What Are Your Top Wx Events For The Decade?

[Lori]

A friend did this on his FB page and I thought it would be interesting here.
You can do it by your home-state, experience or what wx geeked you out!

Here are mine

Home-state:
1. Aprill 27, 2011(Tornado Outbreak)
2. December 25, 2010 (white Christmas)
3. January 2014 (Icemaggedon)

Geeked Out
1. Hurricane Michael
2. 2013 El Reno Tornado
3. 2011 Joplin Tornado
4. Hurricane Dorian

Experienced:
Via Hubby
1. 12/16/19 EF-3 Laurel, MS tornado

Share yours!!

 

[KoD]

Definitely April 27th 2011 tops the list for me. I had only lived in North Alabama for a little over a year. Being from the ArkLaTex I was no stranger to tornado warnings but that was terrifying.
The Febuary 25th 2015 snow storm was also very impressionable. I've rarely experienced a good snow like that, we had 7+ inches and the muted neighborhood noise was blissful.
I wandered the streets for hours as if I were a child. Snow angels, backtracking footsteps to make it seem like someone vanished in the night. I'll never forget it.

 

[Austin Dawg]

April 27, 2011. Living in Texas while some of my family was threatened and friends were killed in my hometown of Smithville, MS. Family under the gun in Alabama. I have nothing but Facebook and TWC at that time to get updates. That is when I decided to educate myself and find sites like this one.
c
The biggest here is between some serious flash flood events (New Braunfels June 2010, Oct 23-24 2015, October 15-17) Halloween Floods 2013 & 2014, Memorial Day 2015), Hailstorms of 2016 and the 2011 Labor Day Wildfire{Sept-Oct} that drove us out of our large development area.

Does anyone see a pattern on floods? October and May we can have serious flooding,

Experience the Hailstorms and Wildfires. We lived in a very elevated area not prone to the flooding.,

 

[TCLwx]

Personally:

1. 4/27/11 - The Tuscaloosa tornado passed less than 1mi from my 3rd floor condo. My then girlfriend (now wife) and I rode it out in the bathroom building at the pool.

2. Snowjam/Snowmaggeddon Jan. ‘14 - Other than a dicey ride home from work, I had minimal impacts. Many across AL/GA spent the night at work/in cars.

3. 4/28/14 outbreak - Small tornado hit the Taylorville community in south Tuscaloosa County. Wife and I drove to a friend’s house where there was a safe room. The tornado basically sat down in the friend’s back yard.

4. TS Lee (2011) - Weathered that one out in Baton Rouge. Lots of spin up tornadoes and the first time I had been that far south in a landfalling tropical system.

5. Christmas Floods 2015 - Massive rains hit Alabama. After driving home from LA, I got .5 mi from my Dad’s house on Christmas night and couldn’t get through the water. Spent a most memorable Christmas night in a hotel until we could cross the next morning.

National Events of Note:

1. Joplin 2011
2. El Reno 2014
3. Hurricane Sandy - Eastern Seaboard
4. Hurricane Michael - Panhandle
5. Hurricane Harvey - Houston Floods
6. LA Floods of 2016

 

[Lori]

Personally:

1. 4/27/11 - The Tuscaloosa tornado passed less than 1mi from my 3rd floor condo. My then girlfriend (now wife) and I rode it out in the bathroom building at the pool.

2. Snowjam/Snowmaggeddon Jan. ‘14 - Other than a dicey ride home from work, I had minimal impacts. Many across AL/GA spent the night at work/in cars.

3. 4/28/14 outbreak - Small tornado hit the Taylorville community in south Tuscaloosa County. Wife and I drove to a friend’s house where there was a safe room. The tornado basically sat down in the friend’s back yard.

4. TS Lee (2011) - Weathered that one out in Baton Rouge. Lots of spin up tornadoes and the first time I had been that far south in a landfalling tropical system.

5. Christmas Floods 2015 - Massive rains hit Alabama. After driving home from LA, I got .5 mi from my Dad’s house on Christmas night and couldn’t get through the water. Spent a most memorable Christmas night in a hotel until we could cross the next morning.

National Events of Note:

1. Joplin 2011
2. El Reno 2014
3. Hurricane Sandy - Eastern Seaboard
4. Hurricane Michael - Panhandle
5. Hurricane Harvey - Houston Floods
6. LA Floods of 2016

I’d forgotten about some of these events! Thanks for sharing!!
Was your friend’s safe room above or underground?

 

[TCLwx]

I’d forgotten about some of these events! Thanks for sharing!!
Was your friend’s safe room above or underground?

It’s an above ground safe room.

