Tornado outbreak February 28-March 2, 20 dead, EF4 in Kansas

[Pebbles]

Eck.. more strong storm cells heading right where they don't need to. Wilcox county and towards Enterprise. Not good news for the rescue efforts.

[Brent]

Tornado in Birmingham now...

Looks more like a squall line, defintely not a classic setup. I've heard no reports of anything(other than a report of a tornado in Hoover 12 minutes ago, but that's densely populated, I'm sure we would have heard something more). Defintely looks more like a squall line, with a possible brief tornado, nothing too major.

[fwbbreeze]

anyone gotten any photos or a video of the actual ENterprisa, AL tornado? I have yet to see a photo of it.

[Brent]

anyone gotten any photos or a video of the actual ENterprisa, AL tornado? I have yet to see a photo of it.

I saw one earlier on TV, it looked like a wedge tornado.

[Brent]

FEMA apparently is confirming 18 dead in Alabama, told President Bush directly.

[jdray]

NWS has most of the northern and central part of Florida under a watch now:

TORNADO WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WT 48
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
435 PM EST THU MAR 1 2007

TORNADO WATCH 48 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM EST FOR THE
FOLLOWING LOCATIONS

FLC001-003-007-009-019-023-031-035-041-047-055-061-069-075-083-
085-089-093-095-097-105-107-109-111-117-119-121-125-127-
020700-
/O.NEW.KWNS.TO.A.0048.070301T2135Z-070302T0700Z/

FL
. FLORIDA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

ALACHUA BAKER BRADFORD
BREVARD CLAY COLUMBIA
DUVAL FLAGLER GILCHRIST
HAMILTON HIGHLANDS INDIAN RIVER
LAKE LEVY MARION
MARTIN NASSAU OKEECHOBEE
ORANGE OSCEOLA POLK
PUTNAM SEMINOLE ST. JOHNS
ST. LUCIE SUMTER SUWANNEE
UNION VOLUSIA

ISOLATED SHOWERS WILL AFFECT PARTS OF ST. JOHNS...DUVAL...AND
NASSAU COUNTIES THIS EVENING. ALSO...WINDS WILL BE GUSTY THIS EVENING
WITH GUSTS OF NEAR 30 MPH POSSIBLE. THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE...ARE
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AND AFFECT SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND NORTHEAST
FLORIDA TOWARDS MIDNIGHT. DAMAGING WINDS...HAIL...AND TORNADOES ARE
POSSIBLE. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR
POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

I noticed the SPC has the highest risk now closer to ocala north up about I75 in Florida.


Also:
Local News says it all for North Florida:

The primary severe storm threat locally looks to be late evening & overnight as an intense squall line moves from west to east across the First Coast. There could also be a few individual severe storms that develop out ahead of this main line. Any of the storms will have the potential to produce tornadoes, damaging winds & hail. This would appear to be an unusually dangerous storm set-up for much of Northern Florida & Southeast Georgia. Adding to the threat is that some of the most intense storms will occur overnight when people might be asleep &, of course, when tornadoes are difficult to see. The storms will also be fast-moving meaning advance warning will probably be limited to 15 minutes or less unless we see long track tornadoes/storms which would allow us more lead time.

[wlfpack81]

Just watching MSNBC and the ticker at the bottom says 15 killed at Enterprise High School!

Edit: The newscaster on MSNBC just quoted 13 being dead at the high school not 15. So not sure which is corret but either way horrible.

[artist]

good coverage it seems- supposed to be a live news conference from the area around 6:30 - I have not seen it yet.

http://www.wsfa.com

[artist]

they just stated it will be from Enterprise High School and coming up shortly.

[jaxfladude]

What is the latest risk level for my area the Jacksonville Metro Area?
The only word I got is low to moderate but that was this am, the wx guys on TV just said a chance of nasty wx later on late pm early am March1-2.....same words as this morring repeated in the 5-7pm time slot after the news reorts of the Ala. twister(s) disaster(s).....

[JonathanBelles]

the news conference is on now.

[Coredesat]

This thing is simply monstrous:



I hope that isn't an (non-convective) eye trying to form.

[Opal storm]

Very strong looking storm now just off the coast of Pensacola,but no warning on it so far.

[baygirl_1]

I'm not sure if any news of this possible tornado near Miller's Ferry/Camden, AL (just southwest of Montgomery) has been reported here:

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
608 PM CST THU MAR 01 2007

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION......LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE......REMARKS..

1230 PM TSTM WND DMG MILLERS FERRY 32.10N 87.37W
03/01/2007 WILCOX AL EMERGENCY MNGR

*** 1 FATAL, 2 INJ *** UPDATE...POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR
MILLERS FERRY. 40 HOMES DAMAGED.

Our evening news reported that members of Mobile's urban rescue team was heading to Miller's Ferry to help. The news coming out of Enterpise is so awful, but this certainly does not sound good.

