Lightning: What You Need to Know

To put it lightly, this Spring has been extremely active in terms of severe weather- and I'm not just talking about tornadoes. Devastating wild fires in west Texas, extreme drought in the southern plains, and several areas with historic floods have unfolded across the US just in the last few months alone.

With much of our attention focused on these huge events, I think some of us (myself included) have become complacent to some other weather phenomena  that are extremely dangerous. Today's focus will be on one of those- lightning.

It wasn't until a few weeks ago when a few friends and I were out following a couple of storms and we stopped just off HWY 25 to watch an impressive shelf cloud roll through. Here's a picture of it and you may see why we were so fascinated with it:

Impressive, right?

We had all gotten out of the car to snap a few photos, but then I got to thinking about something that honestly, I had never really taken too seriously before- lightning. I think most meteorologists who get the opportunity to go out and chase storms would agree that lightning is probably one of the last things on their minds when they are watching a large tornado in the distance. While it's true that we seem to become mesmerized by mother nature, I really wanted to stress how deadly lightning can be. 

It has been found that at any given time on Earth, there are approximately 2000 thunderstorms occurring, and those storms produce lightning strikes at a rate of 100 times PER SECOND! After some number crunching, that comes out to be....

8,640,000 lightning strikes every day on Earth.

Sadly, 58 people in the US are killed after being struck by lightning every year.

Here are a few common misconceptions about lightning safety, along with some truths about the matter,  courtesy of the National Weather Service:

Lightning Safety Myths and Truths

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Myth:  Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
Truth:  Lightning often strikes the same place repeatedly, especially if it’s a tall, pointy, isolated object. The Empire State Building it is hit nearly 25 times a year.
Myth:  If it’s not raining or there aren’t clouds overhead, you’re safe from lightning.
Truth: Lightning often strikes more than three miles from the center of the thunderstorm, far outside the rain or thunderstorm cloud.  “Bolts from the blue” can strike 10-15 miles from the thunderstorm.
Myth:  Rubber tires on a car protect you from lightning by insulating you from the ground.
Truth: Most cars are safe from lightning, but it is the metal roof and metal sides that protect you, NOT the rubber tires.  Remember, convertibles, motorcycles, bicycles, open-shelled outdoor recreational vehicles and cars with fiberglass shells offer no protection from lightning. When lightning strikes a vehicle, it goes through the metal frame into the ground. Don't lean on doors during a thunderstorm.
Myth:  A lightning victim is electrified.  If you touch them, you’ll be electrocuted.
Truth:  The human body does not store electricity.  It is perfectly safe to touch a lightning victim to give them first aid.  This is the most chilling of lightning myths.  Imagine if someone died because people were afraid to give CPR!
Myth:  If outside in a thunderstorm, you should seek shelter under a tree to stay dry.
Truth: Being underneath a tree is the second leading activity for lightning casualties.  Don’t do it!
Myth:  If you are in a house, you are safe from lightning.
Truth: A house is a safe place to be during a thunderstorm as long as you avoid anything that conducts electricity. This means staying off corded phones, electrical appliances, wires, TV cables, computers, plumbing, metal doors and windows. Windows are hazardous for two reasons: wind generated during a thunderstorm can blow objects into the window, breaking it and causing glass to shatter and second, in older homes, in rare instances, lightning can come in cracks in the sides of windows.
Myth:  If thunderstorms threaten while you are outside playing a game, it is okay to finish it before seeking shelter.
Truth: Many lightning casualties occur because people do not seek shelter soon enough.  No game is worth death or life-long injuries.  Seek proper shelter immediately if you hear thunder.  Adults are responsible for the safety of children.
Myth:  Structures with metal, or metal on the body (jewelry, cell phones,Mp3 players, watches, etc), attract lightning.
Truth: Height, pointy shape, and isolation are the dominant factors controlling where a lightning bolt will strike. The presence of metal makes absolutely no difference on where lightning strikes.  Mountains are made of stone but get struck by lightning many times a year.  When lightning threatens, take proper protective action immediately by seeking a safe shelter – don’t waste time removing metal.  While metal does not attract lightning, it does conduct it so stay away from metal fences, railing, bleachers, etc.
Myth:  If trapped outside and lightning is about to strike, I should lie flat on the ground.
Truth:  Lying flat increases your chance of being hit by a ground current.  If you are caught outside in a thunderstorm, you keep moving toward a safe shelter.



With summer time approaching, pop-up airmass thunderstorms are an almost everyday occurrence, especially in the Deep South. As more and more of us begin to spend more and more time outdoors, our chances of being struck by lightning become higher and higher. Please review these safety tips and next time you're outdoors and you hear that first clap of thunder or see that first bolt of lightning, don't take that risk of being struck.