 

[MichelleH]

April 27, 2011 - a day I will always remember

Snowmageddon 2014- My son was stuck in Oxford for a few days after his "friends" left him there

 

[DDM]

6/17/2010 - The largest outbreak in Minnesota history. I was on a trip down to the middle of the state and the sirens went off 3 separate times that day, but thankfully nothing dropped.

June 2010 Northern Plains tornado outbreak - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Lori]

It’s an above ground safe room.

Did you feel safe? I want a safe room but trying to decide how safe I’d feel in an above ground, something straight in the ground makes me feel claustrophobic!

 

[TCLwx]

Did you feel safe? I want a safe room but trying to decide how safe I’d feel in an above ground, something straight in the ground makes me feel claustrophobic!

I did. I had an “Oh crap!” moment when my ears popped, but that’s about it. I think I’d want to do lots of due diligence, checking FEMA ratings, reading reviews, and confirming installer/manufacturer have appropriate licenses, certifications, and insurance.

 

[warneagle]

The 2011 Super Outbreak is obviously #1 both in absolute terms and in terms of ones I personally experienced. I’d probably round out the top 5 with Joplin, Moore, Harvey, and Michael.

On a lighter note, the event back in January where we got ~1’ of snow in 24 hours was pretty wild.

 

[wasatch]

Joined this site probably around 2010 as an "arm-chair storm chaser" of sorts in Utah to follow outbreaks better as they unfold... didn't think I'd see an event like 4/27/11 in my lifetime, thought something like '74 Super Outbreak was a once in 500 years type event - watching it unfold on live TV (Tuscaloosa, Cullman) and following the excellent 4/27 thread was incredible, even 2,000 miles to the west.

Others I'd put up high are Joplin, Camp Fire, Michael, Harvey.
not a lot of exciting weather in Utah, but relatives in Illinois made 11/17/13 and the Rochelle tornado in 2015 interesting too.

 

[Jacob]

Personally:

1. 4/27/11 - The Tuscaloosa tornado passed less than 1mi from my 3rd floor condo. My then girlfriend (now wife) and I rode it out in the bathroom building at the pool.

2. Snowjam/Snowmaggeddon Jan. ‘14 - Other than a dicey ride home from work, I had minimal impacts. Many across AL/GA spent the night at work/in cars.

3. 4/28/14 outbreak - Small tornado hit the Taylorville community in south Tuscaloosa County. Wife and I drove to a friend’s house where there was a safe room. The tornado basically sat down in the friend’s back yard.

4. TS Lee (2011) - Weathered that one out in Baton Rouge. Lots of spin up tornadoes and the first time I had been that far south in a landfalling tropical system.

5. Christmas Floods 2015 - Massive rains hit Alabama. After driving home from LA, I got .5 mi from my Dad’s house on Christmas night and couldn’t get through the water. Spent a most memorable Christmas night in a hotel until we could cross the next morning.

National Events of Note:

1. Joplin 2011
2. El Reno 2014
3. Hurricane Sandy - Eastern Seaboard
4. Hurricane Michael - Panhandle
5. Hurricane Harvey - Houston Floods
6. LA Floods of 2016

Your description of #1 was almost what I did. I lived in a 3rd floor apartment/condo at the time (Capstone Quarters), and the bathroom by the pool there was my best option in the complex as well. I had actually gone down there the night before about -1-2AM before that line came through to make sure I could still get in. After seeing the day unfolding like it was and how that (and all the other) storm signatures were looking, I made the call to drive south of town and wait it out down 82. I think I stopped somewhere north of Duncanville about the time it was going through Tuscaloosa. That's the only time I've taken that toll road western bypass bridge, as it was the only open path to get back north of the damage and back to my apartment that night.

Anyhow, my list for stuff that affected me directly would have to be

#1 - 4/27/11 - see above
#2 - Jan 14' snow/ice. I made it back to my townhome about an hour before the roads started getting bad, so other than being stuck I didn't think I'd have many issues. Two mornings later on the coldest morning, I had a 150 PSI sprinkler line above my kitchen (being a townhouse, the fire code when it was built was to have sprinkler lines in every home) burst about 5AM. That was a pretty rude awakening
#3 - 4/15/11 tornado outbreak. I was actually in Huntsville for the day with my senior design group, but my professor's house got hit south of town that day.
#4 - Dec 17 snow - Had 5" of wet snow at my house in Moody, AL at the time. I-20 between Birmingham and Atlanta looked like a tornado had come through with all the tree damage from 6-8" of heavy wet snow
#5 - White Christmas 2010

 

[TCLwx]

Your description of #1 was almost what I did. I lived in a 3rd floor apartment/condo at the time (Capstone Quarters), and the bathroom by the pool there was my best option in the complex as well. I had actually gone down there the night before about -1-2AM before that line came through to make sure I could still get in. After seeing the day unfolding like it was and how that (and all the other) storm signatures were looking, I made the call to drive south of town and wait it out down 82. I think I stopped somewhere north of Duncanville about the time it was going through Tuscaloosa. That's the only time I've taken that toll road western bypass bridge, as it was the only open path to get back north of the damage and back to my apartment that night.

