David in SW Blount
Member
Even Spann's station is calling this EF-2 during their stories.
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This, so very much. It tends to leak into other media even after the final rating has been released.The EF2 prelim is 1 mph below EF3. That and them stressing very hard that it is a preliminary rating should make it very clear that they are quite likely to upgrade. I do hate how the very first preliminary rating for a tornado is reported by agencies like it is the final rating though. That has always bothered me.
The author of the Southern Living article has posted an apology:
There was literally a guy who credited the NWS warning going out on his weather radio for saving some of his family from a bedroom where a piece of debris was hurled through the wall minutes later (I believe the tweet was posted earlier in this thread).
* Also a vivid reminder about the dangers of flying debris, as the room looked otherwise intact. Reminds me of a segment in an old Weather Channel tornado documentary where researchers (I seem to recall from Texas Tech) used an air cannon to blast 2x4s at walls made of different materials to see which ones resisted the best and worst.
Not a fan of his weather reporting style either, and I don't believe he is a degreed meteorologist. More of a weatherman/entertainer.James Spann was rightfully upset at the media coverage of the Fultondale Tornado. At least @SouthernLiving pulled the article, but I think they need to do more by issuing an apology to the NWS, the Meteorologist and the community that was put in a negative light by this article.
Al Rocker said the same garbage on the Today show. Is he a legit meteorologist or just a TV weatherman? I feel like every system that comes through is the most dangerous weather situation we’ve had in years watching him. Super alarmist and completely out of touch with real meteorology.
I drive through Fultondale on I-65 everyday, so I will be on the lookout for this to pop up on one of the electronic billboards.Pleased to announce that a series of billboards will go live this afternoon in the Fultondale area with our #FultondaleStrong hashtag with help from our partners at Blip. We hope residents share their stories and pictures to help tell the story of the deadly storm that hit that area. If you know anyone that was in the area, please encourage them to join us and share.
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Jason Simpson posted this on Facebook. I find this pretty incredible. I always thought the "tornado corridors" were likely random bad luck and might go away with longer historical documentation, but it's hard to deny these strong tornadoes keep rolling across the same areas. The 1998 Oak Grove tornado track ended a little south of the 2011 track, and if it had continued would have tracked into North Birmingham, just south of Fultondale. The 1977 Smithfield tornado crossed I-65 at the south end of Fultondale, and the 1956 McDonough Chapel tornado crossed into essentially the same area as well.
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