WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.980 Welcome to Meteorology Matters, the podcast where 00:00:02.980 --> 00:00:05.139 we try to break down the big weather events affecting 00:00:05.139 --> 00:00:07.500 us all. We really aim to cut through the noise 00:00:07.500 --> 00:00:10.279 and focus on what's important. And today, well, 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:13.039 we have to talk about the recent severe weather 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:15.859 outbreak across the Central U .S. It's been devastating. 00:00:16.140 --> 00:00:18.839 Truly devastating, especially the events in Kentucky 00:00:18.839 --> 00:00:20.920 and Missouri. We want to try and understand, 00:00:20.920 --> 00:00:23.039 you know, what happened before, during and after 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:25.079 these tornadoes. Exactly. And if you want to 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:27.260 keep digging deeper into weather like this, you 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:29.600 should definitely follow meteorologist Rob Jones. 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:32.380 He's on Instagram as meteorologist. Right. And 00:00:32.380 --> 00:00:35.240 on TikTok, he's TV meteorologist. And don't forget 00:00:35.240 --> 00:00:38.600 YouTube search for Rob Jones hurricane. That's 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:40.479 where you'll also find the Meteorology Matters 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:42.820 podcast playlist. Yeah, lots more content there. 00:00:42.979 --> 00:00:45.759 Okay, so let's start with the impact. The sheer 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.600 scale of this. Yeah. It's immense. It really 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:51.759 is. The reports coming in suggest more than two 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.179 dozen weather -related deaths across the Central 00:00:54.179 --> 00:00:57.700 US. Just terrible numbers. Looking at Kentucky 00:00:57.700 --> 00:01:00.320 first, Laurel County was hit incredibly hard 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:03.090 by a tornado on Friday. Yeah, the reports are 00:01:03.090 --> 00:01:08.010 at least 19 fatalities there and 10 serious injuries. 00:01:08.430 --> 00:01:10.909 And the really worrying part is officials saying 00:01:10.909 --> 00:01:13.829 that number, the death toll, it could actually 00:01:13.829 --> 00:01:16.609 go up. Three people were apparently still in 00:01:16.609 --> 00:01:18.469 critical condition on Sunday. And the physical 00:01:18.469 --> 00:01:22.870 destruction. Hundreds of homes damaged, vehicles 00:01:22.870 --> 00:01:25.230 just tossed aside. We heard from Zach Wilson, 00:01:25.329 --> 00:01:27.409 a resident there in Kentucky. His parents' house 00:01:27.409 --> 00:01:29.829 was ruined. Oh, that's awful. Yeah, and he talked 00:01:29.829 --> 00:01:32.549 about trying to salvage valuables, you know, 00:01:32.629 --> 00:01:35.269 the irreplaceable things like pictures and papers. 00:01:35.290 --> 00:01:36.989 It really brings home the personal side of it, 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:38.870 doesn't it? Beyond the statistics. Absolutely. 00:01:39.090 --> 00:01:40.750 Then if we look over at St. Louis, Missouri, 00:01:41.010 --> 00:01:43.390 the impact was also, well, substantial. What 00:01:43.390 --> 00:01:45.569 were the figures there? Five reported deaths 00:01:45.569 --> 00:01:50.969 and 38 injuries. And the property damage... Over 00:01:50.969 --> 00:01:54.790 5 ,000 homes affected in some way. Wow. 5 ,000. 00:01:55.310 --> 00:01:57.329 Yeah. City inspectors have been out condemning 00:01:57.329 --> 00:01:59.989 structures that are just unsafe. The mayor's 00:01:59.989 --> 00:02:01.969 asked people to steer clear of those damaged 00:02:01.969 --> 00:02:04.189 areas. It's still dangerous. Understandable. 00:02:04.569 --> 00:02:06.709 And the tornado itself in St. Louis, do we know 00:02:06.709 --> 00:02:08.969 much about its characteristics? We do, yeah. 00:02:09.189 --> 00:02:10.930 It looks like it started in Clayton, traveled 00:02:10.930 --> 00:02:13.810 at least eight miles. Eight miles. And the winds. 00:02:14.429 --> 00:02:18.110 Estimated peak winds hit 150 miles per hour. 00:02:18.210 --> 00:02:20.729 That's incredibly powerful. It is. And get this, 00:02:20.849 --> 00:02:23.490 the maximum width was estimated at about a mile. 00:02:23.710 --> 00:02:27.270 A mile wide? Goodness. Yeah. And its path actually 00:02:27.270 --> 00:02:30.289 took it through parts of Forest Park, even near 00:02:30.289 --> 00:02:32.969 the St. Louis Zoo. Just shows how indiscriminate 00:02:32.969 --> 00:02:36.650 these things are. Exactly. And tragically, it 00:02:36.650 --> 00:02:39.750 wasn't just those two areas. Scott County, also 00:02:39.750 --> 00:02:42.699 in Missouri, took a direct hit. Oh, no. Another 00:02:42.699 --> 00:02:45.400 tornado there killed two people, injured several 00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:47.759 others, and, again, destroyed multiple homes. 00:02:47.979 --> 00:02:50.960 It was just a widespread event. It sounds like 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.340 it. And were there other impacts besides the 00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:55.539 main tornadoes? Yes, definitely. The whole system 00:02:55.539 --> 00:02:57.259 was massive. There were reports of tornadoes 00:02:57.259 --> 00:03:00.180 up in Wisconsin. Wisconsin, too. Mm -hmm. And 00:03:00.180 --> 00:03:02.759 significant dust blown around in Illinois, even 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:05.439 affecting Chicago. Really? Dust storms. Yeah. 