Storm chasers catch Nebraska tornado

Over 80 tornadoes have been reported across the country since Sunday. Some areas have been hit more than once.

Storm chasers captured this video of a twister outside of Aurora, Nebraska on Wednesday. The large wedge tornado was about a half-mile wide and stayed on the ground for about 18 minutes. Despite the damage, there were no injuries.

The Storm Prediction Center expects another outbreak of severe weather across the midwest and northeast on Friday and Saturday.

The storms are developing around the edge of the hot high pressure that's keeping our temperatures in the upper 90s.

Heavy rain likely in Houston this afternoon

A slow moving line of strong thundershowers are moving over the Houston area right now. Over 2" of rain is likely from these storms along with frequent lightning. There is also the possibility of large hail and damaging winds from some of the stronger storms. The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for parts of southeast Texas until 8 PM tonight.

 

Our exclusive Radar Xray analysis tool shows these storms are topping out at over 50,000 feet. The image above was captured around 3 PM this afternoon. This shows a cross-section of the storm. The first line above the ground represents 20,000' and each line above that is another 10,000' above the ground.

Given the height of the storms and the very slow movement, we expect the rainfall to be heavy enough to fill some feeder roads and streets with water. These storms will affect the evening commute.

We're posting new warnings as soon as they are issued on Twitter.

You can also track the storms online with our Live MegaDoppler 13.

VORTEX2 tornado chase begins today...weather permitting!

A caravan of 40 vehicles will hit the road today to try and get very close to some very bad weather. VORTEX2 is the second attempt to study tornadoes using mobile weather stations and radars mounted on specially designed cars and trucks.

The first Project Vortex, pictured above, was conducted in 1994-95. The data gathered during that chase helped meteorologists get a better understanding of how tornadoes form and improved weather warning lead-times. But it also raised a lot of questions, like why some powerful supercell thunderstorms don't produce tornadoes.

VORTEX2 is much more ambitious, involving over 100 scientists and crew members from around the world. The $10 million project is funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Team members will be chasing storms all across the country from now through June 13.  Another chase is scheduled next spring. 

National Weather Service responds to Red Cross tornado tip

The American Red Cross caused a stir last week when it announced new tornado safety tips that suggested it's safe to stay in your car when a storm is bearing down on you.

Not so fast. "The NWS (National Weather Service) has not changed its position on this," says Greg Carbin, a meteorologist with NOAA's Storm Prediction Center. "There is abundant evidence to suggest that a car is definitely not the place to be in a tornado."

Several people died last year when their car was swept away by a tornado. Two people from Oklahoma were killed last May in the car shown in the photo to the left. (AP photo.)

The Red Cross made the recommendation after a panel of "safety experts" concluded there was "no scientific evidence to support this long-held tenant" that you should abandon your car and take shelter in a ditch.  The Red Cross went even further suggesting a car would be safer than a mobile home.

Carbin told me in an email there is a possibility a car might offer some protection in the right circumstances, but not if you are hit by the strongest winds in the tornado. "The problem is, everyone wishes there was one "right answer" for these incredibly dangerous and highly variable situations."

So what should you do?

To protect yourself from a tornado, get inside a sturdy building. Shelter inside a small room or hallway toward the center of the building, away from outside doors and windows. 

If you are caught outside, the advice from the National Weather Service is still the same. "If anyone is unfortunately faced with that decision, they should take the action they think would best be appropriate to save their life," suggests Carbin.  "Getting out of the car and finding the lowest point possible and covering your head, neck, and face could save your life."  

New tornado safety suggestion: stay in your car

As long as I can remember, the National Weather Service has been advising people to abandon their car if caught outdoors during a tornado. Now it appears you might be safer staying in your car.

Researchers working on a Preparedness Subcouncil for the American Red Cross spent a year analyzing scientific reports about natural hazard safety, including studies published by the American Meteorological Society. The head of the committee, Rick Bissell from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County wrote on his blog, "We found no evidence to support the NWS suggestion that people should lie in a ditch during a tornado if they cannot find solid shelter."  Furthermore, they found being in a car is safer than staying inside a mobile home.

As a result, the American Red Cross now recommends that if a tornado warning is issued you should first try and take shelter in a basement or sturdy building. If you can not take shelter indoors, you should:

• Get into a vehicle, buckle your seat belt, and try to drive at right angles to the storm movement and out of the path of the tornado.
• If strong winds and flying debris occur while you are driving, pull over and park, keeping seat belts on and the engine running. Crouch down below the windows, covering your head with your hands and a blanket if possible.

So what does the National Weather Service recommend?  I asked Gene Hafele, meteorologist in charge at the Houston-Galveston National Weather Service office.  He said an official response from the NWS hasn't been issued yet.

Gene added, "We have seen many cases where automobiles are picked up and tossed around by a tornado and people killed as a result. Not really sure if getting in a ditch is a better option but that is what we have preached for many years."

NOAA's Storm Prediction Center states on their website, "Automobiles are extremely dangerous in a tornado."

