That is a very unstable system. There is column of air rapidly rising. It can be easily discerned. It's the center of that cloud that already touched down. The clouds are all pointing up. There was a severe and sudden updraft. Alabama was lucky. Buoy.
October 28, 2007
Mobile, Alabama
Photographer states :: I took this photo last Thursday as storms were coming in.
Friday, October 19, 2007 (at title to entry)
Staff Report
Sirens sounded across central Mobile County on Thursday morning after weather officials issued a tornado warning shortly after 6:45 a.m. for a severe storm moving northeastward out of Mississippi and into Alabama.
No tornadoes were reported with the storm in Mobile, according to weather officials.
There were no reports of significant damage in southwest Alabama through early evening, according to weather officials. More storms were expected later in the evening and into early this morning. A cold front should move through the area this morning.
Thursday's storms brought rain to southwest Alabama, but not in any drought-busting amounts.
Doppler radar estimates indicated that most areas saw 1.5 inches or less, though parts of Washington, Clarke, Monroe and southeast Baldwin counties received up to 3 inches through late afternoon.
The Mobile Regional Airport in west Mobile received less than 1 inch Thursday through 5 p.m. while the Pensacola Regional Airport received 7 inches -- a record for that date, according to weather data.
Inland counties suffered no reported damage during the day Thursday, officials said, but several said they would be monitoring the weather throughout the evening.
Chuck Murph, EMA Director for Monroe County, said the area saw much-needed rainfall but no weather damage.
"The rain is a welcome sight," Murph said. "We need more of it."
According to a U.S. Drought Monitor report issued last week, Mobile and Baldwin counties, along with most of southwest Alabama, are experiencing moderate to severe drought, with a few areas classified in extreme drought.
(Staff Reporters Kim Lanier and Connie Baggett contributed to this report)
