Never mind…
Time to move to Antarctica.
Dang it … only 1:15pm and the tornado watch is already up for the area.
And tomorrow is suppose to be a repeat.
Weather radio is going to get a work out.
I recently had a tornado watch that was up on the local weather sites for half the watch period before it showed up on the NWS website, and I never got an alert on my phone. Scared the bejesus out of me because there actually was a tornado on the ground and we were scrambling to find out WHERE.
I had to go home and eat comfort food about it that night.
It’s only going to get worse at this point. See the news stories about all the staffing cuts. Here is part of one from NBC News on 5/16 –
"As some forecast offices halt overnight staffing, the National Weather Service is scrambling to reassign staffers internally and fill more than 150 positions to cover critical employment holes. "
And it’s not just tornadoes – hurricanes as well –
Veteran meteorologist warns NWS cuts could jeopardize hurricane forecasts
Y. e. p.
I was not a fan of hearing that, given my position and hurricane season. (Did you hear about the FEMA head claiming he didn’t know the US had a hurricane season? eyeroll.)
They’re just not getting the data they need through reduced weather balloon launching, etc.
Stay safe, everyone!!
They can’t get AI to output the computer models?
They probably can, but without the data it will become the dictionary definition of GIGO… 
This was particularly disappointing given that my general (non-coastal) region is still in active recovery from Hurricane Helene. I had the opportunity to take recently reopened I-40 in the Smokies last week, and seeing the recovery firsthand only made the scope of the disaster even more terrifying than in January.
Just spent the last 45 minutes in the cellar. Town sirens went off for about 20 minutes.
Two tornadoes tracked east from New Mexico for 60+ miles directly towards us. About 15 miles out, they turned southeast and are now tracking towards Lubbock (actually in the western side of Lubbock now). One of them was at times 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile wide.
Had 3 inch hail with it. The lightning and thunder were massive a the peak when over us. Reports of damage and injuries coming in from tornado direct hits.
You can hear the sirens going off in Lubbock when watching the TV broadcast which transmits from Lubbock.
Our street is flooded all the way across (doesn’t happen often) so there are most likely several county roads that are under 6 to 8 feet of water. We are under a flash flood warning here in our town.
Hey … we get to do this again tomorrow!
That was a different storm up there
Look at the bright side – it’s something to look forward to.
And to think my wife thinks I’M the pessimist in the family…
Might not have to wait until tomorrow … another storm with tornadic signature coming at us from the west is about 25 miles out and is building.
And the thunder is starting …
All safe?
We dodged the bullet twice last night. Both storms did the right turn thing just outside of our town so we were spared. Lubbock and suburbs weren’t as lucky. Some roofs ripped off, mobile homes flatten and a lot of hail damaged building, windows and cars.
We are trying to get things done this morning as there is another round this afternoon. Will try to get some of yesterday’s images later if time permits.
How long does it take after tornadoes for power to get restored? Obviously it depends a bit on the size of the storm but is it like days or weeks when these things roll through?