[Brent]

Enterprise tornado.

[jdray]

What is the latest risk level for my area the Jacksonville Metro Area?
The only word I got is low to moderate but that was this am, the wx guys on TV just said a chance of nasty wx later on late pm early am March1-2.....same words as this morring repeated in the 5-7pm time slot after the news reorts of the Ala. twister(s) disaster(s).....

From the Storm Prediction Center (NWS Norman, OK)
Overall Moderate Risk
10% Tornado (probability of a tornado F2-F5)
15% Hail risk (3/4" or larger)
45% wind damage risk (65 knot wind gusts or higher)

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/day1otlk.html

[ncupsscweather]

Tornado Watch
TORNADO WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WT 49
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
820 PM EST THU MAR 1 2007

TORNADO WATCH 49 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 500 AM EST FOR THE
FOLLOWING LOCATIONS

NCC003-023-025-027-035-045-059-071-097-109-111-119-149-159-161-
179-021000-
/O.NEW.KWNS.TO.A.0049.070302T0120Z-070302T1000Z/

NC
. NORTH CAROLINA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

ALEXANDER BURKE CABARRUS
CALDWELL CATAWBA CLEVELAND
DAVIE GASTON IREDELL
LINCOLN MCDOWELL MECKLENBURG
POLK ROWAN RUTHERFORD
UNION
$$

[Hurricane_Apu]

Posted on another message board:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h128/ ... ornado.jpg

[paradoxsixnine]

omg!
I'm right across the Yadkin from Rowan county in Davidson county. They're saying rain and storms through the night with a chance of strong winds...primary threat being damaging winds.

[CajunMama]

Here's an article on the enterprise tornado that killed 15 students

Tornadoes Kill 18 in Alabama, Including 15 at High School, and 1 Missouri Girl

By BOB JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

ENTERPRISE, Ala. (Associated Press) -- Tornadoes ripped through Alabama and killed at least 18 people Thursday, including 15 at a high school where students became pinned under debris when a roof collapsed, state officials said. As night fell, crews dug through piles of rubble beneath portable lights at Enterprise High School, looking for other victims.

"The number could very well increase as the search effort continues through the night," state emergency management spokeswoman Yasamie Richardson said.

The storm struck about 1:15 p.m., and Richardson said some students were still trapped three hours later. Erin Garcia, a 17-year-old senior, said students had gathered in hallways around 11 a.m. as a precaution. School officials wanted to send them home around 1 p.m., she said, but the weather turned bad and sirens wailed.

Then, she said, the lights went out.

"I was just sitting there praying the whole time," she said.

After the storm passed, she found the hallway she was in was spared, but a roof and wall collapsed on students in another hallway.

"It was scary. It sounded like a bunch of people trying to beat the wall down. It was complete chaos out in the hallway," she said.

"People didn't know where to go. They were trying to lead us out of the building. I kept seeing people with blood on their faces," Garcia said.

More than 50 people were hospitalized as the violent storm front crossed the state. Two died elsewhere in Enterprise and one in rural Millers Ferry, where a separate storm wrecked mobile homes, Richardson said.

The burst of tornadoes was part of a larger line of thunderstorms and snowstorms that stretched from Minnesota to the Gulf Coast. Authorities blamed a tornado for the death of a 7-year-old girl in Missouri, and twisters also were reported in Kansas.

The high school, about 75 miles south of Montgomery, "appears to have been right in the path," said Paul Duval, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Tallahassee, Fla., which monitors southeast Alabama.

Martha Rodriguez, a 15-year-old sophomore, said she had left the school about five minutes before the storm hit. When she returned, a hall at the school had collapsed, she said.

"The stadium was destroyed and there were cars tipped over in the parking lot and trees were ripped out. There were trees and wood everywhere. It was just horrible," she said.

At Millers Ferry, 66 miles west of Montgomery, trailer homes were flipped over and trees downed, said Bernadine Williams in the Wilcox County emergency management office.

Several school systems across Alabama closed or dismissed students early as the storm front approached from the west, extending the length of the state.

"The clouds were so dark that all the lights out here came on," said Walter Thornton, who works at the airport in Enterprise, 75 miles south of Montgomery.

President Bush, who visited New Orleans on Thursday, was briefed on the tornadoes by senior staff and called Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, White House spokeswoman Dana Perrino said aboard Air Force One.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency was working with officials in both states, she said.

In Caulfield, Mo., resident Rick Jarvis heard the storm ripping through his gas station around dawn. His home next door suffered just minor damage, but the twister, described by witnesses as a fat black column, shredded the business, ripping down its roof and back wall.

"It sounded like a herd of horses tearing up stuff. When I came out, it was done," said Jarvis, 48.

http://tinyurl.com/28muy9


Were any of our members from alabama and areas in the path of todays storms? Have we heard from them?