What's going on??

[Queen of Poop]

I didn't know that 2011 was the year of the DISASTER!

Good grief, look at what's going on:

Earthquake and tsunami in Japan followed by nuclear disaster
Earthquakes in New Zealand
Fires in Northern Alberta and the Southern US
Floods all over the place
More tornadoes than ever
And hurricane season looming

What the heck's going on with our world???:confused:

[happylabs]

Don't know but it is scary. We have had two months of rain here in Pennsylvania. I sometimes wonder if it isn't the environment and pollution that are causing the terrible storms but who really knows.

[moosmom]

I asked myself the exact same question. What IS going on???????

[Karen]

I have a theory that it is more to do with the fact that every bit of news related to a disaster is picked up and makes headlines everywhere because of the 24-hour news cycle, and while a lot is happening, and it is sad.

Japan for example is on an active fault line, and has earthquakes often, just this one was unusually large. And the fault lines and continental plates are all, of course connected to each other, so it is not really surprising that NZ and Japan both had big quakes near each other, if you at plate tectonics.

[pomtzu]

Earthquakes - understandable.

Erratic weather??? :confused:

[Lady's Human]

Nothing new. If it bleeds, it leads.

Tornadoes in the midwest? Tornado alley, anyone?

We had range fires constantly at Ft Hood, some of them huge, cnn didn't cover them in 1990.

24 hour news cycle coupled with human reaction to sensationalist reporting.

[pomtzu]

However, tornadoes this season have been much worse than any season I can ever remember - and I've been on this old dirt ball for a lot of years!
All weather patterns in general have become very unpredictable in recent years, as compared to years gone by - IMO of course!

[Lady's Human]

How quickly the tornado clusters in OK in 1999 are forgotten. Finger of god that re-wrote the fujita scale?

[chocolatepuppy]

http://petoftheday.com/talk/picture.php?albumid=360&pictureid=4193
This was in my town last night!:eek: Thank God it didn't touch down! Funnel clouds all over the place, sirens going off. The furkids and I spent an hour in the basement. I wondered if it was our last evening.:(
But, this happens at least 5 times a summer where I live in NE Ohio, nothing new. Usually not so many funnel clouds, but all I had was a bit of wind, have seen a lot worse! By the middle of May, you should have your 'tornado center' set up in the basement and a 'furkid plan' ready to roll.;)

[pomtzu]

http://petoftheday.com/talk/picture.php?albumid=360&pictureid=4193
This was in my town last night!:eek: Thank God it didn't touch down! Funnel clouds all over the place, sirens going off. The furkids and I spent an hour in the basement. I wondered if it was our last evening.:(
But, this happens at least 5 times a summer where I live in NE Ohio, nothing new. Usually not so many funnel clouds, but all I had was a bit of wind, have seen a lot worse! By the middle of May, you should have your 'tornado center' set up in the basement and a 'furkid plan' ready to roll.;)

That's darn scary! Glad to hear that you're okay and that it didn't touch down. We've had a couple of very small ones nearby to here in the past, taking down trees, ripping siding off houses, knocking down chimneys, but that's about all - and that's more than enough for me!
Thought we might get something a couple of nights ago - got that green sky - but it passed. I get really nervous when that green sky comes up...:eek:

[pomtzu]

How quickly the tornado clusters in OK in 1999 are forgotten. Finger of god that re-wrote the fujita scale?

Not forgotten at all - I remember quite well.........
And as I said in my previous post - all this is just IMO!

[K9karen]

There was a 1.0 tornado close to where my 97 y.o uncle
lives, in a busy, residential area of Phila. I know that's minor to some, but it did a lot of damages to buildings, and, well, we are totally unprepared for tornados in my neck of the state.

I have a fear of storms. i try to stay calm for Logan, but many times, during a severe summer storm with heavy rain, hail, winds, thunder and lightening, I'm in the basement with her. And the sky turns reddish. I'm a wreck. The severity of mother nature astounds me.