EF-3 Tornado Rips Through Clinton, MS 4/15/11

      Here is footage I shot from Heatherlynn Circle in Easthaven in Clinton, MS

It started out as pretty much every Friday does for me- waking up early to be on time for my 8am Spanish 4 class. I had my last chapter test in that class at that time and I also had a Physical Meteorology test scheduled for 10am. I had gotten a call from Ethan Huston the day before asking if I would be able to come down to the station and help with severe weather coverage- as all signs were pointing to this being a pretty dangerous event. I really did not want to miss this opportunity as it we are winding down our severe weather season here in Mississippi, so I talked to two of my professors and got my 10am test bumped up to 9am and got cleared to miss my 11am class- it worked out perfectly! I was on the road headed home at 9:07am.

I had been checking radar all morning and it looked like the storms were moving a bit faster than anticipated so I was worried that I was going to miss out on the brunt of the action- boy was I wrong. I had a pretty quiet drive home, just a few rain showers and some lightning and I even passed a few senior BMP students on HWY 25 just north of Louisville. It usually takes me about 2 hours to get home so I was hoping to be at the station around 11am. As I was getting closer to Jackson, I started noticing a storm developing in eastern Louisiana just west of the MS River, but did not really think too much of it at first. As I was passing through Carthage, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Warren and Claiborne Counties for this storm- so I sped up a little bit :)

As the storm intensified into SW Hinds County, things really began to deteriorate. I do not remember exactly where I was, but I saw that a Tornado Warning had been issued for Hinds County, and this storm was heading right for my TV station!

I arrived at the Ross Barnett Reservoir just before 11am and I had gotten word via twitter that a Tornado was on the ground in the city of Clinton and that power flashes were visible from one of WAPT's skycams- that is never a good sign. I was going to run by my house in Ridgeland and wait this storm out as I did not want to try to drive through Jackson with this serious storm. As I got to the Ridgeland side of the Reservoir, I called Heather Sophia because I was having a hard time analyzing radar while trying to drive. She informed me that the storm was headed right for Northpark Mall- about 2 miles from where I was. At this point, I'm not going to lie, I got very worried. I turned around and headed back across the Spillway into Rankin County to get out of the immediate path of the tornado, all still while trying to make it to the station.

I didn't realize it at the time, but the first picture I took with my phone of the radar, was right at 11am- the same time the tornado had touched down and was devastating Clinton:

Here, you can see exactly what we meteorologists look for in tornadic storms- bright greens matched up to bright reds. Again, at this time, we now know that the tornado was already on the ground just to the north of I-20.

Here's what the same storm looked like as it moved through Madison and Ridgeland, just a few moments later:























It wasn't until I arrived at the station that I began to realize the true magnitude of destruction that had been caused in Clinton. We were getting footage from our storm chaser, Vincent Webb, and we could see that cars had been mangled and tossed hundreds of feet, and the roof of the BankPlus on Springridge Road had been ripped off. Vincent also had shot incredible video of the tornado as it touched down just south of I-20 and tracked along Springridge Road across the interstate. Quite possibly the most shocking thing was- we saw dozens of cars driving along the interstate and Springridge inside the vortex like nothing was out of the ordinary! I will  never be able to understand or explain that... Luckily, none of those individuals were killed, and at last check, there were only 2 reports of injuries from Clinton, one of those people had life-threatening injuries. This same storm held together and later spawned an EF-3 in Kemper and Neshoba County, causing devastation to the community of Scooba, MS, near the Alabama line. Several of my friends and teachers from Mississippi State were on this cell and got some incredible photos and video. Unbelievably, this storm continued to track to the NE and dropped a tornado dangerously close to the city of Tuscaloosa, causing damage to the south and southeast sides of the city.

We were very lucky that this was the only major storm to affect the Jackson Metro Area that day, but places to our south, like Crystal Springs, Hazlehurst, Magee, and Mendenhall kept getting hammered by tornadic supercells and large hail over and over again.

Just as we began the 5pm news, our viewing area had finally calmed down- all severe weather warnings had been allowed to expire as the cold front pushed through. Our Chief Meteorologist David Hartman had mentioned that he was wanting to go survey some of the damage and asked if I wanted to go (umm YEA!) After the 6pm news, we loaded up in a news truck and headed towards Clinton....

Before I show you some of the images I captured in some of the most heavily hit neighborhoods, I want to share with you a little bit as to why this particular storm has affected me a lot. You see, Clinton is the place where I grew up- I went to elementary school there, my grandparents lived there, and it's where my mom worked. I spent about 75% of my childhood there. Up until now, the only thing I knew was that the tornado had touched down on Springridge Road near I-20 and was moving NE'ly. Turns out, the storm had a predominantly eastward track, but if it had been due NE, my elementary school and my grandparents house would have been in the direct path.

