So my Sunday was a bit strange. I want to share what happened to me, then talk about the mess we may have to deal with Monday.
On Saturday, a storm knocked power out to my house. It was a small outage as it only affected a few houses in my neighborhood, but it was just one of many Entergy had to fix. By the way, thanks to all the linemen out there! I have a generator, but didn't want to hook it up since my neighbors across the street had power. So we ran a long extension cord and plugged in the refrigerator and a lamp. My mom lives a few miles away so we loaded up the kids in the car and spent the rest of the weekend over there.
I went back to the dark house Sunday morning and cleaned up. I threw on a plain white undershirt and an old pair of shorts. I grabbed a suit and tie for work, threw it in the car, and went back to moms house. I thought I would just stay in my comfortable old clothes and change into the suit just before the 5PM news.
So I get to work. It's Sunday afternoon and it's supposed to be quiet around here. It's not busy like this place can be Monday through Friday. Usually no one enters the studio until 30 minutes before a newscast. While I'm sitting in a dark studio wearing my old clothes, you'll never believe who walks in... Senator Mark Pryor. I didn't know he had an interview scheduled in the studio. I shook his hand and mumbled something about not having power at home. Anyway, I am not getting political here, but when a United States Senator (whoever it is with a D or an R next to their name), I would like to be presentable. Oh well! LOL.
By the way, my power is back on, at least for now. We have more storms in the forecast. A few more clusters will move through Monday into Tuesday. Each one will bring very heavy rainfall, gusty winds, and some hail. What about tornadoes? As I always say, you can't ever rule it out. I know many of you might be wondering why we have had tornadoes and tornado warnings, but NO tornado watches. The conditions are just not very supportive of tornadoes. If one does occur, it's usually small and brief. If you read the wording of a severe thunderstorm watch or warning, it sometimes states "severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce tornadoes with little advance notice." It's always best to stay indoors and away from windows when a one of these warnings are issued.
I think we may get a break in all this weather by late Tuesday into Wednesday, but hold on tight until then because more wild weather may be possible.
The following hi res simulated radar maps are from weatherbell.com
 |
| 7AM Monday. This will not be perfect, but you can see areas of storms and rain across the state ahead of the next impulse arriving from the plains. |
 |
| Rain and storms are pushing into the state at 10AM. |
 |
| By 11AM, they are becoming widespread. Again, this will not be perfect, but it gives you a good idea. |
 |
| The Storm Prediction Center has placed much of Arkansas under a slight risk. Wind and hail will be the main threats, but you can never rule out a tornado. |
1 comment:
Todd, I agree with you on the needless disruption and anxiety a county-wide TORNADO WARNING creates when perhaps only a portion of the county is actually under the warning issued by the NWS.
However, having been a police office in what seems like a former life and having some familiarity with emergency communications systems, it is likely that the Pulaski and Saline County warning sirens are all triggered by the same electronic tone-alert code. When the code is entered and transmitted all sirens are activated at once.
It is possible to trigger them separately or in groups, but the current equipment may not be adequate or configured to operate in that manner. If not, it would like be a very expensive upgrade in the system to add that capability.
The Little Rock siren system is newer and has more flexibility, but it may not be capable of activating selected sirens or areas without a costly upgrade of equipment.
Perhaps if such upgrades are not presently feasible, the Emergency Management Coordinators for each of those entities might provide an announcement each year describing their siren policies as you have provided on your blog. I don't think it can be emphasized enough that the sirens are for warning those OUTSIDE and they are not sufficient in many indoor settings to be heard.
Post a Comment