Is Climate Change Shifting Where Dangerous Ice Storms Set Up?

Lewis County, Tennessee after the late January ice storm
Research suggests that climate change might be making
ice storms more common in the South, but more research
is needed to confirm that. Photo from Tennessee 
Valley Weather/Facebook

Are ice storms moving to different and potentially more dangerous places? 

Some scientists are beginning to think so, and that could lead to more frozen disasters like the one that blasted Mississippi, Tennessee and other southern states in late January

 Drawing on long term records, computer modeling and new measurement, scientists in Texas concluded that a warming world isn't making freezing rain go away. It's just changing where it falls and when in the winter it occurs. "

Zong-Liang Yang, an earth systems scientist the University of Texas at Austin and postdoctoral researcher Chenxi Hu looked into this. According to science.org:

"To see how these changes might be playing out in the ground, Yang and Hu turned to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Storm Events Database, which compiles weather phenomena reported by individuals and vetted by the National Weather Service. 

When the researchers analyzed county-level  records from 1996 to 2025, they saw an emerging trend: More events along a band from eastern Texas to western Pennsylvania, as well as along the Appalachian Mountains, where low, cold air can get trapped. The timing of freezing ran events also shifted from December to February."

The locations Yang described here almost exactly match the zone affected by the disastrous late January ice storm,. 

Freezing rain is thankfully a bit hard to come by compared to other forms of precipitation. Snow needs to change to rain on the way down. Those raindrops must then encounter subfreezing air just before hitting the ground as liquid, which freezes into a glaze of ice upon impact.

If the cold layer near the ground is too thick, the rain will freeze into sleet, or little balls of ice on the way down. Sleet is a pain in the butt, of course, but at least it doesn't pull down trees and power lines. 

Also, freezing rain is often transitory. It'll hit briefly as an interlude between the time snow goes over to rain as temperatures warm. The warm/cold battle of air masses must more or less stay put to create a dangerous ice storm. 

Not everyone is buying the idea that climate change is shifting the places where ice storms are most likely - at least not yet

Esther Mullens, a climatologist at the University of Florida, told science.org that it still could be just natural variations that move ice storms around, or create trends in ice storms.

In 2025, Mullens looked at ice storms over the past 80 years and concluded that natural climate variations might explain the uptick in southern freezing rain storms. She concedes it could be that the jet stream is getting wavier than it used to be. 

A wavier jet stream is more likely to bring Arctic air blasts further south, which could increase the chances of freeing rain. But climatologists are still debating whether climate change is seriously messing with the jet stream like that. 

Still, there is a pretty compelling argument that the warming of the Arctic might be creating a wavier jet stream.  A wavier jet stream is more likely to create the right conditions for freezing rain than a flat west to east upper air flow.  

Another potential effect of climate change is it might affect how heavy the precipitation is. Even with a warmer world, it still very often gets below freezing in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere during the winter. 

A warmer world, though, is a wetter world.  A hotter atmosphere can hold more water that a cooler one. Storms like the one that hit in January draw moisture from warmer places like the southern Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean.  That moisture slams into the cold air further north to fall as snow, sleet, freezing rain or a combination of all three.

Since the January storm was wetter than it would have been before climate change began in earnest, it was probably able to dump more ice and snow on the eastern U.S. that the same storm would have a generation or two ago.

The heavier the freezing rain, the more weight you get on trees and power lines. Snow in some storms might be deeper than it otherwise might be. We have anecdotal evidence of that right her in Vermont.Burlington's weather data goes all the way back to the late 1880s. Yet, 11 of the city's 20 biggest snowstorms all came in the past quarter century. 

You get the point. Winter storms can be counterintuitively worse in our era of climate change.  

Climate change can even make lake effect snowstorms worse. Lakes would be slower to freeze during warmer winters, so they'd have more opportunity to dump heavy snow downwind of the lakes on the days it does turn cold.

The data the Texas researchers used was based on reports by humans, who sometimes under-report or over-report the amount of ice during a freezing rain event. 

NOAA is working on a new tool that uses radar, rain gauges and an ice model to map freezing rain in real time, science.org says. 

The new tool would make an analysis like what Yang and Hu did more accurate, as we'd have more precise information on how much ice accumulated and where. 

All this shows that climate change isn't just about heat waves and warmer winters. Under the right conditions the warming world can make the rare wintry intrusions much worse. Worse, even, than what your grandparents remember when they walked through feet of snow to and from school, uphill both ways.   

It's Not Just Minneapolis: Noem Continues To Botch Her FEMA/Disaster Role, Too

Ice storm damage in Oxford, Mississippi last month.
While understandable ire goes toward Kristi Noem
and her "creative" approach to immigration
enforcement, she's also getting terrible marks
dealing with natural disasters in the U.S;.

Everybody is hating on U.S. Homeland Security Secretary  Kristi "ICE Barbie" Noem. For good reason 

ICE Barbie's oversight of ICE and the U.S Border Patrol is obviously gaining the most headlines, due to what is basically the invasion of Minnesota and exceptionally cruel and unlawful ICE arrests across the U.S. 

The outrage reached a crescendo in late January with ICE Barbie's outrageous remarks ad reponse about two people in Minneapolis who were killed by federal immigration agents. 

Within hours of Alex Pretti's  death, both Noem and the equally odious White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller described him as a domestic terrorist who "wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement."

Never mind that we all saw the video taken by witnesses of Pretti's murder with our own eyes. 

 "Imagine how they lie when there's no evidence to contradict them," Jon Stewart recently said, "And maybe that, more than anything, explains why Alex Pretti really was a threat. Because he was brandishing a weapon: A handheld, aluminum 1080p, 60fps weapon of mass illumination, " referring to Pretti's camera phone. 

I really do think this administration's greatest fear is camera phones. Hard to spin bull all over the place when there's plenty of footage to debunk their lies.

It's pretty clear Noem should not be the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary. But MAGA loves cruelty, incompetence and grift, so here we are.  Noem's incompetence extends to where the cameras aren't: In her offices, dealing -  or in her case not dealing - with disaster assistance. 

