From: National Weather Service, Fort Worth
Date: Wed, 08 September 2010 9:30 -0500

Good morning,

As the remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine continue across north Texas, I will make today’s update short. Bottom line is the system will continue to inundate the region with additional rainfall of an additional 3 to 6 inches of rain. This, of course, will aggravate and/or expand any ongoing flooding this morning. Rainfall is expected to slowly end from south to north after 8 PM tonight.

This afternoon, there will remain an increased threat of tornadoes, especially in the I-35 corridor from the Red River to Fort Hood. Like yesterday, any circulation centers will be watched carefully and will be short lived, but dangerous.

Repeating the bottom line, there is an additional 3-6 inches of rainfall in the forecast, and there will be an increased risk of tornadoes across north Texas for the remainder of the day.

Effective on or before Wednesday, September 30, 2010, the NWS will be adding a new flood inundation map to the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, AHPS, web portal. This map will provide information for Elm Fork of the Trinity River in Northwest Dallas County.

Winter 2010 - In This issue

• Meteorologists Provide Weather Support
• January Tornadoes
• Dr. Weather's Wisdom
• March 28, 2000: 10th Anniversary
• Observer Awards

The Texas Thunderbolt - Spotter Newsletter is published from the NWS Preparedness and Storm Spotter Information page.

Feb. 9, 1870: Feds Get on Top of the Weather

1870: President Ulysses S. Grant signs a bill creating what we now call the National Weather Service. Forecasting models were simple but generally effective.

It had been obvious for centuries that weather in North America generally moves from west to east, or southwest to northeast. But other than looking upwind, that knowledge was little help in predicting the weather until you could move weather reports downwind faster than the weather itself was moving.

The telegraph finally made that possible. The Smithsonian Institution in 1849 began supplying weather instruments to telegraph companies. Volunteer observers submitted observations to the Smithsonian, which tracked the movement of storms across the country. Several states soon established their own weather services to gather data.

Full Story

Tom Warner documents the powerful beauty of lightning with an array of optical and electromagnetic sensors. He often uses a Vision Research ‘Phantom’ high-speed camera.

Warner is a Ph.D student at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, in Rapid City. He studies atmospheric sciences with a specialty in lightning research. “Lightning is one of nature’s most spectacular phenomena,” says Warner. “I want to understand how lightning behaves.”

Full Story

The North Texas SKYWARN™ Spotter Training Schedule for 2010 has been published. Be sure to check the schedule often for updates and additions.

Spotters and volunteers should check the following information regularly during possible severe weather for updated information.

• Emergency Manager Briefing Information
• Fort Worth NWS
• Storm Prediction Center
  • Overview
  • Convective Outlooks
  • Current Convective Watches
  • Current Mesoscale Discussions
  • Severe Weather Event Summaries
  • Mesoscale Analysis
  • Fire Weather Forecasts
  • National Weather Hazards