Storm Chasers Injured In Crash; Other Chases More Dangerous Than Tornadoes.

An overturned KFOR storm chase vehicle last week
in Oklahoma after being hit by another storm
chaser that blew through a stop sign

You'd think the biggest danger to all those storm chasers hunting tornadoes in the spring and early summer are the twisters themselves. 

It turns out the greater danger is other chasers.

We're getting into storm chasing season, where hordes of people take to the open roads of the Plains, Midwest and South to study, photograph and video tornadoes for fun and profit.

And sometimes science, but mostly for fun and profit. The peak of tornado and twister chasing season is April, May and June. 

The fatigue of driving long distances to find tornadoes, and the act of staring at the storm instead of the road makes chasing tornadoes scarier than the actually twister.

We've already had an example of this. Last week when two storm chasers for KFOR, now as the 4Warn Storm Team were injured when an amateur storm chaser reported blew through a stop sign and hit the KFOR vehicle. 

The KFOR chasers, Connor Tune and Blaze Edwards were treated at a local hospital and released later that night.  .

The driver of the car allegedly ran the stop sign was also injured and held at a hospital overnight for observations but had been expected to be released from a hospital the next dah. 

The two 4Warn Storm Team chasers are experienced, having chased storms since 2009.

Some storm chasers have died in traffic accidents. In 2022, four storm chasers died in vehicle crashes within two weeks.

"Nature isn't the only threat. Storm chasers spend long hours on the road traveling from state to state like long-haul truckers, inviting fatigue. When they catch up to the storms, they can often keep their eyes on the skies instead of the road, sometimes with deadly consequences," CBS reported at the time of the 2022 deaths.

In 2017 three people died in Texas when two vehicles containing storm chasers collided, Two died in one vehicle a third died in the other vehicle. The three had been chasing a tornado at the time. 

If anything, storm chasers are now more distracted as the drive toward storms. Unlike a decade or two ago, chasers now have computer screens in their vehicles they consult for up date weather information. If you get a tired guy looking at the sky and his computer screen, there's not much bandwidth left in his brain to pay attention to the road.

Most people advise two people in each storm chase vehicle. One to monitor the radar screen and the clouds outside, the other to concentrate on driving. 

Another thing I've long been worried about is storm chase traffic jams. Storm chasing has really taken off in popularity. The ability to forecast particularly impressive or photogenic tornadoes and storms has also increased. 

That has resulted in sometimes hundreds of chasers convening on one narrow road. That's fine if the tornado continues going on its projected path. But what if it suddenly switches gears and heads toward all those people on the road.

If it were just a couple of cars, the chasers could just scoot back into their vehicle and race away. But dozens of vehicles create a traffic jam that would slow things down so much that the tornado would hit the collection of scrambling storm chasers. The results could be very deadly. 

 

 

 

 

Dude Who Flew Drone Into California Firefighting Plane Found And Punished

Damage to the wing of a  "Super Scooper"
firefighting plane after a drone collided with
the plane as it was fighting last month
s big wildfires in California. 

 The person whose drone collided with a firefighting aircraft during the devastating January California wildfires has been caught.  

It's hard enough to fight basically uncontrollable wildfires in the age of climate change, and looky loos flying tones make it worse.

In this case, a man flying a drone ended up crashing it into a firefighting plane. The incident grounded the plane for days due to damage to its wing. 

According to the Associated Press: 

"Peter Tripp Akemann faces up to one year in prison, and a judge will determine his sentence, acting U.S. attorney Joseph McNally said. As part of the plea agreement, he will have to complete 150 hours of wildfire-related community service and pay $65,000 in restitution for the damage to the plane, McNally said."

He can probably afford the fine, which allowed Akemann to avoid jail time. He is a co-founder of Call of Duty studios.

 Akemann launched the drone from a Santa Monica parking structure on January 9.  It flew about 1.5 miles  toward the fire in Palisades, California, but then he lost sight of it. Which is a no-no. The drone crashed into what is known as a Super Scooper that was carrying two firefighters

The airspace were Akemann's drone was flying was under FAA flight restrictions at the time, theregister.com reported.