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC recently had the following to say about Noem's work on disaster relief:

"Another part of the Secretary of Homeland Security job is disaster response and I cannot tell you enough how incompetent she is on that score as well. The data clearly shows that something is seriously wrong here. 

Under Secretary Noem's lack of leadership, FEMA has invented an entirely new set of bureaucracies, the likes of which I've never seen. And I'm in a state that deals with a disaster almost every season. 

Under Noem's leadership, which is supposed to be more efficient, more effective and more responsive to the disaster in western North Carolina and the other states that were affected look like the EKG of someone who's having a heart attack. She needs to get out of the C-suite."

Meanwhile, as Inside Climate News reports, disaster victims from across the United States are pleading with Congress to restore FEMA as an independent agency, one that would be no longer under the politicized leacdership of ICE Barbie.

The disaster victims and advocates say ever since FEMA fell under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, it has become more slower, more restrictive e and less accountable. 

FEMA was formed in 1979 and until 2003 reported directly to the President and Congress, But FEMA wss consolidated under the Department of Homeland Security after the 9/11 terror attack.

The disaster survivor group says FEMA is held hostage inside an agency that's focused on violent immigration enforcement. Disaster relief has at best become an afterthought. 

LATEST DISASTER

ICE Barbie did appear to want to at least pretend she was gearing up for the immense winter storm that hit the U.S. on the weekend of January 24-25. 

She waltzed into the FEMA headquarters just before the storm to give a rah-rah little pep talk. 

"I was shocked she showed up after all the shit we've been put through and what she's said," one FEMA official told CNN, adding that you could hear a pin drop in the center that day."

CNN continues:

"In the case many FEMA insiders were heartened by Noem and her team's sudden show of support, but aren't convinced the heavy-handed overhaul and downsizing are over. 'I doubt that this is permanent. I hope it is, but I doubt it,' one high-ranking official said."

More likely than not, ICE Barbie's appearance at the FEMA headquarters was just window dressing. In all the news stories about the immense ice and snow storm that caused so damage and misery on January 23-26, I hear very little about FEMA involvement in what was truly a huge disaster. 

A FEMA help page did appear last week, and Donald Trump has declared federal disaster areas in Mississippi and Tennessee. And some federal help arrived in some of the hardest hit states

But I didn't really see boots on the ground FEMA help like we saw in other disasters during the Biden administration. Vermont was crawling with FEMA personnel during and after the big summer floods of 2023 and 2024, for instance . 

FEMA in January had been poised to terminate waves of disaster-specific workers in waves, according to the Washington Post. 

However, just before the big winter storm in late January, DHS paused the FEMA firings. Bad PR to get rid of the help when it's really needed, I guess.  

I'm not optimistic about victims of last month's winter storm given the handling of other disasters over the past year. 

FEMA under Ice Barbie have faltered with big disasters like the aftermath of Helene. That storm hit in 2024 and North Carolina has only gotten a fraction of the requested federal aid.ON

Only about one fifth of applicants in Kerr County, Texas,  hardest hit by last July's extreme flooding, have been deemed eligible for financial help so far.

Additional big calamities are almost certainly in the pipeline. Tornado season will ramp up in a month or two. The western U.S is deep in drought, which makes me and a lot of other people worried about the summer fire season. 

Last year, the U.S. got lucky with no hurricane landfalls. Can we do two in a row? Fingers crossed, but it's a long shot. 

Unfortunately, I've said this before and I'll say it again. Anyone who gets nailed by a natural or climate disaster under this administration is on their own. 

 

Hundreds Of Trucks And Cars Stuck On Ice-Locked Mississippi Interstate Amid Widespread Southern Ice Storm Power Outages

Missouri Department of Transportation traffic cam image
from this afternoon shows I-269 in the northern part of
the state still covered in ice and truck traffic
still backed up of miles. This nearly four days
after the freezing rain stopped falling. 

The Great Ice Storm  of 2026 in the southern United States continues to wreak havoc, days after the icy rains and snow ended. 

There's been dozens of deaths associated by the storm. By one count, 111 people have perished from either direct or indirect effects of the storm and cold wave. causes directly and directly connected to the storm and cold weather.  

The trouble now is it so far not warmed up after freezing rain stopped falling. Though some of the ice has melted from all those sagging trees, many road and highways contain thick, stubborn layers of ice. 

This includes major routes like Interstate 22 and Interstate 55, along with other main roads across northern Mississippi.

The freezing rain might have ended by this past Sunday night. But on Wednesday, the highways in northern Mississippi and parts of Tennessee and Louisiana were still thick sheets of ice. Sunshine that tried to thaw the ice and truck tires left ruts and holes in the highway ice.  

Then it froze again at night, making things even worse than before. For some reason, the Mississippi Department of Transportation did not close the highways until Wednesday afternoon. By then, it was too late. Tractor trailers and some cars were backed up for miles. People were stranded out there for as much as 24 hours. Sometimes more. All in temperatures far below freezing at night. 

 "I've been here since yesterday (Tuesday) about 4:30 p.m.  I haven't moved an inch," truck driver Lee Roy Thomas told ABC24 in Memphis Wednesday afternoon. 

A man from Wisconsin who was stranded on Interstate 22 in Mississippi told WREG: "I tried calling the Mississippi State Patrol all they would do is, there would be a bushy signal and they would hang up after four rings. I must have made half a dozen attempts at that. We were always waiting for someone to come by and check on us but nobody came by. Nobody checked on us."

One truck driver said that when trucks begin to inch forward, they slide sideways because it is so slippery. 

Drone video showed mile after mile of tractor trailer trucks just sitting there, not moving on Wednesday along Interstate 55.

I'm wondering why they didn't shut down these jammed up Interstate highways last weekend and kept them closed until the ice melted, or it could be bulldozed from the roads.  That would have caused huge disruptions, but probably not something as severe as those hundreds of people stuck out there in their vehicles. 

