Severe Weather
 

ITT we discuss severe weather we are experiencing.

Here in the Houston area we have flooding and - tornadoes. TORNADOES? IN JANUARY?

Between 2 - 6 inches throughout the Houston/Galveston area.

I haven't heard from our insurance (USAA) today about my husband's Saturday accident but I figure it is because they are undoubtedly slammed. Thank God we got my husband's rental car today - they will be hard to find come tomorrow. Why, you ask?

BECAUSE STUPID PEOPLE KEEP DRIVING THEIR CARS INTO STANDING OR MOVING WATER. Don't DO that . . . sheesh.

Oh, wow. I didn't know it was that bad.

We've started getting rain here in DFW, but nothing serious. I know one of my friends flew down to Hobby today and was rerouted to Corpus because of weather. I didn't know it was that serious.

Stay safe!

Ohhhhh this will be a fun thread, I've always been intrigued by the weather.

Wish I had something to contribute, but it's been the opposite of severe in Chicago (although I'm quite pleased with the above average temps).

lovespink, count your blessings!

Video coverage -


http://www.khou.com/video?id=136971053&sec=548547

It is heading our way. Really worried about all those people ( my daughter included ) who are in NOLA for game.

Yikes, scary video! Hope everything is ok by you, SWTXBelle!

Wuh oh, didn't think about the whole heading towards New Orleans thing. :\

Ditto. We are having a lovely winter so far and I know it is bound to change eventually, but every day that we hit 40 degrees in January is a great day. Shoot, it's a great January day if we hit 30 usually. Loving this winter so far :)

Ditto. I was just thinking today about the lack of winter we're having. Normally, it's raining like crazy or we're scraping ice off the car windows in the morning. We've had neither and it was warm enough to go without a jacket on Christmas. While I'm appreciative, that makes me a little nervous.

Sigh. I spoke too soon. Winter storm watch and up to six inches of snow. The snow is nothing, if I was planning on staying in the area, but I am worried this is going to delay my flight to see my fiance Friday night. :(

Warmest birthday I've had in 31 years :)

Allegedly we're having some severe weather in the Pacific Northwest but it kind of happens every year and we have the equipment for it.

Seattle was shutting down yesterday (sorry to pick on you PeppyGPhiB) but with those hills and the lack of practice in driving in it I'm not making fun of them. Alaska Airlines cancelled flights to both Portland and Seattle, which must be really hard when Seattle is the hub, but they aren't charging any rebooking fees which is the right thing to do.

The storm has been downgraded a bit, but tonight and tomorrow is supposed to be the worst of it over my way. The western coast is actually in danger of flooding since all the snow fall in town and up in the Cascades will melt when it starts raining. We're getting snow but since we haven't had any all winter there isn't a build up for it to be worse.

I am going to call out Washington State University for being a bunch of pussy cats and CLOSING this afternoon. I'm 8 miles away and we didn't close. We are officially closed tomorrow, HOORAY!

It was 45 and rainy yesterday.. unheard of for a Michigan January. A cold front has come in now. They are talking about some major snow on Friday night.

NOT AGAIN. Tornadoes, torrential rains - jeez Louise. We need the rain - goodness knows we still do - but couldn't we get a gentle soaking over a few days instead of this dumping of rain all at once?

Yep. We have thunderstorms coming up here too. It put a damper on my Friday plans :mad:

I guess I should count my blessings. Here in Austin, we are partly cloudy, humid and 75 degrees.

Any news, Denver/midwest peeps?

Ask and you shall receive...
 

Snow in Denver and the foothills west range from 11 inches to 36 inches.
I know big variation.

Most of the city is shut down. I was surprised at how many people went to work.

ALL SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED.

Despite a lot of people not going in, RUSH HOUR WAS HELL. There were accidents all over the place.

I-70 west from Denver up Mt. Vernon Canyon to Evergreen was closed for bit. That is the route up to the ski areas. My guess is Hwy 285

A major mall, Park Meadows closed at 5:30 pm. Yet, I am hearing stories of other restaurants and bars staying open.

The snow is sloppy wet. Some areas are getting cleared and just mushy. However, it will ice up after dark and freeze. That is the big issue.
Just when I think that it is fine to get out, I hear sirens go off.

Last night, in anticipation of the storm, the grocery stores were packed. Shelves were starting to get bare for things like eggs and bread and milk. Even Petco was busy!

Parts of I25, the north-south artery are closed due to fear of heavy icicles falling.

Another 3"- 6" over night are expected.

Sadly, the ski areas did not get so much. This was truly a storm that hit west of the Continental Divide.

