News Cut: February 11, 2013 Archive

The Mississippi tornado up close

Posted at 10:55 AM on February 11, 2013 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Weather

Tornado season is not yet upon us here in flyover country, but when it starts, remember: When you hear the tornado sirens, it means "grab the video camera and go have a look."

There were no fatalities, but there certainly could have been with some.

Take this excerpt from today's Christian Science Monitor:

Among those who felt lucky to be alive Sunday was 49-year-old Margie Murchison, who was visiting with a friend when her husband started screaming for them to take shelter from the approaching storm in a nearby culvert. They sprinted out of the house as debris flew around them and made it to the conduit that runs under the road. A tree crashed behind them as they made it to their hiding place.

"For a minute there, that wind was so strong I couldn't breathe," Murchison said.

For the record, there's never been a recorded tornado in Minnesota in February.

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The myth of the named winter storm

Posted at 11:45 AM on February 11, 2013 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Weather

Last week's storm in the Northeast reignited the debate over the Weather Channel's silly decision to name winter storms.

But let's not go overboard.

"In unilaterally deciding to name winter storms, the Weather Channel has confused media spin with science and public safety," Joel Meyer, founder and president of AccuWeather, said in October when The Weather Channel announced its marketing scheme. "We have explored this issue for 20 years and have found that this is not good science and will mislead the public. Winter storms are very different from hurricanes."

Could you think less of the public than to assume naming a storm means people won't take it seriously?

On its blog last fall, AccuWeather said naming a winter storm is different than a hurricane because a named hurricane is more predictable:

Hurricanes are well-defined storms following a path that can be tracked. Winter storms are often erratic, affecting different areas unevenly. Their centers may not be well-defined. There may be multiple centers and they often shift. One area may get a blizzard, while places not too far away may experience rain or fog, or nothing at all. Naming a winter storm that may deliver such varied weather will create more confusion in the public and the emergency management community."

Late last week, NPR said on its Two Way blog that the naming of winter storms constitutes the "hype" cycle of storms.

The danger here is that while a hype cycle tends to follow the same pattern, storms themselves can vary widely in their magnitude, scope and degree of damage to humans and creatures. If the go-to aftermath stories are the same, the public response runs the risk of becoming routine -- to the detriment of those who need help.

That theory was tested over the weekend. The emergency management community did just fine, casualties from the storm were light, few people expected animated fish to fall in place of snow, and by this morning, many people went back to work, having -- apparently -- taken the whole situation seriously, more seriously than some hurricanes.

In other words: Nothing changed from any other nor'easter.

While a fair bit of nonsense, the naming of a winter storm is no more a danger to the possibility of the public not taking a storm seriously than a forecast, delivered with alarm, that turns out to be wrong.

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Snow emergency in rhyme

Posted at 1:40 PM on February 11, 2013 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Weather

Few people have ever really understood the rules for snow emergencies in Minneapolis (or Saint Paul). Nothing that the city tries ever seems to work. As every storm ebbs, the cash registers seem to overheat at the impound lot.

So, you've got to give Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak a little credit for resorting to prose verse to try to explain the rules.

Last night, he invoked Cupid to warn of the 8 a.m. start to plowing...

Since this is the week/To say je t'aime/Move her car off the even side/By 8 a.m./(Plowing on even side starts at 8 am)

— Mayor R.T. Rybak (@MayorRTRybak) February 11, 2013

And this afternoon, he invokes a papal inspiration

Snow's winter's gift/comes right from God/So by 8 am you're a sinner/If a car's on street that's odd/(Plowing @ 8am on odd side of sts)

— Mayor R.T. Rybak (@MayorRTRybak) February 11, 2013

There's a pretty good chance, though, that if you depend on poetic tweets, you're going to get towed.

The city's website notes that this is Day 2 of the snow emergency and here are the official rules:

Do not park on the EVEN side of non-Snow Emergency routes. (Example: house address number: 1356 Maple or 2512 17th Ave.)

Do not park on either side of parkways.

Park on the odd side of non-Snow Emergency Route streets (example: house address number 1359 Maple or 2513 17th Ave.).

Park on either side of streets with the red sign: Snow Emergency Route.

No parking on EVEN side of non-Snow Emergency routes

After a street is fully plowed, feel free to park there, even if Snow Emergency parking rules are still in effect. Fully plowed means the street is completely cleared and plowed as wide as possible. Plows may come through more than once, so make sure that it is fully plowed as wide as possible before parking.

Day 3 - 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

At 8 a.m., Day Three parking rules begin.

Do not park on the ODD side of non-Snow Emergency Route streets (example: house address number 1359 or 2513 17th Ave.).

Park on even side of non-Snow Emergency Route streets. (Example: house address number: 1356 Maple or 2512 17th Ave.)

Park on either side of streets marked with the red sign: Snow Emergency Route and you may park on parkways.

Snow Emergency Day 3: No parking on the ODD side of non-Snow Emergency routes.

After a street is fully plowed, feel free to park there, even if Snow Emergency parking rules are still in effect. Fully plowed means the street is completely cleared and plowed as wide as possible. Plows may come through more than once, so make sure that it is fully plowed as wide as possible before parking.

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