On Wednesday, Mississippi Department of Transportation finally did close down parts of Interstate 55 and Interstate 22 so ice could be cleared from the roads. Hopefully enough so that vehicles could get through reasonably enough.

MDOT also sent in plows Wednesday afternoon, but warned that any ice the sun melted during the day would freeze again at night. The National Guard and more MDOT trucks have been brought in to help clear the highways. However, as the sun set Wednesday, the two major interstates remained at a near-standstill. 

A special weather statement from the National Weather Service office in Memphis this morning urging no travel yet. The statement said main highways remain quite dangerous and most secondary roads across much of Mississippi and Tennessee are pretty much impassable still.

Some thawing was going on in northern Mississippi today as temperatures rise into the mid-40s, but that will not be enough to melt all the ice. An intense new cold snap will drop temperatures back below freezing tonight, and no real thawing is expected until at least Monday. 

Meanwhile, troubles kept popping up in hard-hit Tennessee as well.  

Ten people have died in Tennessee so far as a result of the storm. Residents are worried about more deaths as power remains out in many areas. Those fears are heightened by the prospect of a new cold snap coming in. Temperatures are forecast to drop into the single digits Saturday night after highs only near 20 degrees. 

As of this afternoon, more than 300,000 homes and businesses in the South remain without power. That includes nearly 100,000 customers each in Tennessee and Mississippi and more than 50,000 in Louisiana. 

In Nashville, elderly and disabled residents in a 12 story apartment building have had no heat or elevators for days and are running out of food. Fire crews evacuated some of the residents from the building on Wednesday. 

Videos:

News report on the highway situation in Mississippi from ABC2  in Memphis. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Drone video shows mile and mile after mile of tractor trailer trucks just sitting on the ice along Interstate 55 in northern Mississippi. Again, click on this link, or click on the link below if it is visible.

 

 

Death Toll Rising From Winter Storm; Stubborn Deep Cold Raising The Stakes

The city of Oxford, Mississippi continues to post
photos of the ice storm destruction. Another example.

The death toll from the massive winter storm has risen to at least 34 in 14 states as the severe lingering effects of the snow and ice barrage continues to threaten more lives. 

As of mid-morning today, more than a half million homes and businesses remained without power, mainly in Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. This, as temperatures reached record cold levels in the region this morning. 

In devastated northern Mississippi, temperatures are forecast to rise into the still-colder than average low 40s. At least that will melt some of the us. But a new, intense cold snap is set to hit by the end of the week, sending overnight temperatures back down into the single digits. 

Ice storm damage in Mississippi was even worse than in a historic 1994 storm. In 1994, it took 23 days for power to be fully restored. Officials said modernization could somewhat shorten the repair timeline this time, but probably not by all that much. 

In Tennessee, Nashville residents were told some parts of the city could remain without power for a week. Outlying areas will probably wait even longer. 

While the electricity is off in and around Nashville, the frigid weather continues, which is bad news for the thousands of people shivering without heat. High temperatures in Nashville should only reach the 20s and 30s through next Monday. This is a city where afternoon temperatures are normally around 50 degrees this time of year. 

Later on, the question of where to put the debris from millions of shattered trees in hundreds of communities in the South.  Right now, mountains of tree debris lines roads and streets. In some of the hardest hit cities, it looked like nearly every tree sustained at least a little damage. A lot of those trees are entirely destroyed. 

Roads in northern Mississippi are still coated in
thick layers of ice and snow even
though the storm ended late Sunday. 
They're not equipped to remove snow and
the thaws that usually follow winter storms
in the region have failed to arrive.

North of the ice zone, people are still clearing snow from a massive area from New Mexico to Maine and Canada. 

On Monday. 56 percent of the Lower 48 of the United States was covered in snow. At least a foot of snow fell in 18 states, including here in Vermont. Toronto, Canada endured its largest single day snowfall with about 22 inches of new snow. 

Travel problems continue to reverberate even after the storm has passed. 

American Airlines said this was their most disruptive storm in the company's 100-year history. American canceled 9,000 flights in the storm.  More cancelations and delays are possible over the next couple of days. 

Flight Aware showed about 2,300 flight canceled today, even after the storm has passed. Lingering ice and snow on the ground, and the disarray caused by the tens of thousands of cancellations during the actual storm, are helping to cause the problem.

In much of the South, highways are today still covered by thick layers of snow and ice. They don't have the equipment down there to remove all that ice. Usually, southerners wait for it to melt. Normally the melt doesn't' take long. This time, it is. 

The weird, extended Arctic weather is affecting most places east of the Rockies. 

Usually - at least in recent years and decades -  a severe winter cold wave lasts only a few days, and then it's largely over.   

This time, the frigid air is staying put. 

In Minneapolis, all but one of the past 11 days have gotten below zero. The next above zero daily low temperature is not expected until this coming Sunday.   

The cold weather pattern is forecast to last well into February. New York City's longest streak of consecutive below freezing days is 16, set in 1961. Given the forecasts, that record could be broken. 

Even Florida is enduring the chill. They've already had a couple hard freezes this winter and another is due tonight. Another, strong cold wave is forecast later this week. Temperatures could get down into the low and mid 20s around Orland and mid-30s as far south as Miami. 

Even worse, a nor'easter is expected to form off the East Coast. It's still unclear whether the storm will come close enough to shore to cause a blizzard. But even if the storm misses, it's almost certain to reinforce the cold air over the eastern United States.  

 

It's Still The Year Of The Floods, Arizona, Tennessee Latest Victims

The inside of a flood-destroyed 
restaurant in Globe, Arizona. 

Over the spring and summer, I kept calling 2025 the Year Of The Floods. Devastating floods kept hitting so many parts of the U.S. through the winter, spring and summer.   

Those culminated with the immense Texas Hill Country flood over the July 4 weekend that killed at least 135 people. 

August in the U.S. was generally drier, but local floods continued to pick off communities and occasionally cost lives in various other parts of the nation.