Anyhow, my list for stuff that affected me directly would have to be

#1 - 4/27/11 - see above
#2 - Jan 14' snow/ice. I made it back to my townhome about an hour before the roads started getting bad, so other than being stuck I didn't think I'd have many issues. Two mornings later on the coldest morning, I had a 150 PSI sprinkler line above my kitchen (being a townhouse, the fire code when it was built was to have sprinkler lines in every home) burst about 5AM. That was a pretty rude awakening
#3 - 4/15/11 tornado outbreak. I was actually in Huntsville for the day with my senior design group, but my professor's house got hit south of town that day.
#4 - Dec 17 snow - Had 5" of wet snow at my house in Moody, AL at the time. I-20 between Birmingham and Atlanta looked like a tornado had come through with all the tree damage from 6-8" of heavy wet snow
#5 - White Christmas 2010

That’s crazy. I lived in Capstone Quarters too. 3rd floor. I’ve second guessed that move a lot, but I guess I wasn’t the only one. Most people sheltered in the gym, which had a window and a bunch of stuff that could turn into projectiles.

 

[thundersnow]

May 2010 flood in Tennessee- devastating to many in the Nashville area and others across West and Middle TN.

I had water up to my eves on my one story ranch. People had to escape into their attics in cases. Major interstates went under water. Parts of downtown Nashville went under as did Opryland Hotel and adjacent areas.

That’s what happens when you get 13-18” of rain in 36 hours.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jacob]

That’s crazy. I lived in Capstone Quarters too. 3rd floor. I’ve second guessed that move a lot, but I guess I wasn’t the only one. Most people sheltered in the gym, which had a window and a bunch of stuff that could turn into projectiles.

You know, my memory might be failing me, it might have been the weight room area I had scoped out. Did it have a bathroom? Maybe that's what I'm thinking about. My now wife was at a 2nd floor condo in Capstone Quarters oddly enough, though we weren't dating yet. They took shelter in place, which wouldn't have helped much if it had hit the complex.

One of the crazy things about that day for me was once I left the apartment before the storm, I have no recollection of any other part of the tornado outbreak after that. I remember the 2nd Cordova storm and the Cullman storm, but I had no idea the scope of the rest of the outbreak until the next morning.

 

[Gail]

4/27. Our town was spared, but Smithville is just a hour north of us, Philadelphia is just a hour to the south of us, and Tuscaloosa is just a hour to the East of us. My parents live in Eupora, also a hour to the west of us, where an early morning tornado hit. We were very fortunate that day, but I’ll never forget the fear of that day or the horror of seeing so much devastation to our neighbors.

 

[TCLwx]

You know, my memory might be failing me, it might have been the weight room area I had scoped out. Did it have a bathroom? Maybe that's what I'm thinking about. My now wife was at a 2nd floor condo in Capstone Quarters oddly enough, though we weren't dating yet. They took shelter in place, which wouldn't have helped much if it had hit the complex.

One of the crazy things about that day for me was once I left the apartment before the storm, I have no recollection of any other part of the tornado outbreak after that. I remember the 2nd Cordova storm and the Cullman storm, but I had no idea the scope of the rest of the outbreak until the next morning.

Yes, there was a bathroom in the gym. It was basically a unit that had gym stuff in it. I have a bit of survivor’s guilt still. We left the complex and went to Northport. We were able to have dinner at a Mexican place and get a feel for the scope from TV. I, however, had no idea that there was a humanitarian crisis unfolding at the end of Hellen Keller Blvd.

 

[akt1985]

I’d have to put the entire 2017 Hurricane Season on there with Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate being retired. Ironically, the 2017 list was the same rotation of names used during the active 2005 season.

 

[JayF]

April 27 2011. I had always watched weather, but this got me more into that and being a Ham Radio operator. I wanted to before but after hearing the stories how Ham Radio was used to help the local agencies with communications, I went and got my license.

Snowmaggeddon 2014. My wife worked at the Madison Hospital during this, and still had to be at work. It took us an hour to drive there because the roads were iced over. Luckily I had a 4 wheel drive truck to help out some.

The 2010 Nashville flood. Opry Mills closing for almost 2 years and the Grand Ole Opry sustaining major damage. The Cumberland River was at its highest point since the Dam was put in place in the 60's

Sandy in 2012
The Hawaii Volcano Kilauea
The California Wildfires of 2017

These are the ones that bring the most memories to me for that decade.