Severe Weather Threat - Jan 11-12th, 2024

[Weatherphreak]

huge trees down in my driveway in Huntsville. Neighbor has one laid up on his house, going to be a busy weekend......

Interesting. I’m in south Huntsville and I’d say the wind Monday and Tuesday was much worse than anything I’ve seen today.

 

[wx_guy]

It’s easy to say in retrospect. But this event has had strong possibilities. It just hasn’t performed.

 

[pritchlaw]

Are you speaking from experience or….?

Yeah, I am. I have 2 kids and they spend a crazy number of days at home bc of some weather threat the was over-hyped and never happens. And I know many teachers and they celebrate the closing announcements just like the kids do. So yes, I am speaking from experience.

 

[wx_guy]

So I speak on the “school” topic from a different perspective. I was only a couple of towns over in 2007 (in school no less) when the EF4 tornado killed 8 students at Enterprise High School in southeast AL. After that day, the calculus changed. For better or for worse, but I totally understand the decisions to cancel schools on days like this.

 

[Justin Hindman Hindy]

HRR did good predicting this event. Shows weak renegades with a weakening line. I can't believe they closed school for this lol. When I was in high school, we could have a high risk and we would be in the hallway with a book over our heads lol.

 

[Chris3024]

Yeah, I am. I have 2 kids and they spend a crazy number of days at home bc of some weather threat the was over-hyped and never happens. And I know many teachers and they celebrate the closing announcements just like the kids do. So yes, I am speaking from experience.

In my case, I would rather my kids be home in case something were to materialize. I know I can provide more suitable shelter than a school that was built in the 60s with cinder block walls. This is coming from a guy who remembers going into halls and tucking during tornado warnings.

 

[Justin Hindman Hindy]

So I speak on the “school” topic from a different perspective. I was only a couple of towns over in 2007 (in school no less) when the EF4 tornado killed 8 students at Enterprise High School in southeast AL. After that day, the calculus changed. For better or for worse, but I totally understand the decisions to cancel schools on days like this.

that was also a high risk day, which school should be canceled.

 

[KevinH]

Yeah, I am. I have 2 kids and they spend a crazy number of days at home bc of some weather threat the was over-hyped and never happens. And I know many teachers and they celebrate the closing announcements just like the kids do. So yes, I am speaking from experience.

Follow up question:

Are you speaking from experience as an ADMINISTRATOR? lol

 

[wx_guy]

People have to understand that officials with schools are in a no-win situation. No matter what happens, they’ll be complainers. At least if they cancel schools they have done everything in their power to promote a safe learning environment.

 

[TH2002]

Almost as if this setup was severely flawed from the start and shouldn’t have been a large ENH in the first place!

Well, if this setup had occurred before 2015 when the ENH category didn't exist yet, it would have certainly just been a large SLGT area and no one would be ripping the SPC for their decision.

 

[Clancy]

Well, if this setup had occurred before 2015 when the ENH category didn't exist yet, it would have certainly just been a large SLGT area and no one would be ripping the SPC for their decision.

Today was definitely worthy of a contemporary Slight risk considering the at least lower-end probabilities for severe convection, though from the get-go I was not sure why the SPC was so bullish about tornadoes, given the modelled warm sector, which was marginal even considering the cold and dry biases of the NAM, and figured there was perhaps something they saw that stuck out. Diminishing frontal support and the forward speed of it all seemed to be primary failure modes for today. Either way, I'm definitely not losing sleep over the lack of today's performance from a severe perspective.

 

[almays1]

They love it. They, like all bureaucrats, love they chance to be the show. And it is a win-win bc when it turns out to be ridiculous you just say that you went with the "experts" and you acted "out of an abundance of caution." Nobody has the stones to look objectively at a situation and NOT pull the trigger on alarmism. And our kids are all sitting at home playing Fortnite and laughing.

That isn’t accurate. At all. They are “damned if they do and damned if they don’t.” It isn’t alarmism. Buses can’t be on roads with gusts 30-35 mph. They - and by “they” you can include me - have to rely on a number of factors in making decisions. It ain’t a power trip.

 

[almays1]

That isn’t accurate. At all. They are “damned if they do and damned if they don’t.” It isn’t alarmism. Buses can’t be on roads with gusts 30-35 mph. They - and by “they” you can include me - have to rely on a number of factors in making decisions. It ain’t a power trip.

And as a follow up, I have been on this board for well over a decade. Before 2011.

 

[pritchlaw]

In my case, I would rather my kids be home in case something were to materialize. I know I can provide more suitable shelter than a school that was built in the 60s with cinder block walls. This is coming from a guy who remembers going into halls and tucking during tornado warnings.

The point is, this thing was never going to produce a tornado in Blount County, Alabama and nobody really said it would. So we closed schools for gradient winds. And this type of thing happens all the time now.

 

[Gail]

Yeah, I am. I have 2 kids and they spend a crazy number of days at home bc of some weather threat the was over-hyped and never happens. And I know many teachers and they celebrate the closing announcements just like the kids do. So yes, I am speaking from experience.

As a parent, I’m excited too. I hate sending my kid to school everyday and love them being at home! I also realize I’m in the fortunate position where I mostly work from home and can bring her to work with me when I can’t.

 

[pritchlaw]

Follow up question:

Are you speaking from experience as an ADMINISTRATOR? lol

You got me. I'm not a school administrator. But I don't need to be a pilot to say a plane shouldn't leave the runway without enough to gas to get where its going. You sound like the "and where did you get your medical degree" crowd during Covid.

 

[pritchlaw]

If the rule is that a school bus can't be on the road with 30 mph winds, that is even more laughable than closing schools on a day bc of gradient winds.

 

[Chris3024]

The point is, this thing was never going to produce a tornado in Blount County, Alabama and nobody really said it would. So we closed schools for gradient winds. And this type of thing happens all the time now.

Yes, there was the slight possibility that it could have happened. Also, the main reason for schools closing on days like these, is the reliance of school busses to get the kids to/from school. That is a very high profile vehicle that is easily susceptible to high winds just like semi trucks.

 

[pritchlaw]

As a parent, I’m excited too. I hate sending my kid to school everyday and love them being at home! I also realize I’m in the fortunate position where I mostly work from home and can bring her to work with me when I can’t.

You know you can home school, right?

 

[Clancy]

Winds will be strong today, regardless of storms, so be please careful of limbs falling on roads. A neighbor had a big limb fall right on top of their car during the early-week system and just about went through their windshield.