The Year Of The Floods Hit again over the past few days. This time, Arizona and Tennessee were the big trouble spots.

The worst of these were in Arizona.

ARIZONA MONSOON

At least four people have died and there's widespread damage in normally arid Arizona due to intense monsoon storms. 

The worst of it hit the small city of Globe, Arizona, east of Phoenix. The old mining town with a population of 7,200 was swept by a flash flood Friday that turned downtown streets into whitewater rapids. 

About two inches of rain hit Globe Thursday, then several more inches poured down Friday, overwhelming dry washes and sending walls of water through the city and the nearby community of Miami. 

There have been three known deaths in and around Globe, and several other people are missing, reports the Arizona Republic. 

About 1,000 propane tanks from a distribution center were washed away in Globe and are scattered throughout the area. That obviously complicates the recovery effort, since some of them could still explode.

Video showed cars and propane tanks floating in downtown Globe with bursts of gas coming from some of the tanks. People at a baby shower in a Globe historical center said water burst in and almost immediately became at least waist deep inside the structure. Everybody at the baby shower was rescued. 

Downtown Globe has many historic buildings dating back to its mining past in the 1800s. Many of those buildings are now badly damaged. Exterior walls of the Wild Horses Saloon were blown out bye the rushing water. 

Serious flooding also hit around Phoenix and Scottsdale, where one person was reported dead and several other people were rescued from stuck, inundated cars. Phoenix had 1.64 inches of rain Friday, its wettest day since 2018.

TENNESSEE

In the mountains of east Tennessee, flash flooding and mudslides caused havoc on Saturday, especially around Great Smoky Mountains National Park. 

A landslide closed part of the Gatlinburg Bypass, a heavily traveled road around the tourist city of Gatlinburg and a gateway to the national park. Several other roads in the region were closed.

The rain has moved out of eastern Tennessee. Moisture from what will be Tropical Storm Imelda is unlikely to reach as far inland as the Smoky Mountains to an extent serious enough to cause more flooding.  

Although it's hard to determine whether the floods in Arizona and Tennessee have any link to climate change, they are consistent with it. A warming world means the atmosphere can hold more moisture that it could during cooler times. 

When the right storm comes along, that added moisture can result in extreme downpours, more intense than those we saw decades ago. 

Summer Of Floods Continue With Deaths, Serious Damage In Tennessee, Other Floods Pop Up Elsewhere

Flooding in Chattanooga, Tennessee this week. If you
look closely you can see a couple cars floating in
a whirlpool that formed on the highway. 

 The latest victims in our summer of flash floods has hit Tennessee, where four people died in the storms earlier this week. 

The storms that poured more than six inches of rain Tuesday on parts of Tennessee within hours. Chattanooga reported 6.4 inches of rain, its second wettest day on record. In Tuesday's storm, with 5.3 inches coming within three hours and 2.3 inches within an hour. 

A mother, father and child were killed in a Chattanooga suburb when saturated ground caused a large tree to fall on their car, the Associated Press reported. A fourth man died when he ran past firefighters and a barricade blocking a flooded road. 

The flooding came so fast that dozens of cars got stuck on Interstate 24 as water went from two inches deep to as much as four feet before anybody could get out of the way. Bystanders and rescue crews rescued up to 35 people from flooded vehicles there. 

A large whirlpool formed on the Interstate, with debris and even a couple cars floating and rotating in a circle where the water was trying to drain. 

The whole region was swamped by both water and emergency calls.

Per AP:

"There were so many calls for help that 911 calls were 'holding in every minute of every hour for about three hours straight,' with more than 940 calls between 6 p.m. and midnight, said Barbara Loveless, director of operations for Hamilton County 911. "

Elsewhere, flash flooding damaged homes and businesses, and blocked roads in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Several cars were trapped, and a local theater group's headquarters suffered flood damage to costumes, props, carpets and floors. 

 The flood death in Tennessee this week adds to an especially tragic year for floods in the United States. In addition to the 135 deaths in the July 4 Texas flood, at least a couple dozen other deaths have occurred in U.S. floods so far this year. Complete figures on flood deaths are not yet available for this year. 

And it's not over. Flash floods are anticipated today, tomorrow and Sunday in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. That's bad news in particular for Wisconsin, as Milwaukee just had a serious flash flood last weekend. 

Video:

Scenes from the Chattanooga flood, including inundated roads and homes. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

 

 

 

Did Factory Supervisors Cause Deaths Of Workers In Tennessee Helene Flood?

Managers at an Impact Plastics plant in Erwin, Tennessee
allegedly did not let employees leave as Hurricane Helene
floodwaters rose around them. This resulted in six deaths.

Another huge disaster, another case in which a major employer did not protect their workers from danger as they should have. 

At the Impact Plastics factory in Erwin, a small town in eastern Tennessee, employees kept working last Friday as waters in the nearby Nolichucky River rose.

Erwin is in the western foothills of the Appalachians, very close to the North Carolina border and right next to the tall mountains that collected two to three feet of rain from Hurricane Helene and a torrential rainstorm that immediately preceded the tropical system. 

They kept working into the power went out and water swirled into the factory's parking lot. Ultimately 11 factory workers and a contractor were swept away as they tried to escape and only five of them were rescued. The others are dead or presumed dead. Not all the bodies have been found. 

There's plenty of credible stories emerging there that plant managers wouldn't let people flee the rising flood waters until it was far too late. 

Here's part of a report in the Knoxville News Sentinel:

"Jacob Ingram has worked at Impact Plastics for near nearly eight months as a mold changer. It's a role, he said, that keeps him on his feet for the entire first shift.

As the waters rose outside, managers wouldn't let employees leave, he said. Instead, managers told people to move their cars away from the rising water. Ingram moved his two separate times because the water wouldn't stop rising. 

'They should've evacuated when we got the flash flood warnings, and when they saw the parking lot,' Ingram told Knox News. 'When we moved our card we should've evacuated then...we asked them if we should evacuate and they told us not yet, it wasn't bad enough. 

