Massive Storm Risk for South and Midwest Not Over

OK, I confess, I have an affinity for the Louisville, KY metropolitan area.

As I have stated a few times in the past, I lived in that area in my earlier years. The people there were awesome, and supportive of this incomer.

OK, that aside ...

Ohio River in Louisville could rise to highest level in 7 years
www.wlky.com

... With rain falling almost non-stop through Sunday, flooding is a major concern for the WLKY region.

Flood warnings and watches are in effect and area rivers, creeks and streams will likely overflow their banks, with the Ohio River expected to climb into moderate flood stage.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the National Water Prediction Service projects the Ohio River at the McAlpine Upper, which is a gauge location in Louisville, will crest around 33.7 feet.

If it reaches that, that'll be the highest level it's been since 2018.

Moving forward, what we will really have to keep an eye on is how much rain not only falls over our area, but also how much rain Indiana and Ohio receive over the next couple days as all that water drains into the Ohio River. ...

Due to recent staffing cuts at the National Weather Service's Louisville office, officials are saying storm crews likely won't be able to survey damage and confirm tornadoes for several days.

"Due to lack of available staffing and an active prolonged threat of severe weather and hydro concerns the next several days, NWS Louisville will likely not be able to send staff out to do damage surveys until after the weather... towards the end of the weekend," Meteorologist Brian Neudorff said in a statement to media partners Wednesday.

www.wave3.com

The demented orange pedo strikes again.

@#3 ... www.wave3.com ...

Wow, that WAVE mention triggered memories.

My 15-inch B&W TV with a whip antenna.

And then there's this from that time ..

Pink Floyd - Us And Them (Richard Wright Demo)
www.youtube.com

There were lots of reported tornadoes in our area in the wee hours of this morning according to local TV. Reports said two of them went over my neighborhood but fortunately weren't on the ground.

We hit the basement twice with our pets when the warning sirens went off.

@#6 ... We hit the basement twice with our pets when the warning sirens went off. ...

Good to hear you (plural) were safe.

I experienced a tornado devastation when I lived in the Louisville area.

Tornadoes of April 3, 1974
www.weather.gov

Those tornadoes ripped through Louisville. ...

...
April 3, 1974
Counties: Jefferson KY, Oldham
F-scale: F4
Deaths:
Injuries:
Path width: 200 yards
Path length:
Time: 3:37pm
Grazulis narrative: Moved northeast from the Kentucky State Fairgrounds in Louisville. Dozens of buildings and hundreds of trees were destroyed in Louisville. About a dozen expensive homes were destroyed in affluent suburbs of northeast Louisville.

About 425 homes were destroyed in Jefferson County, and 25 were damaged in Oldham County. Losses on one Oldham County farm amounted to $200,000....

#7 | Posted by LampLighter

Thanks. There are few basements in our area because of limestone. Fortunately, someone dug a basement when our house was built before we bought it and we have a safe place to go when the sirens go off.

About 5 years ago, a tornado crossed our street a few blocks down. It went down the middle of a cross street, across ours, and continued a path thru a school campus before lifting up. It didn't damage a single house but took down some trees on the school campus.

The other close call happened when I was a kid in the midwest when a tornado cut a path just off the side of our house, turned a little, and grabbed our garage, throwing it 400' to the back of the property.

Deep trump country, too much poverty and FEMA is no more. Let's hope it just blows over and leaves everyone alone.

Does this hat make my ----- look bigger? Good ...
-Puppy shooting boss of FEMA, preparing for her star turn at some storm ravaged burg somewhere

God hates red states.
Can't really blame Her.

Hyping up weather events to get ratings is nothing new, but it really seems to be over the top now. The side effect is that people will take the warnings less seriously after predicted catastrophic events for their areas don't occur.

@#13 ... Hyping up weather events to get ratings is nothing new, but it really seems to be over the top now ...

Maybe the reason it seems to be over the top now is because it is over the top now?

2024: An active year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters (January 2025)
www.climate.gov

... NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) has updated its 2024 Billion-dollar disaster analysis. In 2024, there were 27 individual weather and climate disasters with at least $1 billion in damages, trailing only the record-setting 28 events analyzed in 2023. These disasters caused at least 568 direct or indirect fatalities, which is the eighth-highest for these billion-dollar disasters over the last 45 years (1980-2024). The cost was approximately $182.7 billion.

This total places 2024 as the fourth-costliest on record, trailing 2017 ($395.9 billion), 2005 ($268.5 billion) and 2022 ($183.6 billion). Adding the 27 events of 2024 to the record that begins in 1980, the U.S. has sustained 403 weather and climate disasters for which the individual damage costs reached or exceeded $1 billion. The cumulative cost for these 403 events exceeds $2.915 trillion.

Before presenting the analysis of 2024, here are a few notes for additional context. This research is a quantification of the weather and climate disasters that in 2024 led to more than $1 billion in collective damages for each event, and all prior-year cost estimates are adjusted for inflation to 2024 dollars using the Consumer Price Index. Additionally, these cost totals for 2024 are based on analysis through January 10th, 2025, and may rise an additional several billion dollars, as new data become available.

This analysis is conservative, as it excludes events with less than $1 billion in damages in 2024 dollars.

However, it does include 57 events since 1980 that were originally below the billion-dollar threshold but are now above $1 billion in 2024 dollars. ...

Of couse, I suspect you may congradulate the Trump admin for suppressing (via layoffs) that sort of data in the fute?

NOAA is predicting another above average hurricane season as well. More storms than normal, but a lower intensity than last year.

@#16 ... NOAA is predicting another above average hurricane season ...

NOAA doesn't usually come out with their hurricane forecasts until May of the year.

To wit....

NOAA forecasts extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season
www.axios.com

These preliminary forecasts seem to be non-NOAA.

First Major 2025 Hurricane Season Outlook Released: Slightly Above Average Activity Expected
weather.com

... The team at Colorado State University said the season will be somewhat more busy than average due to the lack of El Nio. ...