So what should you do? Safety tips are merely suggestions. Every severe weather event is a unique situation. You have to quickly gauge the threat and respond accordingly.  Your car might offer some protection from the storm, but it's not the best choice; you should attempt to take shelter inside a sturdy, well-built structure.

"This was worse than Tropical Storm Allison"

Almost a foot of rain fell in West Houston overnight. This was the fourth heavy rain event to swamp our area in the last two weeks!

Once again, the storms developed and stalled allowing torrential rain to fall for several hours. 6-11" of rain fell over a large part of West Houston, from the West Loop and West Belt, to Katy, Cypress, Tomball, Spring and neighborhoods in-between. 

Click here to see a slide show of viewer photos from today's storm.

The map below shows the estimated rainfall from Doppler radar over the last two days.

During our continuous live coverage Tuesday morning, some folks living in West Houston said the rain was heavier in this storm than it was during Tropical Storm Allison. And indeed it was.... in that area where only 3-6" of rain fell during the storm in 2001.

Some additional heavy thundershowers could develop overnight and early Wednesday. Although we are keeping a slight chance of rain in our forecast through the end of the week, the overall weather pattern should shift most of the widespread heavy rain northward, away from Houston. There's nothing to dry us out. So if showers do develop they could be heavy.

Another round of rain

For the third time in two weeks, heavy rain soaked southeast Texas. 2-4" of rain fell in many neighborhoods on Monday. At one time, the entire city of Houston was under a Flash Flood Warning.

The storms also produced gusty winds, knocking down trees and powerlines. Although many Tornado Warnings were issued because of rotation embedded within the rain, there were no reports of tornadoes touching down.

The main problem was the rain. The line of thunderstorms was only moving about 10-15 mph which allows the rain to train, with one storm after the other moving over the same spot. This leads to the high rainfall totals and fills streets and roads with water.

More rain could fall on Tuesday. We have a 40% chance of rain in our forecast. But if and when the rain does develop, it will likely be heavy. Because the ground is saturated, additional rain could cause flooding.

Track the weather with us on Twitter.

Flooding and damaging winds likely tonight

Pockets of heavy rain are moving across southeast Texas right now. The rain will continue throughout the evening. 2-4" of rain could fall in some areas. Because the ground is already saturated from recent rain, flooding is likely.  Roads and underpasses could fill with water, temporarily stopping traffic and standing motorists.

The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch for all of southeast Texas, in effect until midnight.

Although flooding rain is more likely, there is also the possibility some of the stronger storms could produce damaging winds and tornadoes.  A Tornado Watch has also be issued for a large part of the ABC 13 viewing area until 9 PM this evening.

Track the storms using our live streaming MegaDoppler 13.

You can also send us your rainfall reports using Twitter.

Surprise showers soak Houston...again

A small, but powerful storm moved into southeast Texas Friday evening. The little low pressure intensified and stalled once it reached Houston allowing torrential rain to fall for several hours.

Major street flooding was reported around Pasadena, La Porte, Pearland, Friendswood, Seabrook, Dickinson and other communities along the Gulf Freeway and the southeast corner of the Beltway. The map above shows the estimated rainfall totals from Doppler radar as of midnight.

Thanks to all our viewers for providing real-time storm reports on Twitter.  We were happy to provide you with radar updates as the storms moved in and then stopped.

Truthfully, we only had a 20% chance of rain in our forecast and didn't expect the rain to be that heavy. Be careful. A low chance of rain is not the same as no chance of rain. The "chance of rain" is the likelihood that the atmosphere will produce precipitation in your area. Even if it's unlikely, as in this case, the rain can still be heavy.

This was a different type of storm than the one that swamped us last weekend. The rain this week was caused by a small low pressure in the mid-levels of the atmosphere. Unfortunately, little storms like this usually aren't fully detected by upper air balloons which are spaced out hundreds of mile apart across the region. Therefore, the forecast models don't accurately predict the strength and movement. The problem for meteorologists is that we don't realize the error in the model data until it's too late.

We still have a chance of showers on Saturday. It's not a big chance, but IF it does rain watch out for downpours.

You can check the radar on your cellphone using our mobile site:  www.abc13now.com

"Amazing rainfall" floods Houston area

At one point last Saturday the rain was coming down as fast as it did during Tropical Storm Allison.   Here are some of the "amazing" numbers from the Houston-Galveston National Weather Service office:

• Pearland: 1.33" of rain fell in just 12 minutes; Total rainfall 7.94"
• Hobby Airport: 1.48" of rain fell in just 16 minutes; Total rainfall 7.79"
• Clear Creek: 6.26" fell in just one hour; Total rainfall 9.92"
• League City: Total rainfall 11.80"
• Frelsburg in northern Colorado County: Total rainfall 9.34"

The map of rainfall totals above shows a southwest-to-northeast rainfall pattern which is typical for this type of weather system. Storms were tracking, or training, one after the other along a slow moving front that was also aligned southwest-to-northeast. The repeating rainfall was the cause of the excessive rainfall amounts.