'And by the time it was bad enough, it was too late unless you had a four-wheel drive.'"

Ingram went on to tell the paper that he and 10 others fought their way through waist deep water when a semitruck driver called them over and helped them get on an open-bed truck, which was packed full of large flexible gas pipes.

A piece of debris smacked into the truck, knocking a woman off and sweeping her away. Then another piece of debris did exactly the same thing. Now two women were gone. 

Then the truck was hit by a much larger piece of debris, overturning the entire vehicle. Ingram thought to grab onto the plastic gas pipes, because he had seen some other pieces of the material floating downstream rather than sinking. 

Ingram and four other employees floated a half mile downstream until they hit a large pile of debris they could hang on to. An hour after that, a Tennessee National Guard helicopter plucked them from the pile to save them.  

We know one of the women who fell off the truck died. The body of Bertha Mendoza, 56, was found on September 29. Others from the truck are missing. 

Ingram managed to post some harrowing videos on Facebook that make it clear at least to me that employees of Impact Plastics should have been evacuated far sooner. 

Impact Plastics officials are circling the wagons on these damning accounts. As the Associated Press reports:

"Impact Plastics said in a statement Monday that it 'continued monitor weather conditions' Friday and that managers dismissed employees 'when water began to cover the parking lot and the adjacent service road, and the plant lost power.'"

But in a separate interview, Ingram told WVLT: "I actually asked one of the higher ups (if we should leave) and they told me, 'No, not yet.'. They had to ask someone before we was able to leave. Even though it was already above the doors of the cars."

 Ingram told WVLT that employees were made to stay on site for 15 to 20 minutes after the power went out. 

CBS News reported another employee, Robert Jarvis, gave exactly the same account as Ingram.  Jarvis also asked this question during an interview with television station WBIR: "Why would you make us stay there? Why would  you keep us there if you knew it was going to be bad, if you were monitoring it? Why were we still there?"

Well, my cynical but possibly accurate answer is some mucky muck with Impact Plastics somewhere was loathe to let their commodity, I mean human beings, get out of harms way. That is until the power failed, at which point the factory could no longer make revenue. By then, of course, it was too late for many of the employees to flee.  

Or, if I'm more charitable, the culture at Impact Plastics is that supervisors were tyrants, and there's not a lot of jobs in eastern Tennessee so employees were fearful of getting fired for, you know, trying to save their own lives. 

Notice how carefully Impact Plastics statements are worded. The statement said that while most employees left immediately, some remained on or near the premises. Yeah, because by then they were trapped by the raging floodwaters. 

The owner of a manufacturing plant near Impact Plastics had sent his employees home before they could become endangered and tried to drive a piece of heavy equipment to Impact Plastics in a rescue attempt. 

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is now looking into the allegations against Impact Plastics at the direction of a local prosecutor. 

EMPLOYEE DISASTER SAFETY OFTEN IGNORED

I admit part of all this might be Monday morning quarterbacking. I'm sure nobody in Erwin could have imagined things would get that bad that fast.  This is why in the same town, close to 60 people ended up trapped on the roof of a small local hospital as rapids raced around and through the building. 

Still, it fits a pattern in which too often, keeping employees safe during dangerous weather is just a drag on profits, sure to make shareholders unhappy. What's a few dead employees it allows you to buy a second yacht, right?

I've covered other examples like what allegedly happened at Impact Plastics. 

After a deadly tornado outbreak in December, 2021, employees of a Mayfield, Kentucky candle factory hit by a powerful tornado that night said managers would not let them leave to seek safer shelter ahead of the approaching twister. Nine people who were in the factory died in the storm. 

During that same, December, 2021 tornado outbreak, six people died in an Amazon distribution center in Illinois when a tornado hit. Employees there said they were not given the opportunity to seek safer shelter when tornado warnings blared.

In that same tornado, an Amazon driver said she was told by supervisors to keep driving instead of taking shelter despite the fact a tornado warning was in effect.

Also, legislators in Texas and Florida prevented municipalities from enacting ordinances that would have mandated water and rest breaks for outdoor workers toiling in those states' excessive summer heat. 

Which proves that lawmakers and Florida and Texas, and too many corporations, regard especially low wage workers that to them, it's no big deal if a worker dies because of dangerous weather. To them, these workers are not human beings. Just machines to replace when they are "defective" and break down in rough weather conditions. 

I really hope those responsible for the deaths at Impact Plastics are held accountable. 

Walmart In Tennessee Barred People Fleeing Tornado

This Walmart in Columbia, Tennessee is accused of 
refusing to allow people inside to escape a 
nearby powerful tornado,. 

 Cody Frizzell and his fiance were driving around Columbia, Tennessee on May 8 when his mother called.  

There was a tornado warning, the mom said. You need to take shelter. 

Frizzell drove to a nearby Walmart, figuring they can run into the store and seek shelter in a protected place, such as a restroom without windows.

Then this happened, says television station WVLT:

"Frizzell said he and his fiance approached the store at 2200 Brookmeade Drive in Columbia where employees in blue Walmart vests were standing.

'One of the people stopped (his fiance) and said 'no you can't come in. There's a tornado warning. We're not letting anyone in.' Frizzell said. 'I said, 'Where are we supposed to go?' And she said, 'I don't care but you can't stay here.'"

Frizzell said other people who tried to enter Walmart were barred, too. A nearby store allowed Frizzell and the others to take shelter there. The tornado ultimately missed the shopping plaza where Walmart and the other store are located.

That tornado was dangerous. It was an EF-3 with winds of 140 mph. It killed one person, injured 4 and destroyed a number of homes and businesses. 

A Walmart isn't a great place to shelter from a tornado. Buildings with large free standing roofs and what are usually cinderblock walls can collapse fairly easily in a strong tornado. Still, if you shelter in, say, a windowless restroom in Walmart, that's much safer than being out in a vehicle.