CP..I'm so relieved you're OK. I know there's a PTer who lives in Joplin and I pray that she's OK. It's the 1st thing i thought of.

I'm one of those people who believe in global warming slowly showing it's ugly head. JMO.

[Lady's Human]

I just saw a headline on the 'net.... "Deadly Tornado Strikes Again".

Did it take a sabbatical and decide to come back? If we've got sentient tornadoes running around, we have issues.

[Freedom]

http://petoftheday.com/talk/picture.php?albumid=360&pictureid=4193but all I had was a bit of wind, have seen a lot worse!

Oh my I had to read this three times to figure out what you were saying! :D



I just saw a headline on the 'net.... "Deadly Tornado Strikes Again".

Did it take a sabbatical and decide to come back? If we've got sentient tornadoes running around, we have issues.

Knowledge of the language seems to be declining, drives me nuts. And if newspapers and other media mess up, can we expect children to learn it properly? Off topic, but a pet peeve of mine.

[cassiesmom]

We had some pretty stormy weather here in Chicagoland last June. I hope June 2011 isn't a repeat of June 2010!

[Bonny]

However, tornadoes this season have been much worse than any season I can ever remember - and I've been on this old dirt ball for a lot of years!
All weather patterns in general have become very unpredictable in recent years, as compared to years gone by - IMO of course!

I agree with you Pomtzu. The weather is very very extreme. We know longer get a nice morning shower of rain but winds to the maximum with deluging downpours.


I don't think 1,500 people missing in Joplin is anything to ignore or think it is hyped up news.:( Tornado's can & do touch down with a number of funnel clouds in one area. One can follow the other in a trail of destruction.

There are more people now & larger towns then when I grew up so more destruction.

[Randi]

There's no doubt that we're experiencing extreme weather right now, and I suspect it'll get worse - and unfortunately faster than anyone had expected just 15 years ago. :eek:

There are tons of info on the subject and it's simply mind blowing.

There are some interesting articles in this link:
http://knowledge.allianz.com/climate/science/?873/climate-history

[Lady's Human]

FUkishima Daichi was played out, and logic was starting to beat out the sensationalism, so they had to move on to something else.

Flooding in the Mississippi river valley? There's a reason the great plains are so fertile. The Mississippi floods. If you build your house/camp/whatever in the shadow of flood relief gates, well..........Darwin 1, humans 0.

Tornadoes? Again, it's called tornado alley. Oklahoma has had far worse in terms of tornadoes, and they've done less damage. Maybe different building codes played a part?

The year after Katrina, (Natural storm turned man-aided disaster, building a city below sea level....well......) they alarmists predicted record hurricanes and damages as the global warming catastrophe reached the tipping point. The result? Nothing, and it was dismissed as not being able to predict one year due to global warming, it's still going on, it's just an aberration in the data.

Sorry, when your calculations include a "fudge factor" as part of the programming, you've exhausted all scientific credibility.

Here in upstate NY, we've actually had some pretty nasty rain damage. The floods in 2006 got huge national coverage, because there wasn't much going on, and they had to have something to feed the news cycle.

Five years later, 2011, Otsenengo Park is underwater (again, happens almost every year) the town of Conklin flooded (again, happens almost every year) parts of JC and Binghamton flooded (again).....but no national stories for almost the same flooding as 5 years ago, and only a touch worse than the annual floods. No coverage, though, because there are other disasters to talk about, and upstate NY just didn't panic when the water came in, like it does to some extent almost annually.

[pomtzu]

I wish that I had an "explanation" for everything, then I would know what the heck went on here and in other parts of the country in the 2009/2010 winter season.
I live in central Delaware, and we have an average annual snowfall of about 15". Most years we have much less than that, and some years, nothing at all. However, in the season that I mention, it seems that most of the snow regions in the U.S. and nearby Canada, had their weather turned upside down. We had a total of around 70+" that year, with 2 blizzards back to back, and other smaller snowfalls thruout the season. Other places in the U.S. and Canada, that normally get tons of snow, got very little.
I can't explain it (other than saying weather patterns shifted) - I wonder if anyone else would like to give it a shot???

