It has been an oddly interesting evening for a variety of reasons, the first beginning with turbulent weather on the home front.

Triad, NC -- Heavy thunderstorms (click here) pushed through the Piedmont earlier this evening leaving a path of hail, wind damage and heavy rains.  
After a couple of tornado warnings around 9pm for Caswell and Rockingham Counties the National Weather Service cancelled most of the severe thunderstorm warnings by 10pm as the cold front moved through the area.
However, a Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains in effect for Alamance, Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford and Randolph until 1:00 AM Thursday.

The real tornadoes didn't occur here though, but, around the country instead.  I am talking weather and climate, not politics that comes later.

Tornado season started some time ago.  It is getting to the point where there will no 'season, but, simply tornadic activity year round. 

Tornado in Northern California?  Seriously?  Small, but, true.  Williams.  Wonder what the elevation is there.

On Wednesday, (click here) along the bike path and the railroad tracks behind 1121 North Cedar Street, a cedar tree fell across a fence and pulled down what are called "low voltage DC signal wires" for the Union Pacific crossing lights at railroad crossings. All About Tree Service was called out to clear the tree at the homeowners' expense, said Chico Code Enforcement Officer Raul Gonzalez.(Ty Barbour/Staff Photo)

 

 

Tornado causes damage in rural Northern Calif town  (click title to entry - thank you)

The Associated Press

Posted: 03/23/2011 05:56:36 PM PDT

WILLIAMS, Calif.—The National Weather Service confirms it was a tornado that touched down in a rural Northern California town Wednesday. Weather service meteorologist Drew Peterson describes the tornado that ripped roof tiles from homes in Williams around 3 p.m. as a "small tornado," with winds between 65 to 85 miles per hour.
News video from KCRA-3 in Sacramento showed damage to at least two homes in the Colusa County town, with tiles missing from part of one tract home.
Williams police could not provide a dollar amount of the damage late Wednesday, but said no injuries were reported.
The National Weather Service says a funnel cloud was also spotted around 5 p.m. near Sutter, about 27 miles east of Williams, but did not cause any damage.
The two rural communities are about 70 miles north of Sacramento.

Sounds right, elevation 82 feet above sea level.  At least the circumstances are 'a little normal' for a tornado.  It hasn't touched down in the Rockies yet.


I like tornado sirens.  They should be manditory everywhere, but, it would be nice if they were mandated in areas that are KNOWN to be struck by tornadoes on a regular basis.  Especially in the state where there are the most 'deaths by tornadoes at night.'  That state is North Carolina and there is not ONE, not ONE tornado siren anywhere in the entire state.  Not one.  Yet, it is the state with the highest death by tornado in the entire country.  I wonder why? 

We have a NOAA radio in the house.  I usually know it is going to go on before it does.  But, it is reassuring to hear it anyway.

Every home in North Carolina is built to SUBSTANDARD specifications in that there is NO basement or tornado shelter required in any residence in any county in the state.  Interesting, isn't it?  There are basements built in the north all the time, and people aren't even exposed to tornadoes.  They have just as much flooding if not more in the north, so why no basements required in NC.  Oh, yeah, something about 'red clay.'  That's nonsense.  People in NC actually think it doesn't matter if one is in a 'shelter' when NOAA radios go off or the local news says to 'take shelter now.'  They BELIEVE as long as they are at the interior of the house away from windows and flying glass they are safe.  I wonder.  Do the people of North Carolina believe "Duck and Cover" is still in effect?continued...

Tornado sirens wail in central Iowa; heavy storms predicted in D.M.  (click here)

5:16 PM, Mar 22, 2011

by Daniel Finney

Tornado sirens wailed in portions of west-central and central Iowa as a band of severe weather hurtled through the state this evening.
A tornado warning was issued for the Des Moines area until 7:15 p.m. Authorities reported sightings of funnel clouds in the Des Moines area.
Hail about 1 inch in diameter has already pounded portions of Cass County near Griswold and Cumberland. Wind gusts of 62 mph were clocked near the Carroll airport this evening, and gusts between 45 and 50 mph were reported about four miles south of Cumberland, according to trained storm spotters.

North Carolina has more orange cones than any other state in the union, too.  That is just a guess.  The favorite past time of North Carolina legislators in allcoating money for roads.  Besides allowing physicians 'liable free' practice.  North Carolina legislators like orange cones on roads so much they build loops around loops around cities.  One after another after another.  The North Carolina Builders Assocaition loves those loops, because every time another one goes up to faciliate better movement of traffic, the land in between the city limits and the loop fills in with housing projects.  And then the land between the inner loop and the outer loop fills in with housing projects.  So, it gets really silly in North Carolina because the loops were built to make travel easier and quicker, but, all the building adds congestion and so the reason the loop was built in the first place really wasn't because they wanted traffic to move quicker, that would mean less gas to buy at the pumps.  The real reason is to keep their Builder Association cronies happy.

BUT, no basements required.  And no sirens for tornadoes either. 

Tornado damages homes in western Pennsylvania  (click here)

By Frank Warner, OF THE MORNING CALL

March 24, 2011

A tornado in western Pennsylvania tore off the roofs of several houses Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.
The tornado was reported at 8:45 p.m. along Route 136 in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County. No serious injuries were reported.
The tornado hit Hempfield, about 25 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, just as many other areas of the state were seeing thunderstorms, rain, hail, sleet and snow.

It just won't be a good day in North Carolina without the "Good Ole Boy" crony legislature working for you to bring home the bacon.