Nobody at the Columbia, Tennessee Walmart would talk to the media, but the WVLT reached out to Walmart corporate who responded with a statement:

"The safety of our customers during weather events like what occurred recently in Columbia, TN is a priority. During the storm customers inside our store as well as other individuals who requested to enter were allowed to shelter in place. While we can't confirm who this individual spoke with, we do allow people to shelter in place inside our stores."

If that's Walmart's overall policy, good. But it needs to communicated pretty clearly to all its individual store. 

I suspect Walmart corporate did investigate or is investigating what happened at the Columbia Walmart, but I think someone there is lying or covering up for coworkers.

My conspiracy theory is Frizzell and others weren't allowed in because the Walmart employee somehow  thought that if anybody who entered who was ultimately injured would sue Walmart. They were potential liabilities.

But that thinking, if it happened, is absolutely appalling.  Did someone at the Columbia, Tennessee Walmart decide it was better that to have somebody die in a tornado instead of potentially saving their life over liability?

I'm sure glad the tornado missed that retail complex.  

 

Proof That You Can't Bomb A Tornado Out Of Existence

The moment last Saturday when a Tennessee tornado 
struck an electrical substation, causing a massive 
explosion. The explosion did not really disrupt the
tornado circulation, and it went on to cause more damage

 Full disclosure: I have mixed emotions watching tornado videos. 

On the one hand, a as a weather geek, those damn things are so fascinating. Each one is so different. The violence, and yes, sometimes the beauty is something to behold.  

On the other hand, tornadoes obviously kill people. So there's a sense of guilt when watching a tornado video, knowing the storm ended the lives of innocent people caught in the path of these twisters.

That disclaimer aside, one of the most interesting tornado videos I've seen in ages was from this past Saturday in Tennessee.

One of the strongest tornadoes - one that killed three people - scored a direct hit on a Nashville Electric Service substation.  Video of the event is at the bottom of this post. 

When it hit the substation, it caused an explosion that caused a big orange fireball to erupt inside the tornado. Smoke from the explosion appears to get sucked into the tornado, but at the same time, you lose sight of the tornado's funnel.

Did the explosion weaken or even at least temporarily short-circuit the tornado? Unfortunately, the answer is no. 

After hitting the substation, the tornado continued on with its path of destruction.  The fact that the funnel disappeared doesn't mean the twister went away, too. 

As the Washington Post explains, tornadoes can be invisible.

"The reason we can see a tornado is due to moisture, which produces a 'condensation funnel.' Water vapor the gas form of water is invisible - until it condenses and forms a cloud droplet. That happens when the tornado's low pressure expands and cools the air (and the water in it) to the point of condensation - described by meteorologists as the 'dew point.'"

Many tornadoes, especially in the drier Plains states, don't have a condensation funnel. Or at least don't have one that reaches the ground. The air is dry enough so the tornado doesn't form that condensation funnel, which is basically a cloud. 

Even though the visible funnel isn't touching the ground, the tornado will still damage or destroy any  house or other building that it encounters. 

In Tennessee, the air was wet enough so that when the tornado formed, the condensation funnel became visible. Then the explosion at the Nashville Electric Service substation hit.  The flames from the explosion heated the air within the tornado, making the temperatures rise above the that dew point. 

That made the condensation funnel disappear.  We'll let the Washington Post explain the next step:

"And for a moment, viral video captures footage of the tornado's vortex appearing to disappears the fireball explodes. But it doesn't, in reality.

Tornadoes themselves are technically, invisible. The definition of a tornado is just a 'rapidly rotating column of air extending vertically from the surface to the base of a cumuliform cloud,' according to the American Meteorological Society. And you can't see air."

The heat released by the fireball made that condensation funnel go poof. You couldn't see it anymore. But the tornado continued to spin violently. 

Sure, the explosion might have briefly disrupted the very bottom of the tornado circulation. If there was a house immediately next in line from the electrical substation, it might not have suffered as much damage as it would have had there been no explosion. 

But the overall tornado circulation remained intact, and the very bottom of it quickly regained its footing, do the twister continued on with its path of destruction. 

You would need a huge explosion to disrupt a tornado. You'd basically have to blow up the entire parent thunderstorm. And the heat released by a massive explosion could make the updrafts in the thunderstorm even more intense, worsening a tornado or other dangerous weather associated with the storm. 

The tornado gods and goddesses at the National Severe Storms Laboratory answer the "Can we blow up a tornado" question for us: 

"No one has tried to disrupt the the tornado because the methods to do so could likely cause even more damage than the tornado. Detonating a nuclear bomb, for example, to disrupt a tornado would be even more deadly and destructive than the tornado itself. Lesser tactics (like deploying huge piles of dry ice or smaller conventional weaponry) would be too hard to get into the right place fast enough, and would likely not have enough impact to affect the tornado much anyway."

So we're stuck with the only method of surviving a tornado: Getting out of its way. That means fleeing to a storm shelter or basement. Or, failing that, getting into an interior room without any windows, putting on a bicycle or motorcycle helmet, perhaps surrounding yourself with mattresses and hoping for the best. 

And don't even get me started on the idea of blowing up hurricanes out of existence. Even a weak tropical storms would be harder to murder than a supercell thunderstorm with a tornado.

In 2019, during his presidential administration, Donald Trump, while being briefed by a meteorological expert,  ridiculously said he wanted to blow up hurricanes to end them. 

According to Axios, the person giving the brief. politely said something to the effect of, "Sir, we'll look into that. Which is the exact equivalent of my husband telling me "Yes, dear." when I say something completely off the rails, which I tend to do.

The bottom line is, we have enough trouble waging war against our geopolitical enemies. Weather can be even a more formidable opponent.

Next: Video of the tornado and explosion:

In the video below, taken from a traffic cam,  you see power flashes for the first 11 or so seconds of the tornado footage. Those are power lines and transformers being destroyed by the twister. Then you see the big explosion.  After the explosion ends, you can see the tornado continuing to move on, smoke from the explosion entrained in its circulation. 

