Weather Alerts

Today’s weather for my area.

..WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING…

…WIND CHILL WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST TUESDAY…

* TIMING…SNOW WILL TAPER IN INTENSITY THROUGH EARLY EVENING.

AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW WILL CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT.

 * MAIN IMPACT…ADDITIONAL LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATION OF LESS THAN AN

INCH WITH STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATION OF 5 TO 10 INCHES.

 * OTHER IMPACTS…BRISK NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH

WILL RESULT IN BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WITH REDUCED

VISIBILITY…ESPECIALLY IN OPEN AREAS. THIS LIKELY WILL PERSIST

TONIGHT AND POSSIBLY INTO MONDAY MORNING.

 FOR THE WIND CHILL WARNING…

 * TIMING…A PROLONGED PERIOD OF DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS

WILL OCCUR TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. WHILE DANGEROUS

WIND CHILLS WILL BE SEEN THROUGH THE PERIOD…THE MOST EXTREME

WIND CHILLS ARE LIKELY TO BE LATE TONIGHT AND MONDAY NIGHT.

 * WIND CHILLS…A PROLONGED PERIOD OF WIND CHILLS LOWER THAN 30

BELOW IS LIKELY…WITH WIND CHILLS OF 40 TO 50 BELOW EXPECTED

LATE TONIGHT INTO MONDAY AFTERNOON AND AGAIN EARLY TUESDAY

MORNING. THESE FORECAST WIND CHILLS ARE THE LOWEST IN NEARLY 20

YEARS.

 * FROST BITE AND HYPOTHERMIA WILL OCCUR IN A MATTER OF MINUTES

WITH THESE EXPECTED WIND CHILLS. DEATH WILL ALSO OCCUR IF

PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN WHEN BEING OUTSIDE.

 * TEMPERATURES…LOWS 12 BELOW TO 20 BELOW ZERO TONIGHT AND MONDAY

NIGHT. RECORD COLD HIGHS OF 8 BELOW TO 15 BELOW ZERO MONDAY.

 PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

 A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE

EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL

MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

 A WIND CHILL WARNING MEANS THE WIND WILL COMBINE WITH VERY COLD

AIR TO CREATE DANGEROUSLY LOW WIND CHILL VALUES. THIS WILL RESULT

IN FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA OR DEATH IF PRECAUTIONS ARE

NOT TAKEN. BRING PETS INDOORS.

I don’t want to sit and “what if” but what if you lost power? couldn’t get out to replenish your food for an extended period of time. Even with a 4 wheel drive vehicle if nothing is open you would be wasting gas. correct? This is why we prepare.

 

I took this pic today around noon while driving over to check on family. Bundle up! its gonna get cold! Have I said I hate winter?

Midwest Tornado(s)

Giving away my AO here, I am in the the fascist state of Illinois. This past Sunday there were a couple of pretty nasty tornado’s that past through our AO and left a large number of people without homes. Interestingly Sunday morning started out pretty nice for November but by late morning, the day degenerated into torrential down pours, very high winds, hail, sunshine, more rain, and more high winds and then sun again. My yard looked like we had a light snow after one iteration of storms that came through, but that look came about after  15 minutes of hail. No roof or vehicle damage, thank goodness!

Our place was spared the brunt of the worst weather, but WF’s step brother and his family lost their entire home and everything in it. Their Chevy Suburban? to say it looked like someone took a baseball bat to it is an understatement. It was crushed and all the windows are gone. I mean crushed. The cabin support pillars are crushed! below is a pic.

This is what is left of their house. And in the rubble? He found his flag and struck it dead center of what used to be his living room.

As the storm was rolling away

As you can see total loss. There is not much one can prepare for in tornado alley. Even if you have a basement to retreat to there isn’t much to go back to when the storm is passed and you climb the basement steps back to ground level. Generator? gone, food preps? gone, gonna grab that bug out bag? You car/truck is gone! WF’s step brothers family all survived and no one was hurt. But they lost everything. I don’t think any amount of prepping would have changed the out come of this event.

An aftermath observation.

One of my co-workers relayed a story he experienced after the storm traveled through his area. I quote ” I went to the gas station, and there was a line out into the street, people were filling up their cars, gas cans and generators……….” The non nonchalant/casual way he described this was like that scene was normal. I wanted to say something to him for not looking at it as this is what people do in  when they don’t keep a minimum half tank of fuel in the vehicle, or spare gas for their generators, but knew my comments would fall on deaf ears.

And those filling up gas cans and generators?  Stupid! I know I am coming off as callous but jezzz, seriously?  My life lesson after all this? more resolve in continuing my preparations. Rain or shine.