Paul Douglas Weather Column: Pacific Remnants

Todd's Conservation Minnesota Outlook for the Twin Cities and all of Minnesota:

THURSDAY: AM flurry possible. More PM sun and breezy. Another thaw. High: 34. Winds: W 10-20mph

THURSDAY NIGHT: Partly cloud and quiet. Low: 18. Winds: W 10-15mph

FRIDAY: Another clipper approaches, light snow chance later, mainly across the Minnesota River valley High: 31. Winds: WNW 10-15

SATURDAY: Turning colder. Mostly cloudy with scattered flurries. Low: 16. High: 27.

SUNDAY: Cold sunshine dims by afternoon.. Low: 8. High: 18.

MONDAY: Clouds thicken, PM drizzle or flurries possible. Low: 11. High: 31.

TUESDAY: Wintry mix changes to snow. Low: 20. High: 34.

WEDNESDAY: Still mild, nothing rough. Low: 20. High: 30.

Northern Lights Event

This is quite a video from Norway, check it out HERE:

Yesterday's deluge in Texas was the first substantial rainfall the state has seen in some time, good news for those still dealing with an exceptional drought. The only problem is that some folks had nearly 7" of rain in just a few hours leading to flash flooding. There were reports of nearly a dozen water rescues in Austin after nearly 6" of rain fell during the early morning hours on Wednesday. That storm system is going to threaten some of the same areas of Mississippi and Alabama that had significant storms and tornadoes earlier this week.
After talking with a good friend and colleague of mine at WeatherNation about Monday's tornadoes (12 confirmed), he had a hard time telling me about areas that were flattened again. A school, that he did a number of public speaking engagements at, is gone. Even with an average lead time of 34 mintues (according to NOAA), there were still fatalities. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone dealing with these events.
A steady stream of Pacific moisture is getting squeezed out over the northern Rockies, we are getting the remnants. Our next shot at light snow scoots in on Friday, stay tuned!

National Weather Outlook

There are 2 areas of interest again today, which are highlighted by the yellow circles below. These are the same two areas that had the interesting weather yesterday.

1.) Severe in the South & Heavy Rain

2.) Pacific Northwest Coastal Flooding & Mountain Snow

Severe in the South & Heavy Rain

This was the scene from Austin, TX on Tuesday – Thanks to SChimaHusky, who had his birthday on the day it hailed! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

See his video HERE:

Storm Report Map

Along with the hail reports, there were also a number of wind damage reports and even some tornadoes reports on Wednesday. It was definitely another very active day!

Tornado Confirmed by NWS

Here's a brief story from digitaltexan.net

Here was the preliminary damage survey from the Austin NWS

...PRELIMINARY STORM DAMAGE SURVEY FOR NORTHEAST AUSTIN TX...

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM DAMAGE SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED THIS
MORNING IN THE AREA ALONG SPRINGDALE ROAD IN NORTHEAST AUSTIN.  THE
FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN DETERMINED...

EVENT DATE: JANUARY 25 2012
EVENT RATING: AWAITING FINAL DATA
ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS (MPH): AWAITING FINAL RATING
INJURIES/FATALITIES: 0
EVENT START TIME/LOCATION COORDINATES: 30.3221/-97.6536 AT 258 AM
EVENT END TIME/LOCATION COORDINATES:   33.3381/-97.6551 AT 305 AM
DAMAGE PATH LENGTH (IN MILES): 1.14
DAMAGE PATH WIDTH (IN YARDS): 50

THE TORNADO PATH BEGAN AT THE INTERSECTION OF COMMERCIAL PARK DRIVE
AND OLD MANOR ROAD...WITH RADAR INDICATING A TOUCHDOWN TIME NEAR
2:58 AM. DAMAGE CONTINUED NORTH THROUGH AN INDUSTRIAL PARK...THEN
ACROSS U.S. 290...BEFORE ENTERING THE WALNUT PLACE SUBDIVISION.
FURTHER DAMAGE OCCURRED TO HOMES ON THE WEST SIDE OF HAPPY TRAIL...
WITH TREES ON THE EAST SIDE OF HAPPY TRAIL LAYING DOWN TOWARD THE
WEST AND CONVERGING WITH THE DAMAGE TO THE HOMES.  DEBRIS WAS NOTED
ALONG FERGUSON LANE...WITH THE TORNADO PATH ENDING JUST WEST OF THE
INTERSECTION OF FERGUSON LANE AND SANSOM ROAD.

Shelf Cloud in Kingsville, TX

Look at what folks in Kingsville, TX woke up to Wednesday AM. This is a “Shelf Cloud” or the leading edge of a line of thunderstorm. This would indicate that strong gusty winds and heavy rain will probably be moving in very soon... Take cover!!

Squall Line Across Texas

Look at the radar image from earlier Wednesday near Houston, TX! Yikes, that looks nasty! The red boxes are thunderstorm warnings, which produced wind damage and possibly even tornado damage as it moved through central and eastern Texas.

Not Done With Severe Weather

Thursday has been highlighted as another day of severe weather weather potential along the Gulf Coast. Stay tuned to latest forecasts and have those weather radios running with battery back-up just in case severe weather threatens your neighborhood!

Thursday’s Severe Weather Threat

Record Rainfall

Austin, TX early Wednesday morning had already seen over 5″ of rain (good enough for a daily rainfall record) A number of other record rainfall reports fell as well. Note: the numbers below don't show how much rain actually fell on Wednesday, it was only a representation from what fell through early Wednesday.

Here's a story on the heavy rain that fell in Texas from Star-Telegram.com

"It might not be a drought-buster, but more than 4 inches of rain across the region draped a dripping wet blanket on a ferocious dry spell that stretches back to October 2010."

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/01/25/3686451/deluge-creates-travel-woes-but.html#storylink=cpy

More Heavy Rain in the Forecast

This is the rainfall forecast through AM Friday, note the widespread 1″ to 3″ amounts across parts of the Lower Mississippi Valley, the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Minor flooding along area rivers and stream could also be a problem in these locations. Note also the Pacific Northwest where heavy moisture continues through Friday, where heavy coastal rain could lead to flooding. Mountain snow will continue to add up too!

Google Public Alerts!

This is new to me... check out Google Public Alerts HERE:

What is Google Public Alerts?

Google Public Alerts is Google’s new platform for disseminating emergency messages such as evacuation notices for hurricanes, and everyday alerts such as storm warnings. We’re starting by showing relevant weather, public safety and earthquake alerts from US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Weather Service, and the US Geological Survey (USGS) when you search on Google Maps.

Friday Snow Chance

Another weak disturbance will quickly slide through on Friday, at this point it looks like the best chance for accumulations will be along the Minnesota River Valley and along the Minnesota/Iowa border.