Forecast Cheat Sheet

Sign into WxMessage
Sign into NWS Chat - pull up local four offices
Check NWS Chat for WPSD Team - other - message and see who is working
Turn on OEM radios
KYEM Chat - transportation cabinet
Update State internal OEM and Transportation Cabinet flash page for events
Check NOAA Weather Radio - on position
Email list?
Twitter update
Change file name for FTP video upload

Did you send in your reports to Mike at the NWS?
Did you update Cocorahs for rainfall?

HRRR Convective Probability Forecast HCPF

Remember a watch means stay alert. A watch means that conditions are favorable for severe weather. Stay alert - check radar often - check updates often. A WARNING means take action - severe weather may occur within the next several minutes. A warning means to take shelter.

Instructions for radars that don't refresh or seem to get stuck on a certain time stamp:
Remember that you can switch to another city radar - many of them overlap.
OR
If some of your users are having refresh issues, it is probably because they have their browsers set to cache
old images. If they disable caching, the refreshing issues should go away.

You may listen to some of our local spotter networks - ham radio networks - and emergency first responders by going to this web-site (we do our best to keep the feeds up and running)
http://www.weatherobservatory.com/scanner-feed.htm

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Severe weather links: A few useful links for today's event
City View Interactive Radars: http://www.weatherobservatory.com/weather-radar.htm
Back up interactive radar: http://weather.weatherobservatory.com/interactive/
Another back up radar: http://weather.weatherobservatory.com/maps/radar/preciptype/latest/us.html
National Weather Service web-sites - click your local area for WARNINGS: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/organization.php#maps
An 2nd source for severe weather warning: http://weather.weatherobservatory.com/maps/severe/warnings/all/uslowerohvalley.html
A 3rd source for severe weather warnings: http://kamala.cod.edu/svr/
Storm Prediction Center - for severe weather watch information: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/
Local Emergency Management and Ham Radio Scanner Feeds: http://www.weatherobservatory.com/scanner-feed.htm
Weather Observatory: http://www.weatherobservatory.com/
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Remember to hit SHARE on this post and invite your friends to participate on this weather page. We are always looking for storm reports during and after an event (we welcome reports well after an event - the National Weather Service makes every attempt to verify their warnings and keep an historic account of each event in our region). Please help us with storm reports by letting us know what you are seeing or damage you may hear about. Be as specific as possible (city/county/location - time of occurrence).

If you report hail then please compare it to the size of COINS - if at all possible. Also don't forget to tell me where the hail was occurring. City/Town/County/Time
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If you FEEL threatened by a storm then take shelter. You do NOT have to be in a warning or have to have someone tell you to take shelter. Use common sense.
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Do not rely on outdoor sirens for your warning. Outdoor sirens are for people outdoors - they were NEVER meant for people who are inside their homes. EVERYONE should own a NOAA Midland Weather Radio - a weather radio is like having your own INDOOR siren - I recommend the Midland 120 or 300 model. That is what I use to protect myself and my family.

REMINDER:

5 mistakes during a tornado warning
http://www.newschannel5.com/story/20803560/5-big-mistakes-made-during-tornado-warnings

I put together these hourly threads to help keep the page more organized and information flowing at a pace where I can answer as many questions as possible. Please post questions or reports IN THIS THREAD. I knew thread will be issued in a few hours (see the time stamps on the FIRST/TOP post). When the time expires then I will start a new thread and close this thread.

Please do not ask me what is going to happen in your city or town. It is meteorologically impossible for a forecaster to tell you what is going to happen in a specific area. The best we can do is tell you that conditions are favorable for severe weather which may include hail, high winds, lightning, and/or tornadoes. The National Weather Service issues our local severe weather warnings. Please listen to your NOAA Weather Radio or your local media for the most up to date watch and warning information. During high impact events our local media does an excellent job covering severe weather - utilize the information and tools that they provide to keep us safe. You may have your own personal favorite meteorologist but remember that we all work together to help keep our communities safe during severe weather episodes. Please report severe weather to the NWS or local law enforcement and ask them to relay the information to the local National Weather Service Office.

Remember that a WATCH means conditions are favorable for severe weather and to be alert for thunderstorms.

A WARNING means that severe weather is imminent or expected to occur shortly - your individual home may or may not be impacted - just because a warning is issued for your county does not mean you will experience severe weather. It does mean that you should take precautions to keep your family safe and secure until the storm passes. A severe thunderstorm warning means that a thunderstorm with 58 mph winds or greater - 1" hail (or larger) is expected to occur in or near the warned area. Remember that severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce tornadoes with little or no warning. A tornado warning means that a tornado is occurring or may occur at any moment - a tornado warning means to take shelter until the storm has safely passed your area.

Again if you feel threatened by a storm then do not wait for a warning to be issued - take shelter immediately until the storm has safely passed your location.

Interactive RADARS:
City View Interactive Radars: http://www.weatherobservatory.com/weather-radar.htm
Back up interactive radar: http://weather.weatherobservatory.com/interactive/
Another back up radar: http://weather.weatherobservatory.com/maps/radar/preciptype/latest/us.html
National Weather Service web-sites - click your local area for watches/warnings: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/organization.php#maps

Information you may find useful:
Radars: http://www.weatherobservatory.com/weather-radar.htm
Current conditions: http://weather.weatherobservatory.com/maps/currents/temperature/us.html
Satellite views: http://weather.weatherobservatory.com/maps/sats/clir/latest/us.html
Your local forecast: http://weather.weatherobservatory.com/
Daily blog: http://weatherobservatory.blogspot.com/
Weather Observatory: www.weatherobservatory.com

WBKO cut and pastes

WPSD cut and pastes

WSIL cut and pastes

KFVS cut and pastes

Describing the small mesovortices with squall lines

Storms with this system are expected to be more linear (meaning a line of thunderstorms). There will be some spin in the atmosphere and
typically with this type of set-up you see smaller spin-ups vs the long tracked tornadoes. We call this mesovortices and they often times
occur with squall lines (line of thunderstorms) and can quickly develop and dissipate. These can occur with little or no warning.

Bottom line - we expect this to be a situation where long tracked tornadoes are NOT likely. A limited threat for spin-ups will be
included in the forecast. Keep in mind that even these type of spin-ups can cause considerable damage - so be aware of any
watches or warnings that are issued for your local county. Remember a watch means conditions are favorable for severe weather and
you should monitor for updates. A warning means take action now - severe weather may occur within minutes.

Blgb

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bdodson
Weather101