Middle Tennessee Weather News

NWS Hosts Emergency Managers

NWS Nashville hosted two seminars in February for emergency managers in Middle Tennessee. Emergency Management Agency Directors, their representatives, and officials from the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency attended the meetings which were held at the NWS forecasting facility near Nashville.

Emergency managers prepare their communities to handle natural and man-made emergencies, and as such, are among the key partners of the National Weather Service. The seminars were meant to continue those close working relationships across Middle Tennessee. The agenda included:

• A review of radar characteristics of the July 13, 2004, high winds that struck Middle TN (first meeting)
• A review of radar characteristics of the February 21, 2005, destructive winds that hit Dickson and Williamson Counties (second meeting)
• A demonstration of the NWS Nashville web site capabilities
• StormReady program applications
• Conducting storm damage surveys
• A update on new codes for the Emergency Alert System
• Doppler radar images from several of the May 11, 2003 "Mother’s Day" tornadoes
• Open forum

Meteorologist-in-Charge Larry Vannozzi, Warning Coordination Meteorologist Jerry Orchanian, and Information Technology Officer Michael Davis received many positive comments about the meetings from emergency managers. A repeat session is being tentatively planned for April, which may help those who couldn’t attend either of the first two seminars due to schedule conflicts. If you are an emergency management professional and want to attend the April meeting, please call Larry, Jerry or Michael at (615) 754-8500, extension 222, 223, or 226, respectively.

Hydrology

Late Winter through Spring is typically the time of year when the threat of flooding is greatest. In Middle Tennessee, almost all floods on the main stem of the Cumberland River which flows through downtown Nashville have occurred during the period from late November to mid April. This is the time of year for residents living along rivers or streams and those with river interests to check preparedness before flooding occurs. Be aware of low lying or flood prone areas near where you live and along routes you may travel. If excessive rain has fallen, avoid those flood prone areas. Move to higher ground to escape flood waters.

A Spring Flood Outlook was issued by the Nashville office of the National Weather Service on February 18, and will be issued again on March 11. These outlooks provide an assessment of local hydrologic conditions and the potential for flooding across Middle Tennessee. Elements of the assessment include snow cover, soil conditions, river/stream levels, and recent rainfall, as well as the potential for future rainfall.

This year, the National Weather Service will promote a National Flood Safety Awareness Week scheduled for the week of March 21-25. It is intended to highlight some of the many ways floods can occur, the hazards associated with floods, and what you can do to save life and property. A national press conference is currently scheduled for March 17, 2005. The press conference will include information about the National Hydrologic Assessment (NHA). This assessment provides nation-wide conditions and potential for flooding. The press conference will also be used to publicize the first ever National Flood Safety Awareness Week.

To view local river and stream conditions, visit our AHPS webpage.

What is AHPS?

AHPS -- Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services -- is the National Weather Service’s ongoing effort to modernize hydrologic services. AHPS will provide improved river and flood forecasts and water information across Middle Tennessee to protect life and property and ensure economic well-being.

Who can benefit from AHPS?

Everyone who makes decisions based on water, including farmers, river boat pilots, emergency manages, municipal water supply officials, recreationists, and dam operators can benefit from AHPS.

What will AHPS do for me?

Because every minute counts, AHPS will help emergency managers be more proactive to "fight" a flood. AHPS provides information for community leaders and business owners to make better life-saving decisions about evacuating people or moving property before a flood. The navigation community will be able to plan with better confidence and optimize barge and shipping operations, saving millions of dollars each year. Recreational users will be able to stay out of harm’s way. AHPS, with its suite of enhanced information, provides the public with more detailed and accurate answers to the following questions.

How high will the rivers rise?

When will the river reach its peak?

Where will the flooding occur?

How long will the flood last?

Each year, more deaths occur due to flooding than from any other weather related hazard. Many of these deaths occur in automobiles as they are swept downstream. Only foolish people drive around barriers or across flooded roads. Let's make 2005 a year without a single flood fatality in Middle Tennessee. If you approach a flooded road, remember this saying, TURN AROUND, DON'T DROWN.

Michael Murphy
Service Hydrologist

Nashville's First Tornado Machine

Michael Davis, our Information Technology Officer, has built Nashville's first tornado machine. It's final resting home will be the Emergency Operations Center in Nashville. It comes with a strobe light to simulate lightning. Mr. Davis plans to build a twin for the weather office, plus a smaller model which will become the first known desktop tornado machine. In keeping with our tradition of naming tornado machines after Meteorologists-in-Charge, the Nashville tornado machine is tentatively dubbed the "Vannozzi Vortex."

Spring Outlook and Climatology for Nashville

The seasonal outlook from the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center for the three-month period of March through May (the "meteorological spring") calls for normal temepratures and normal precipitation for Middle Tennessee. The following table gives both the normal and extreme values of various meteorological variables observed at Nashville.

	Mar	Apr	May
Normal Temperature	50.1	58.5	67.1
Warmest Month	59.6 (1907)	66.3 (1871)	75.2 (1962)
Coolest Month	36.3 (1960)	51.8 (1907)	61.8 (1917)
Record High	89 (3/21/1907)	91 (4/26/1989) (4/27/1989)	96 (5/28/1911) (5/31/1937)
Record Low	2 (3/3/1980)	23 (4/7/1982)	34 (5/1/1963) (5/2/1963) (5/4/1976)
Normal Precipitation	4.87	3.93	5.07
Wettest Month	12.35 (1975)	11.84 (1874)	11.04 (1983)
Driest Month	0.85 (1910)	0.52 (1986)	0.83 (1951)
Normal Snowfall	1.1	0.1	0.0
Snowiest Month	21.5 (1892)	1.5 (1910)	0.0

2004 Records Now Available

Daily weather records for last year for all stations in our climate database have been downloaded for public access. There are currently 46 stations in our database, which contains daily readings of high and low temperature, precipitation, and snowfall for each station's entire period of record. These records are accessible on a month-by-month basis, based on user input, from our climate page under the heading "Monthly Climate Summaries." Some of these stations date to the 1800's.

Photograph of the Quarter

These two aren't from Middle Tennessee, but they are worth sharing. (The photographs were found at http://homepage.mac.com/demark/tsunami/2.html.)

Banda Aceh Shore, Indonesia, before the tsunami

Banda Aceh Shore, Indonesia, after the tsunami

If you have a unique weather photograph you would like to share, please either e-mail it to the editor, or send it to: National Weather Service, 500 Weather Station Rd., Old Hickory, TN 37138, Attn: Mark A. Rose. If you mail your photograph(s), I will scan them and mail them right back.