These Super Scooper planes, from Quebec are piloted so they skim the surface of a lake or ocean, where they scoop up about 1,500 gallons of water. Then the planes fly over the wildfire to dump the water on the flames.  It's pretty fascinating to watch. 

After the collision, the Super Scooper pilot was able to land the plane safely, but it was grounded for several days to repair a hole in the left wing caused by the drone. 

Prosecutors said Akemann did not intend to cause the collision. But, as Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI Los Angeles Field office said, "Lack of common sense and ignorance of your duty does not shield you from criminal charges." 

In a statement to media. Akemann's defense attorney, Glen Jonas said Akemann is "deeply sorry for the mistake he made" and "accepts responsibility for his grave error in judgement.

Even so, as theregister.com reported, "Akemann's attorneys tried to lay some of the blame at the feet of drone maker DJI for not properly geofencing the area to prevent the flight.

The fateful flight occurred days before DJI announced it was scaling back geofencing restrictions in favor of simply notifying drone pilots that they were operating in restricted airspace."  

It's unclear whether DJI had begun doing that scaling back process when Akemann launched his drown. 

 

 

 

 

Extreme Local Weather Disasters Most Often Hit In The Summer

Aerial view of the aftermath of a massive flash flood in a
mountainous region of southwestern Virginia a couple
weeks ago. 

 During the autumn, winter and spring, weather disasters usually come in the form of large, strong storm systems that wreak havoc over a pretty large area.  

 Sure, large scale heat waves, wildfires and early season hurricanes can hit in the summer, causing major disruptions and threats to life. 

In the summertime, though, it's the pin prick disasters that will get you. Summertime extremes tend to be, well, more extreme, but hit a much smaller, local area.  Two such events recently caught my attention.

VIRGINIA

Last week, storms stalled over mountainous southwestern Virginia, which is always bad news for anywhere in the Appalachians, from Maine to Georgia. The torrents of rain can send walls of water down steep slopes onto sleepy hamlets in the valleys. 

This happened at night, and people suspected the worst. Were people asleep in their homes, unaware everything was going to wash away? After all, a similar summer flash flood in Tennessee last year killed 21 people. 

Initial reports indicated 40 or so people were missing. But that was mostly due to the fact that cell phone service sucks in that mountainous corner of Virginia. Plus, since roads were washed out, people couldn't just drive to Aunt Martha's house in Buchanan County to check on her. 

It turns out everyone survived, which honestly is a miracle. Aftermath videos and photos show houses washed hundreds of feet from where they once stood, utterly destroyed. 

Terrible to think about, though. You go to bed on a muggy evening and everything's fine. Before the night's over, lives are upended.  And you know it could happen anywhere, even here in little old Vermont. 

I love listening to summer downpours roar down on the roof of my St. Albans, Vermont home in the dark pre-dawn hours. It's always pleasant, but paranoid me thinks, what if this downpour doesn't stop?  I choose not to worry about it though. It's not worth worrying about something that won't happen. Probably. 

MONTANA

Last week, a surprising dust storm in Montana didn't have such a positive result. Six people were reported killed when the blinding storm roared across Interstate 90 near Hardin, Montana. 

I didn't know they can have dust storms in Montana, but after this disastrous one, I can see how it can happen. But Hardin is in a relatively open, semi-arid area east of Billings.  

Aftermath of July 15 dust storm crash near
Hardin, Montana. 

The thunderstorm that caused the disaster wasn't even really over Hardin.  It was basically what is known as an outflow boundary from a thunderstorm many miles away.

The parent storm was at least 30 mph away, but created a rush of wind gusting over 60 mph through the Hardin area, said Nick Vertz, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Billings, Montana. 

"'If they looked up in the sky while they're in Hardin, they probably didn't see much of what you'd think of a thunderstorm cloud, maybe not even much at all," Vertz said. 'It was just a surge of wind that kind of appeared out of nowhere.'"

It has been hot and dry before the storms in that part of Montana, so the surge of rainless wind was able to pick up a lot of dust. It was enough to cause what I would call a brownout - very much like a whiteout in the winter when blowing snow cuts visibility to zero. 

Twenty one vehicles piled up, including tractor trailers, and those crashes killed six people. 

It could have been even worse. Video of the scene shows that many other vehicles were able to stop safely behind the wreck without crashing into each other.  Traffic was backed up for miles. 