This is where my dreams of becoming a meteorologist started. This building had a tin roof so every time it rained, you could hear it. Every time there was severe weather, we had to exit the building and seek shelter in the church which is just next door, but practically connected to this building. I suppose my dreams came out of a curiosity of what was happening above me- I could hear it, but I could not see it.

 On Friday, one of the first things that came across my mind was 'I hope the Mt. Salus kids are aware of what is happening and have taken shelter.' I was so worried that something bad had happened. Fortunately for them, the tornado tracked about 1 mile SE of the school. Not only was the tornado near my school, it was also near my grandparents house. After doing some analysis with Google Earth, I calculated that the tornado's direct path was .99 miles from the house we have in Clinton- very remarkable. It is really hard to explain how I feel about it, but I suppose because this storm came so close to disrupting great childhood memories that I have, that's why it is having such a huge impact. I just wonder, if this had been 10 years ago, same time, I would have been sitting in this very building above, wondering what was going on outside.

Some of my friends in Clinton were not as lucky as I was and my thoughts and prayers are with you in this difficult time.

....David and I drove into the Easthaven neighborhood on the east side of Clinton. This is where Eastside Elementary School is located. We were able to actually go inside one family's house that had been almost totally destroyed and I can tell you, it was very emotional to see this and talk to the family, luckily, no one was hurt. Here are a few photos from Easthaven:

This was a life-changing experience for me and it will be something that I talk about for the rest of my life.

I say it all the time, every time there is severe weather, and I get to help cover it, it reaffirms that this is exactly what God has called me to do. Not only is it about gaining a better understanding of His creation, but it is also about saving lives when the weather gets bad. That is one thing that I am starting to grasp. People's lives are in our hands in times like these.


Here is something I was working on in Google Earth which shows a rough path (based on what I observed) of the tornado:

Here, you can really see just how close it was to hitting my school and my house. I am still amazed and so glad that no one was killed in Clinton from this storm. Some other areas that received significant damage were Lakewood Memorial Cemetery, the Queens neighborhood in West Jackson, and areas along Shaw Road and Clinton Blvd. The neighborhood adjacent to Lakeview Dr. and HWY 80, and also the south end of Mt. Salus Road and Hannah Dr saw extensive damage.

Have a great week and God Bless!

Jake R

Round of Possibly Severe Thunderstorms for Friday afternoon

March-April are prime time for severe weather in the Deep South. As such, it is no surprise that it seems like it is every week we have chances for severe weather as the last of the Winter's mid-lattitude cyclones dig far enough south to interact with the warm, humid air which is becoming more commonplace as we progress through Spring into Summer.

It seems that the most recent severe weather outbreaks have been "busts," but the truth is, the ingredients never came full circle at the right time over our area. Most recently, on April 11, we were forecasting a severe weather event across much of the state and the SPC even had us placed under a Moderate Risk for severe weather. However, the cap (a warmer layer of air above the surface which prevents convective development) was too strong across NE and NW MS, but later on in the evening eroded in portions of Alabama. So, not a total bust, more an issue of timing in this case.

Despite this, many have become complacent about severe weather as it seems everyone overhypes the threat every time we have a chance for rain. But I want to caution you, each storm system is different than the previous. In fact, the storm system we are expecting tomorrow, is extremely dynamic and different than Monday's system, and really any other system we've seen so far this year.

Possibly the biggest difference is that this trough is negatively tilted. This has several implications. The first being how fast the system moves. Using the 500mb steering technique, instead of traversing W-E across the US like most systems do, this cyclone's negative tilt makes it harder to progress eastward. This means a prolonged chance for multiple rounds of thunderstorms and as long as this cyclone hangs out in the mid MS valley, the greater the chance we have of seeing some severe weather. Coupled with the slow movement, the negative tilt also indicates that this cyclone is more intense than N-S oriented troughs. The cold air is farther south and the warm air is farther north and this means a stronger low pressure center.

With this being unlike any system we've seen so far this year, I am hesitant to dismiss this possibility of a significant severe weather outbreak. Locally, the NWS Memphis and the NWS Jackson seem to be in line with the SPC on the chance for a dangerous severe weather event with the possibility of long-track tornadoes across NE MS.

Here's a link to the Jackson forecast discussion from this morning: AFD JAN
Here's a link to the Memphis forecast discussion from this morning: AFD Memphis

The best way to stay informed during any severe weather event is through a NOAA weather radio, so make sure you have one and that it is operating properly!

If anything changes, I will provide updates via twitter. You can follow me here: Follow Me on Twitter

Jake R
Jake R

Weather for Super Bulldog Weekend looks...SUPER!

