Kansas/Nebraska: Tornado watch Saturday

[BadgerKid]

(Mods: Please excuse the nonpolitical messages in the wake of the terrible tornadoes yesterday.)


URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 232
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
955 AM CDT SAT MAY 5 2007

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

PARTS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL KANSAS
PARTS OF SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL NEBRASKA

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY MORNING AND EVENING FROM 955 AM UNTIL
1000 PM CDT.

...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...

DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...
THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 90 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE
POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/watch/ww0232.html

[TwilightGardener]

1. I can believe it. It's going to be pretty warm here today. Thanks for the heads-up.

[elocs]

2. I am so grateful to live in a city in Wisconsin which has never had a tornado touchdown.

No killer floods, earthquakes, forest fires, mudslides, or hurricanes. The worst is a winter storm and then you just stay inside. I am so spoiled living here and I can't imagine what it is like to live in a place where you are always at risk of having your life and living destroyed by natural forces. It must take strong and stout hearted people to endure such things.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. You had Tommy Thompson as your governor

Isn't that bad enough? :)

[elocs]

4. The key word is that we "had" Tommy Thompson as our governor.

We now have a 2 term Democrat as governor with Jim Doyle now. We also have 2 Democratic senators which includes one Senator Russ Feingold. I even have a Democrat as my representative.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. I am jealous you have Feingold

Lucky you!

[elocs]

7. At least he is not running for President.

I think he had the very good sense to realize that he could never win, although he has said he would consider the second spot and you do not often see a politician making that offer.

[hfojvt]

10. yeah, but Duke Thompson was Governor-for-life

until he got sucked into the Bush administration.

[BadgerKid]

5. Remember Barneveld, WI ?

Offhand I would say it was similar to Greensburg, KS, last night in destruction, but the people of Barneveld had absolutely no warning (since they were sleeping).

[elocs]

8. Fortunately, where I live is not in the tornado alley of Wisconsin.

Storms in both the summer and winter seem to go around us. The geography of the city is not conducive to the formation of funnel clouds. In my 50+ years here I have only heard the sirens sound twice and neither amounted to anything.

[hfojvt]

9. when I grew up it seemed like we had a tornado watch every day

Maybe they were not as precise about those things in the 1970s. My feeling was that 'tornado watch' meant 'just another summer day in SD'. Never saw a tornado though. The house I own in Kansas is 122 years old, so they are not as common as hurricanes or floods in some parts.

Maybe because I lived in the downtown, but I never saw serious wind in Richland Center, Wisconsin. They used to get on the radio and talk about 'severe' storms, with 'winds up to 50 MPH' :scared: and I would just :rofl: thinking "50? Is that all? We had half a dozen per summer in SD with winds up to 70."

[TwilightGardener]

11. I lived in western SD for four years, and I remember straight-line,

NON-thunderstorm-related wind gusts clocking 80 mph or more, and sustained "wind storms" that lasted for days where the wind would not go below 30-40 mph--just constant shrieking and buffeting the house. Enough to drive ya nuts. In NE now, the winds where I live are not as bad, but every hot, muggy spring or summer day there's a potential for something to brew, but like you, my house has stood for 132 years, so I'm not too concerned (knock on wood).