from outside the affected areas can find out if you're okay and where you're staying.

Register as "Safe and Well" with American Red Cross by going to www.RedCross.org."

WHO-TV - Des Moines - Parkersburg-Iowa "Flattened" By A Tornado - New Tornado Watch

This is from Des Moines TV station WHO - links to their news chopper footage- of damage produced by a tornado late Sunday afternoon.

WHO-TV reports "2 dead" and at least "14 injured" in Parkersburg.

Here in the Kansas City MetroRegion- Tornado Watch No. 369 is in effect until 4am Monday morning including Metro K.C. and virtually all the MetroRegion.

UPDATE: WHO-TV in Des Moines now reports "7 dead" in a massive- probable EF-4 tornado in Parkersburg-IA just after 5:30pm Sunday afternoon.

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Kansas City MetroRegion Weather: NWS-SPC- Upgraded To "Moderate Risk" Of Severe Storms

The National Weather Service's (NWS) Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has upgraded the slight risk of severe thunderstorms in and to the west and northwest of Kansas City to "a moderate risk" area.

As you can see by this graphic (click on all images here for full size) - the red or moderate risk area runs from about the K.C. Metro west and northwest into extreme northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas.

In addition- the K.C. MetroRegion is virtually surrounded by Tornado watches- as you can see by this NWS-SPC graphic.

Thus far- only light activity currently exists over the eastern side of the Metro- the tornado-producing storms shown on this Topeka NWS radar image should move eastward across eastern Kansas over the evening.

Will keep you informed....

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Kansas City's BREAKING NEWS: At Least 2 Dead In KC-MO Crash

A rollover accident in southeastern Kansas City-MO has killed at least 2 people and injured several.

The wreck was reported to authorities just after 4am Sunday morning: Bannister and Stark.

When the Fire department arrived- a rollover crash and a sheared-off power pole is reported- along with at least 1 person ejected..

KC-MO Fire also said there was another wreck about 500 yards east of the rollover- not known if that was a cause or result of the rollover crash.

Two persons reportedly died at the scene. Two of the most critical injuries transported by MAST-EMS were: an about 20-year-old female- with grave injuries- and an 18-year-old male. Both taken to separate trauma centers.

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KansasCity'sBreaking News Leader - NBC41 ACTION NEWS.