Wow! What a difference just a day can make. This time on Monday, many of us in Mississippi were still dealing with severe weather. In fact, a group of my friends and I had to take shelter in the Chevron on US HWY 18 in Brandon, MS as the dangerous squall line moved through the area. A Tornado Warning was out for Rankin County at the time and we didn't want to take any risks. While we were fine when it was all said and done, I received a few pictures of what appeared to be a wall cloud near "the stack" from about the same time we took cover and there were reports of some tree damage in the Fondren area. All in all, Monday's storm reports from this entire system totaled 1,377!! As you might have guessed, that is a record! Most of the reports were wind damage reports because the powerful squall line stretched over nearly a dozen states, but there were a few reports of tornadoes in western Kentucky/northern Tennessee and in east Louisiana/southern Mississippi. Possibly the most notable for us in Mississippi was and EF-2 touchdown in Jones County that caused significant damage in the town of Ellisville. Unfortunately, there was one fatality in Mississippi from Monday's storms in Copiah County. Luckily, this system was not as bad as originally forecast.

However, if you've stepped outside today, there is hardly any evidence that we had severe weather just two days ago. Some folks in extreme northern Mississippi woke up to some frost this morning, but all of us really warmed up efficiently this afternoon into the mid and upper 70s! That is thanks to an area of High Pressure now centered just off to our east, allowing for southerly winds and helping keep our skies mostly clear! Tonight, don't expect any more frost as temperatures will be nearly 15 degrees warmer in most spots. Not only are our low temperatures increasing, we'll tack on about 8 or 9 degrees to today's high for tomorrow, and then even more for the weekend as temperatures will reach the mid to upper 80s Friday- Sunday with no significant chance for rain in that time! Some spots in southern Mississippi will likely reach the 90 degree mark for the first time in 2011.

We are on the heels of one of the most anticipated weekends in Bulldog Country- Super Bulldog Weekend 2011. Good news! The weather looks like it will cooperate perfectly for the entire weekend, with events starting as early as tomorrow evening! To get a list of Super Bulldog Weekend festivities, click this link: http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=16800&ATCLID=205097313

Again, there is no significant chance for rain over the weekend, but we only have to go out as far as Monday to find our next chance for rain and thunderstorms. Right now, the SPC has included parts of northern Mississippi in its Day 5 Outlook for Severe Weather, but it is still too far out to hammer out any details. I'll continue to watch it as it unfolds!

Hope you guys have a fantastic weekend and be safe!

Jake R

A "Significant" Severe Weather Event Possible Monday/Tuesday

Finally, we have begun to dry out after such a gloomy week! The trough which brought us all the inclement weather, clouds and very cool temperatures will exit off the East coast and be replaced by an area of High Pressure. This will allow for two sunny, dry days this weekend and we will warm back up into the 70s and even 80s for Sunday and Monday!

However, once this High scoots off to our east, that will create a return flow set up and we will start to see our winds become southerly and as a result, we'll start getting an increase in moisture just in time for our next weather maker. Here's the current set up we can diagnose:

Here is the latest 500mb chart from the GFS forecast model showing vorticity. The most dominant features on the map are a strong ridge out west and an impressive trough affecting the east. But pay attention just off the coast of Washington, Oregon, and BC. That dip in the height lines is the shortwave trough we expect to cause some severe weather over the Southeast Monday and Tuesday.

This system is still to far away from us in time to be diagnosed by the NAM, so we'll stick with the GFS for now. As we go through time, this shortwave will dig south across the western US and be poised over  the central US by 7AM Monday: 

The Storm Prediction Center has made it very evident that this has the potential to be a major severe weather event for us in the Deep South. Here's what they have to say:

For Monday, there is a slight risk of severe weather for the eastern Great Plains

Read the discussion for Monday here: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day3otlk.html 

Mississippi is included in the Day 4 Outlook:

With this being said, skepticism is still present for some as a few of the last Severe Weather forecasts have been complete busts for parts of MS. Let's do a little more analysis and see what we come up with.

Here's what things look like for 7PM Monday:

Notice, the GFS predicts a squall line to sweep through the area in advance of the cold front.

Monday afternoon, there will be plenty instability for the storms to work with IF they form. This map shows CAPE values:

At this point, this system still bears much watching as it develops and moves across the country. Even though our last few severe weather forecasts have had some pitfalls, one only needs to look back 1 year to see what severe weather events in April in MS can do. An EF-4 tornado terrorized Yazoo City, MS and several other locales along its nearly 200 mile long path of destruction. Stay weather aware this weekend as you enjoy some nice weather finally and I will continue to watch this developing system for Monday into Tuesday morning.