Judging by the power flashes of more power lines and transformers being destroyed the tornado after the explosion, you can tell it really lost none of its power.

To watch the video, click on this link, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

 

 

Tornado Outbreak Kills At Least Six, Widespread Destruction In And Around Tennessee

Tornado damage in Tennessee from News Channel 5

The same storm system that is menacing the eastern United States including Vermont with heavy rain, snow and wind unleashed deadly tornadoes in the Mid-South Saturday. 

The tornadoes killed at least six people and injured dozens. 

The twisters caused widespread destruction, with the worst of it being in Clarksville, Tennessee and in the northern reaches of Nashville. Saturday's tornado came just three years after an even worse tornado trashed much of the northern side of the city. 

There were at least 25 tornado reports Saturday, and an additional three so far today in an area near where Alabama, Georgia and Florida meet. 

This storm is forecast to possibly spin off more tornadoes and severe weather from Florida to Virginia this afternoon and evening.  As of 1 p.m. today, areas near Raleigh, North Carolina were under a tornado warning. 

Video from Tennessee Saturday shows one tornado creating power flashes as it moved across the landscape, probably created from electrical transformers it was destroying. Then the tornado sets off a large explosion and fireball, which were then ingested into the swirling mess.

Tornadoes often occur in the South during the winter. In fact, today is the second anniversary of a much more serious tornado outbreak, which killed 88 people, and all but destroyed the city of Mayfield, Kentucky. 

An El Nino is ongoing. During winters with an El Nino, tornadoes, severe weather and flooding become more likely across the South.

Which means Saturday's tornadoes might be the opening salvo in what could be a long, terrible winter from Texas to the Carolinas. 

UPDATE: Increasing Fears Of South Severe Weather

Model simulation of storms this afternoon shows discrete
super cells in Mississippi and possible tornadic circulations
along the main line further west, which spells lots 
of potential trouble. 

UPDATE, 5:30 P.M.

So far, so good.  Not a lot of tornado activity had developed since early afternoon.

Trend lines earlier this afternoon seemed to point toward a really bad afternoon.  So far, super cells ahead of the main line of convection have failed to really get their act together.

So the severe activity has settled down, at least for now.  It's not turning into another December 10.

Things could still develop and turn bad overnight, but so far, the trends are sort of friendly. There will be more severe thunderstorms and possibly tornadoes But all hell is NOT breaking loose. Let's hope that continues:

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION: Conditions over the South, especially in Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, were getting more and more worrying as of early afternoon New Year's Day.  

Tornado warnings were firing over Kentucky, the state hit so hard on December 10 with twisters.  One of the warnings went up for Bowling Green, which was it hard on December 10. I don't have any confirmation of whether anything touched down as of this writing. 

The Kentucky tornadoes were along a squall line.  That type of tornado can obviously be dangerous.  This can be even worse if thunderstorms along the line are not one solid wall, but a series of discreet storms, which at least for now seems to be the case.

Along that line as of 1:45 p.m EST, one particularly worrisome tornado warning was southwest of Nashville, heading rapidly toward that city's southern suburbs. We'll see if that develops into anything. Hope not!  

At least one town in Kentucky has already received damage that seems to be consistent with a tornado.

Even worse, perhaps, are tornadoes that form in super cells ahead of the main squall line. There was some question this morning as to whether that would happen or not. Unfortunately, short term computer models and trends on radar indicate those super cells ahead of the main batch of storms want to form.  These "out in front" storms have some potential to create strong tornadoes.

An extreme version of that is what happened back on December 10.

Things could get even more dangerous in northern Alabama and northwest Georgia later. That's because the severe weather won't get there until after dark.  It's harder to see tornadoes coming at you after dark, and people late at night would more likely be sleeping and not hear warnings.

Stay tuned on this developing worrying situation. 

Horrific Flash Flood In Tennessee; Vermont Dodges Henri's Bullet

Destruction from extreme flash flooding in central

Tennessee this past weekend. Up to 17 inches

of rain fell in a few hours, sending a tsunami-like

flash flood that killed at least 22 people. 

 While all eyes have been on Tropical Storm Henri over the weekend, a incredible, and terribly tragic  flood just struck middle Tennessee.

On the western side of the upper level low pressure system that tugged Henri toward New England, an incredibly prolific training thunderstorm focused on an area west of Nashville.  

Training thunderstorms, as you might remember, are basically a series of thunderstorms that go over the same path, much like boxcars moving along railroad tracks.

This type of setup often causes scary flash floods, but this one went above and beyond, with tragic results.  At least 22 people died in the flash flood in and near Waverly, Tennessee and many more are missing. 

Up to 17 inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours, shattering Tennessee's record for 24 hour rainfall by at least three inches.

What was described as a tsunami caused by the rain roared into Waverly, sweeping away cars, houses, buildings and people. It came so fast and so hard that nothing could be done to rescue people caught in the torrents.i'm reading terrible story after terrible story about this flood.  Twin babies were killed when they were swept from their father's arms. 

A man names Wayne Spears, a foreman at Loretta Lynn's ranch, went out to the barn to check on the animals when the flash flood roared in, sweeping him away to his death. 

This type of mega-flash flood is getting more common as climate change continues. The warmer air can hold more moisture than before, so under the right circumstances, this moisture can be wrung out in greater quantities than before.

This really was a sneaker attack, in a way.  Everybody, including me, was all Henri, Henri, Henri, during the weekend, when sadly, the real awful death and destruction was in Tennessee.

Waverly wasn't the only place to have such record rainfall this weekend.  This wasn't nearly as dramatic, but New York City had its wettest hour on record Saturday night when just under two inches of rain fell within 60 minutes.

HENRI UPDATE

That was part of a storm total of 4.45 inches Saturday night. So far, Central Park has gotten 7.3 inches of rain from Tropical Storm Henri, and it was still coming down as of early this morning.   