I'm sure there have been other local disasters in the United States this summer and there will be more. It's a part of the season. 

VIDEOS:

Inside Edition report on that flood in Buchanan County, Virginia. Click on this link if you don't see the video image, otherwise, watch below: 

Local news report on the Hardin, Montana crash, with brief glimpses of how bad things were during the actual dust storm. Click on this link or watch below:

Thursday Minnesota Highway Crash Proves Tis The Season For Snow Pileups

Fiery aftermath of a 29-vehicle pileup that happened in a
Minnesota snow squall on Thursday. Miraculously, there
were no deaths here. Photo from the
Minnesota State Patrol

We've been talking about summer like weather for so long that you can be forgiven if you forgot we are about to enter winter.  

You know, those days when driving sucks and you just want to stay  home if you can.

There's nothing in the immediate forecast to suggest a lot of snow anytime soon in Vermont, but it can certainly happen this time of year. I'm sure you know that. 

After all, exactly one year ago today, we were experiencing a record low of 9 degrees above zero in Burlington, Vermont and we were all cleaning up from a six to 12 inch dump of snow the previous day. So, yeah, we about to get into the thick of it now.

Which is my cue to give you my annual warning not to be an idiot on the roads on snowy days.  

If you still don't have the snow tires on your vehicle yet, get 'em on pronto. 

When the snow finally starts to fly, it will be OK to drive even more cautiously than you think warranted.  Who cares of the speed demons in those supposedly four wheel drive trucks think you're going too slow.  It's not your fault they're idiots.

Also, an incident in Minnesota yesterday is another reminder to take snow squalls in particular very seriously. 

A sudden, intense snow squall hit Interstate 94 in Monticello, Minnesota Thursday, causing a 29 vehicle pileup that also burst into flames. Miraculously, there were no deaths and just nine relatively minor injuries out of this, so it could have been a lot worse.

Snow squalls are the worst. In regular snowfalls, the bad weather doesn't hit suddenly. There's a build up to the event. Also, usually, in a typical snowstorm, visibility is reduced, but doesn't fall to zero. 

It's different, and more harrowing with snow squalls.  You're cruising along at top speed in clear air and dry pavement and then you plunge into zero visibility and glare ice on the roads. Pileups seem to become inevitable in these situations. 

The National Weather Service, among others in recent years have really take note of the dangers inherent in snow squalls. 

In the past couple of years, the National Weather Service has started to issue snow squall warnings when this type of weather hits. They want the public to know what terrible hazards these weather events are. 

Snow squall warnings are set up much like severe thunderstorm warnings you hear in the summer. They cover a relatively small, specific area, usually a county or a cluster of counties.  These snow squall warnings will tell you where the snow squall is, where it's heading, and what to expect inside one of them. Usually that's near zero visibility, suddenly icy roads and gusty winds.

If you get a snow squall warning, then you want to stay at home or at work and not drive until the bad weather passes.

If I hear a snow squall warning when I'm driving, I've gotten into the habit of exiting high speed roads like Interstate 89 and waiting it out in a parking lot until after the snow squall passes. That prevents you from getting into one of those pileups. Or it saves you from the anxiety of wondering whether you will get into one of those crashes.

Either way, you win. The wasted time sitting in some parking lot is worth it. 

Just as a note, there was a snow squall warning in effect for the area where that crash happened in Minnesota yesterday.  Motorists involved in the crash said visibility immediately went down to zero and nobody could see the vehicle in front of them until they crashed into it. 

The United States sees several of these big highway pileups each year, the majority of which are either caused by snow squalls ir freezing rain. I believe yesterday's in Minnesota was the first big one of this winter season. 

Snow squalls, like summer thunderstorms, usually don't last long, unless you're someplace downwind from one of the Great Lakes. There, you get those lake effect squalls that go on for hours or days and really pile up the snow. 

Once the snow squall ends and the snow squall warnings expire, you can gingerly get back on the road.  Remember, though, the pavement is still icy and snowy under your tires, so drive cautiously. 

Here in Vermont, as noted, don't count on any snow squalls for the next couple of days at least, but do know they are inevitable, so be prepared! 

Here's a KARE-TV video of the aftermath of the Minnesota crash (no sound on the video):