[wombat2u2004]

I wish that I had an "explanation" for everything, then I would know what the heck went on here and in other parts of the country in the 2009/2010 winter season.
I live in central Delaware, and we have an average annual snowfall of about 15". Most years we have much less than that, and some years, nothing at all. However, in the season that I mention, it seems that most of the snow regions in the U.S. and nearby Canada, had their weather turned upside down. We had a total of around 70+" that year, with 2 blizzards back to back, and other smaller snowfalls thruout the season. Other places in the U.S. and Canada, that normally get tons of snow, got very little.
I can't explain it (other than saying weather patterns shifted) - I wonder if anyone else would like to give it a shot???

Your mate Al Gore might give it a shot ;)

http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/wombat2u2004/duffbotblog_repent.jpg

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Nothing new. If it bleeds, it leads.

Tornadoes in the midwest? Tornado alley, anyone?

We had range fires constantly at Ft Hood, some of them huge, cnn didn't cover them in 1990.

24 hour news cycle coupled with human reaction to sensationalist reporting.

Yep, tornado alley. But I have lived here my entire 60+ years and I can assure you we've never had a year like this with this many and this big of tornadoes. Just to be sure, I checked with my bro who is 3 years older. He agrees. Makes me wonder if there may be something to the 12/21/2012 thingy. :confused::love:

The tornado that hit Joplin was an F5 with 200mph winds. Wouldn't that be more like a hurricane force?

[Lady's Human]

Hurricane winds are normally much lower than tornado winds, hurricanes are usually in the 75-125 MPH range.

The Tornado that hit Norman, OK a few years ago was an aberration, it was the first time a tornado had actually hit Norman in recorded history.

We've had tornadoes reported around here, but mainly because the radars have gotten better, and they sent weather teams out to go look at the damage to see if it was really a tornado.

A large % of what are now named storms would have never been noticed 60 years ago, because they are now picked up on weather satellites. Given local experience the past couple years with tornadoes being reported, it doesn't take that much of a jump to logically conclude that teh weather isn't getting worse, but reporting is getting more accurate and more hyped.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Well, a tornado just touched down in Kansas City, Kansas. And several others have been spotted. No word if there are damages. :(:love:

And while they may not have shown every tornardo in past years, they have kept records of how many there were.

[lvpets2002]

:) I know all is so horrible with the weather & everything going on these days.. However I do think we had better start listening to the Head Man UpStairs.. I do think God is trying to tell us all something.. Be sure to say lots of Prayers..

[pomtzu]

Your mate Al Gore might give it a shot ;)

http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae186/wombat2u2004/duffbotblog_repent.jpg

I was being facetious when I asked if anyone would like to give it a shot! I guess I should have included this guy - ":rolleyes:" If Al was here, I'm sure he would explain it all in great length and detail. :eek::D

[Lady's Human]

I was being facetious when I asked if anyone would like to give it a shot! I guess I should have included this guy - ":rolleyes:" If Al was here, I'm sure he would explain it all in great length and detail. :eek::D


PT can't afford his appearance fee.

[IRescue452]

The only place having its normal weather is Iceland.

[lizbud]

Today we had one TV station (CBS) devote it's entire coverage to
monitor & issue weather alerts for Tornados & Severe Weather warnings.
No Commercials at all, straight Weather reporting. We've had bad storms
with Tornado watches all day & tomorrow is supposed to be a repeat of
today.

It's unheard of for a commercial TV station to forego money maker
commercials for just weather news. This is strange weather for sure.

[Karen]

The only place having its normal weather is Iceland.

I dunno about that - we are having our normal weather - varying day by day, rain, sun, warm, cool, you name it, we get it!