The cloud pattern over the Northeast for what was Tropical

Storm Henri makes for a pretty pattern in this 

satellite photo. From the ground, Henri's clouds have

been photogenic from the ground, too. Vermont dodged

a bullet with Henri, with little if any flooding so far

Most of Henri's flooding was a west and a little south of where it had been anticipated a few days ago.

 The Catskills, the New York City metro area, the northern half of New Jersey and the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania got the worst of it.   Most of this area got four to nine inches of rain, and it was still coming down as of early this morning. 

The remains of Henri having made it west to the Catskills, will stagger back to the east today, prompting more flood warnings in places like Connecticut and the lower Hudson Valley of New York.

Vermont really dodged a bullet with this one.  There was potential for some serious flooding in the far southern part of the state, but that did not happen.  There is still a flood watch in the southeast corner of Vermont, but I don't think the trouble will be widespread.

Flood watches that had extended into central Vermont have been lifted, as no flooding is anticipated now. Though some showers and thunderstorms might develop as a result of Henri in southern Vermont, most of them will not be enough to cause flooding, except maybe in Windham County.

There's a very low chance of showers and thunderstorms in northern Vermont. The only effects we've had from Henri so far is beautiful skies and incredibly clean air. 

We've had a lot of haze and even smoke from wildfires out west all summer so the deep blue skies in northern Vermont yesterday and this morning were a treat.  As was the total lack of haze. The Green Mountains finally looked, well, green, and not blurry and slate blue from the haze in the air.

The air we are enjoying now has come all the way from the currently wildfire-free tropics, so it's pretty pristine.  Basically we in  Vermont are breathing air that was in Barbados or some place like that a week ago.

Video from Tennessee.  Mobile uses click on the hyperlink, others, click on the video itself for a better view.

House being swept away in Tennessee:

Serious Flooding/Storms Continue In South. Here In Vermont, Active, Windy, Weather Whiplash

Severe flooding in Nashville and much of the rest of 
Tennessee as a rough spring weather pattern continues.

Dangerous weather struck parts of the nation again with tornadoes, severe flooding high winds and more as an active spring weather pattern continues to cause trouble for many of us. 

As if the United States had enough problems without continued bad weather. 

Here in Vermont, Friday's tornado notwithstanding, we don't have much super scary weather coming, but we can expect a lot of wind, some whiplash back and forth between seasons and possible a nasty April Fool's Day surprise. 

I'll get to more of the Green Mountain State outlook in a bit, but let's look at the ongoing weather issues, especially in the South. 

SOUTH HIT AGAIN

The storms yesterday and last night unleashed at least 16 tornadoes from Texas to Tennessee and unleashed the worst flooding around Nashville since the epic, catastrophic floods of May, 2010.

Nashville recorded seven inches of rain in 24 hours, flooding swaths of the city.  Emergency responders spend last night pulling dozens of people from flooded cars, homes and apartment buildings. At least one death has already been reported.

Video from Live Storms Media showed fast moving water in a Nashville area commercial area, including a Walmart that appeared to be badly flooded. 

The serious flooding extended across most of Tennessee and parts of eastern Kentucky, which was hit hard by flooding last month. 

The storms are forecast to move into the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic States today, bringing with them the risk of some tornadoes, and likely lots of severe thunderstorms with strong, damaging straight line winds. 

Meanwhile, a huge area from Washington State through the northern Rockies into the Dakotas and Nebraska are anticipating strong winds today.  Gusts will be in the 60 to 70 mph range.

Additionally, most of these areas are in drought.  Today's winds are dry and warm, so wildfires are a concern, especially in Montana and the Dakotas.

The national weather pattern looks like it will calm down somewhat after Thursday's storm departs New England, which will be a welcome break.

VERMONT IMPACTS

Today will be a pretty good stay inside kind of day as gusty winds and frequent rain showers breeze through.

This storm isn't super strong, but it's going to bring a fair amount of wind to the region, something we've had to get used to in recent week.  Winds have gusted past 30 mph in Burlington on 14 days so far this month, and it looks like we'll get a couple more.  

It's been so warm around my house in St. Albans, Vermont
that some of the daffodils are forming flower buds, the
earliest in the season I've ever seen them do that. Hope
they survive a brutal blast of winter at the end of the week!

South winds will channel up the Champlain Valley today, with gusts over 30 mph.  Downslope winds along the western slopes of the Green Mountains will gust over 40 mph. Winds are even stronger aloft, but a temperature inversion will help keep the strongest winds from reaching the surface. 

So despite somewhat above normal temperatures today, it will feel raw and stormy. The heaviest rain will probably come through along and just ahead of a cold front late this afternoon and evening.

As the departing storm strengthens over southeast Canada, northwest winds will really pick up, especially later tonight and the first half of Monday.  Wind advisories are up for much of Vermont.  In eastern Vermont, winds flowing down the slopes of the Green Mountains will pick up momentum, so gusts will be strongest there - up to 55 mph.

Expect a few issues with power lines and tree limbs down.

Colder air coming will change rain showers to snow showers overnight, and we could get a dusting here and there. Monday will be cold and blustery, with temperatures staying at or below 40 degrees.

On Tuesday and Wednesday - here goes the whiplash again - we'll abruptly turn warm again. Tuesday will be a spring beauty with sunshine and temperatures sneaking above 60 degrees again.

Wednesday will be just as warm, but showers will start to move in. 

Which introduces us to a wild card. 

A cold front will come through later Wednesday or Wednesday night, and a storm is expected to develop along the New England coast. 

Much colder air will be rushing in.  Will that cold air rush in fast enough to change the rain to snow before the air mass dries up? Or, will that coastal low bring deep moisture back inland, giving Vermont a surprise snowstorm on April Fool's Day. 

Right now, computer models seem to be all over the place between "No Big Deal" to "A Huge Dump of Snow.

What's somewhat more certain is we're likely going to see another quick shot of winter weather Friday, kind of like those brief shots we've seen all month during an otherwise warm March. And yes, we can expect another blast of strong winds from this one. 

Friday's high temperatures could end up staying entirely below freezing.  Very chilly for early April!