Eastern Colorado got hit really bad. I-70 east of Denver has been closed.

Snow Totals...
 

BUMP
 

Okay, GCers in the mid-west - are y'all okay? Anyone go through the tornadoes?

Our area was all over the national news. So weird to see.

AGDee and I live near each other, but the town next to her was supposed to get the worst of the storms in our community. All we got was hard rain and a little hail, lots of thunder and badass looking lightening. I believe sirens went off in her town and the next town over.

The tornado in Dexter was VERY close to Ann Arbor, a couple miles away from campus. My lil sis lives maybe 2 or 3 miles from where it hit and the rotating clouds were right over her area for a while. My friend's daughter lives in the sub across the road from where it hit. Lots of devastation over there but not ONE injury or fatality! It's truly a miracle.

Another tornado hit about 20 minutes south of our area in Ida (Monroe). Not as bad as Dexter but still devastating and NO injuries or fatalities! And another tornado hit about an hour or two north. Only one house was destroyed. The residents were hiding in their basement under a couch against the wall. Their whole house was lifted up and moved.

It was a pretty scary night and we're all very thankful that no one was hurt. Lots of businesses are pulling together to help their communities. It's really great to see.

Yeah, I wasn't even home. I was in Plymouth for a professional organization meeting, which is closer to the area, Dexter, where the worst of the damage was. Apparently there were six twisters in Monroe County, which is closer to my house. My bathroom contractor lives in Dexter but I've heard his house wasn't touched.

It is always heartwarming how an area pulls together after something like this. Busch's grocery store (local stores) is donating so much to those affected. They were going around neighborhoods just giving away gallons and gallons of bottled water. They were open last night, with no power, and giving food and things away to people who lost everything. The owner was on TV tonight and he said "This community always supports us, we are happy to give back to anybody who needs it." The tornado that hit that community has been deemed an EF3, which is pretty major for this area.

It did dawn on me that if my house had been hit, I'd get a new bathroom for $1000 instead of $9000. And I'd get a new kitchen, those new wood floors I've been wanting, new furniture... anyway, I jest. Everybody is very thankful that there were NO fatalities or serious injuries at all.

Yeah when I heard that it was an EF3 I couldn't believe it. We just don't get that in this area.

How were your kids doing while you weren't home? I'd be so scared!

So glad to hear everyone is okay - it's amazing given the damage we've seen.

To all the GCers in DFW -- Looks like we're in for a bunch of storms and power outages. Be careful.

We're hunkering down - not looking forward to rush hour tomorrow in Houston.

The Eastern Star meeting I was planning to attend was cancelled due to the threat of bad weather.
I just now started to hear thunder.

Site:
wunderground.com

Houston:
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/...ery=houston+tx

Storm Map:
http://www.wunderground.com/wunderma...v=0&mm=0&hur=0

Stay safe everyone! Looking crazy right down the middle of the country!

Driving rain - tornado warnings but no touch downs as of yet.

There are 2 tornadoes in DFW -- One on the Ft Worth side and one on the Dallas side.

Luckily, I'm north of the storm system, so I'm not affected right now, but I hope everyone in those areas is keeping safe.

I am glad you are okay. I just saw a live video on CNN and it looks nasty.

The Tarrant County system passed over my old office building and was ripping roofs off buildings. It's now headed to my alma mater and to the areas where I used to live. Crazy.

They are now reporting FOUR active tornadoes in the region.

Came here to post this. It was breaking news on my Yahoo! and figured it must be bad--I've never seen a tornado as breaking news on Yahoo! before. Hope everyone is staying safe!!

ETA: Wow, k_s, sounds bad! Thinking good thoughts for those affected!

I just read the Dallas area is in a state of emergency. My co-worker is scrambling the Dallas area news since her daughter lives in the Ft. Worth area.

One of the tornadoes was reported as 1/2 mile wide. I hope everyone will be safe.

^^ I think that's the one passing through Arlington right now.

And holy shit -- they just reported that ANOTHER one just touched down in Garland/Mesquite.

ETA: Video of the Garland/Mesquite damage: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/03...rea/?hpt=hp_c1

That sounds so scary, hope you are all safe!

I am not sure if this is the same one that touched down in Garland but there is a possible tornado approaching DFW airport near the south remote parking area.

Wow. This is crazy.

^^ No, Garland is on the other side of the metro. The cell going toward the airport is likely the one that passed by my alma mater earlier. There are multiple cells.

Another line of storms (capable of producing tornadoes) is heading into Arlington AGAIN (the area where my alma mater is).

There's also a report of another tornado that touched down just south of me. What a day.