[chocolatepuppy]

Again, we head for the basement.:(

Issued by The National Weather Service
Cleveland, OH
Wed, May 25, 2011, 7:17 PM EDT
Local Radar Map
Updated May 25, 2011, 7:50pm EDT

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS EXTENDED TORNADO WATCH 372 TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING AREAS UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING

IN OHIO THIS WATCH INCLUDES 3 COUNTIES

IN NORTHEAST OHIO

ASHTABULA MAHONING TRUMBULL

IN PENNSYLVANIA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 2 COUNTIES

IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA

CRAWFORD PA ERIE

THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF... ASHTABULA... ERIE... MEADVILLE... WARREN AND YOUNGSTOWN.

[Lady's Human]

Today we had one TV station (CBS) devote it's entire coverage to
monitor & issue weather alerts for Tornados & Severe Weather warnings.
No Commercials at all, straight Weather reporting. We've had bad storms
with Tornado watches all day & tomorrow is supposed to be a repeat of
today.

It's unheard of for a commercial TV station to forego money maker
commercials for just weather news. This is strange weather for sure.

Better ratings and commercial rates in the post-storm buzz about them doing such a good thing for the community.

If they didn't think they could recoup the one day loss over the long run, they wouldn't have done it.

[lizbud]

Better ratings and commercial rates in the post-storm buzz about them doing such a good thing for the community.

If they didn't think they could recoup the one day loss over the long run, they wouldn't have done it.


Correction: The other 4 stations began coverage at 2pm and continued until
all severe storms had left central Indiana at 2am this morning. There was
no network tv at all last night.

[lizbud]

Tornadoes in California?? Interesting to watch but not to be in the middle of one. Check this out.

http://www.theindychannel.com/video/28028593/index.html?source=CNN_VID

[Marigold2]

Yesterday here in Ohio was bad. Scary. My son was in town for a visit and on the way home to Mich he saw a tornado on the highway.
He said it was the scariest thing he ever saw and he will remember it all his life.
Every 50 years or so we go through these times. The sun the moon the stars, mother nature. We have no control.
Perhaps we will have a good summer perhaps next year will be a great summer.
What does it mean? NOTHING. It just is.

[Lady's Human]

I've been through a tornado in the field while at FT. Hood.

It was humorous at the time, lots of reasons I wont get into, but we got lucky as the only injuries were a pair of M-16A2s wrapped around a tree.

Weather happens, and the climate has shifted on this dirtball for millenia.

[pomtzu]

After our reasonably cool weather recently, we took the turn to quite hot, and had to turn the a.c. on a couple of days ago. Right now it's 90 (and rising), humid, with the heat index of 105 and the same forecast for the next several days at least. YUK!!! What happened to our "normal" Springs? :confused:

[cassiesmom]

After our reasonably cool weather recently, we took the turn to quite hot, and had to turn the a.c. on a couple of days ago. Right now it's 90 (and rising), humid, with the heat index of 105 and the same forecast for the next several days at least. YUK!!! What happened to our "normal" Springs? :confused:


We had a stretch of weather like this. Now it's chilly again -- 45 degrees and raining -- but it's supposed to be in the 80s over the weekend. This spring has been anything but normal! I'm not sure if it's La Niña or what.

And we had almost two feet of snow in one day in February, and then a couple of weeks later the weather got so warm that it melted really fast.

[Queen of Poop]

We have rain (at least it's not snow). It's been raining for days. We have a rainfall warning from Environment Canada. I'm thinking someone needs to start building an ARK! I will have to be careful not to walk too close to the road outside our building when I leave today, the puddle is big enough to swim in and as cars go by they splash clear across the parked cars and onto the sidewalk.

I am heartbroken with the devastation from the fires up in Northern Alberta and the tornadoes in the US.

Wondering what it will take to get Mother Nature to settle down. Hey, maybe one of those drinks being served at the Bar this week!!

[Grace]

February 24, 2011 to May 23, 2011 - nearly 1400 tornadoes have been reported in the USA.

Here (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/05/23/us/0523-tornado-tracker.html?ref=us) is a map showing the sites.

Look at April 27th - 309 in that one day!!