Be a force of Nature!

Beginning today is the National Severe Weather Awareness week!

April 22-28 - 2012

NOAA and the National Weather service and other organizations have been working on the large scale plan for a "Weather Ready Nation"  You can ready my first report about that here;  WRN

Alerting friends and family about Severe Weather and other Events, both man made or natural is very important. Using communication such as a text message can save a life.

To read more about the National Severe Weather Preparedness week, please click this link;

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation/news/042212_severe.html 

Watch this video about alerting via Text Message

Severe Thunderstorms 4/21/2012

Storms - April 2012  The National Weather Service issued numerous warnings for Thunderstorms producing high winds, rain and lightning.  Winds of up to 60 MPH were predicted and after some research I found 911 calls and media reports of storm damage.

Time: 2012-04-21 9:05 PM EDT
Ambler PA (Outside of Philadelphia)
Source: broadcast media
Remark: about a dozen large trees up to 70 ft knocked down along a park entrance on the Ambler and Upper Dublin township border

   PHI: Willistown
Time: 2012-04-21 8:48 PM EDT
Source: 911 call center
Remark: property damage on Sugartown road. partial roof collapse of one bldg

Time: 2012-04-21 9:15 PM EDT
Source: 911 call center
Remark: trees down in Horsham township.

Here is photo I took tonight of what I think is cloud to cloud lightning

1st Spring Storm 2012

Last year we seen the effects of La Nina with flooding rain from near hurricanes and severe storms that produced tornadoes in Central and Southeast US.   La Nina has weakened and now we were facing drought like conditions.   The National Weather service has been tracking a "Nor'easter" storm that has been projected to effect a large part of the Eastern US.

In SE PA we will probably see around 2 inches of rain, but Northeast New Jersey could see 3.5 inches that may cause flooding in rivers and small streams.


Flood Watch NWS SE PA

Be Prepared for a Flood (click to open ready.gov)

courtesy of the National Weather Service and NOAA

CJS Bill approved funding for 2013

For months I have been preaching about protecting the National Weather Service from proposed budget cuts.  I even sent around a online petition I found to send the message to the White House and congress about this.   Today I found a story online at washingtonpost.com that basically states that a bill has been approved to shift funding for building satellites from NOAA to NASA.

Below is a part of the approved bill from today's press release, the entire document is here: Summary: FY13 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill

Bill Summary
The Subcommittee’s bill prioritizes activities that save lives, protect public safety, and foster job creation in the private sector. The Subcommittee placed a high priority on ensuring accountability of taxpayer funding and reducing duplicative activities. As a result, the Committee has chosen to make a major shift in how next generation weather satellites are purchased, shifting responsibility for satellite acquisition from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). A summary by Department appears below.

Department of Commerce – The fiscal year 2013 CJS bill provides $6.3 billion total, which is $1.5 billion below the fiscal year 2012 level.
 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – The bill provides $3.4 billion for NOAA, which is $1.47 billion below the fiscal year 2012 enacted level. The bill does not support proposed cuts to NOAA’s operations that would hurt local communities, such as eliminating local weather forecasting staff and reducing the U.S. Tsunami Warning Network. Instead, the committee finds financial savings by consolidating management offices and reducing government overhead. The bill transfers funding needed for weather satellite acquisition from NOAA to NASA, resulting in a savings of $117 million in fiscal year 2013.

Remember that the National Weather service is part of the Department of Commerce..

It is nice to see that NASA's budget is increased by $1.6 billion, to construct brand new Weather Satellites

http://www.mikulski.senate.gov/media/pressrelease/4-17-2012-3.cfm

NOVA | Deadliest Tornadoes | PBS

image courtesy of  NOVA

  
Everyone remembers watching the news last year hearing of multiple tornadoes striking different parts of Central and South East US.  Many of these storms were not just witnessed by residents, but by filmmakers and weather experts.  NOVA has produced one of the best Tornado documentaries I have ever seen, explaining both how tornadoes are currently detected and what is being done to study and prepare using new technologies.

Here is a short preview of this great program and below that, the link to see it from the source.

(I am going to buy the DVD, yes it is that good)

Please go to the PBS website and watch this full video, here !! ;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/deadliest-tornadoes.html

Thanks to PBS and NOVA for this great program....