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:07.539 Connected to the strong winds with the system. 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:10.479 Yeah. And then further east, tragically, two 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:13.240 deaths in the Virginia suburbs near DC. How did 00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:15.800 that happen? Falling trees brought down by the 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:17.960 winds associated with the storms moving through. 00:03:18.020 --> 00:03:22.699 It just highlights the very dangers from a large 00:03:22.699 --> 00:03:25.300 system like this. It really does. So with all 00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:28.000 this destruction, the big question is about warnings 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:32.000 and preparation. Were people alerted? Well, it's 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:34.039 important to point out the National Weather Service, 00:03:34.439 --> 00:03:37.099 or NOAA as we often call it, they did issue alerts 00:03:37.099 --> 00:03:40.020 over the weekend. They warned about, and this 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:42.780 is their phrase, a multitude of hazardous weather 00:03:42.780 --> 00:03:46.139 across the U .S. So not just tornadoes? No, not 00:03:46.139 --> 00:03:48.780 at all. Thunderstorms, large hail out on the 00:03:48.780 --> 00:03:51.599 plains, heavy mountain snow in the west, even 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:54.780 dangerous heat down south. It was a complex setup. 00:03:55.060 --> 00:03:57.159 Right. And for Kentucky and Missouri specifically, 00:03:57.560 --> 00:03:59.729 the area is already hit. There were continued 00:03:59.729 --> 00:04:02.629 warnings about thunderstorms even after the tornadoes 00:04:02.629 --> 00:04:05.270 had passed, which, you know, poses huge problems 00:04:05.270 --> 00:04:07.189 for communities trying to recover. Absolutely. 00:04:07.229 --> 00:04:09.389 You're already dealing with devastation and then 00:04:09.389 --> 00:04:12.710 more storms threaten. Exactly. And St. Louis 00:04:12.710 --> 00:04:15.629 Fire Chief Dennis Jinkerson gave some really 00:04:15.629 --> 00:04:17.569 important advice. What did he say? Basically 00:04:17.569 --> 00:04:20.769 urging people with more weather coming to find 00:04:20.769 --> 00:04:23.889 a safe place before it hits. Don't wait. Good 00:04:23.889 --> 00:04:26.649 advice. Yeah. And he even suggested something 00:04:26.649 --> 00:04:29.250 quite commendable, asking people whose homes 00:04:29.250 --> 00:04:31.910 were safe to maybe invite neighbors over if their 00:04:31.910 --> 00:04:34.069 places weren't secure. That community spirit. 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:36.100 That's really something looking out for each 00:04:36.100 --> 00:04:39.139 other. Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Governor Andy 00:04:39.139 --> 00:04:41.720 Brashear said survey teams were expected, I think, 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:44.060 Monday to start assessing damage. That's for 00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:46.279 the federal disaster aid process. Exactly. To 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:48.839 get that ball rolling. And it just shows the 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:51.439 scale. Some of the state roads that were closed, 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:54.339 maybe two dozen of them. It could take days to 00:04:54.339 --> 00:04:57.000 reopen them. Bays just underlines the disruption. 00:04:57.180 --> 00:04:59.019 It does. And you know, when we see events like 00:04:59.019 --> 00:05:01.180 this, it's always helpful to step back and look 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:05.019 at the broader picture of tornadoes in the US. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:07.980 OK, what's the general context? Well, on average, 00:05:08.139 --> 00:05:10.839 the US gets about 1 ,200 tornadoes a year. It's 00:05:10.839 --> 00:05:14.019 a lot. 1 ,200, right. But there was some interesting 00:05:14.019 --> 00:05:17.540 research back in 2018. It suggested a potential 00:05:17.540 --> 00:05:20.600 shift. A shift in what way? In where the deadliest 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:23.129 tornadoes are happening more frequently. Moving 00:05:23.129 --> 00:05:25.470 a bit away from the traditional Tornado Alley 00:05:25.470 --> 00:05:28.050 Plains towards the south, which is often more 00:05:28.050 --> 00:05:30.649 densely populated, that raises different kinds 00:05:30.649 --> 00:05:33.069 of risks. I see. That's a significant finding. 00:05:33.410 --> 00:05:35.430 And what about the timing? When is tornado season 00:05:35.430 --> 00:05:38.430 usually? It varies a bit. For the southern plains, 00:05:38.769 --> 00:05:42.129 think May into early June typically. But down 00:05:42.129 --> 00:05:44.189 on the Gulf Coast, the season can peak earlier. 00:05:44.449 --> 00:05:47.709 More in the spring. And Kentucky. Yeah. Has it 00:05:47.709 --> 00:05:50.069 seen major tornadoes before this? Obviously this 00:05:50.069 --> 00:05:52.970 was terrible, but historically. Sadly, yes. The 00:05:52.970 --> 00:05:55.250 deadliest one on record for Kentucky was way 00:05:55.250 --> 00:05:58.790 back in 1890 in Louisville. A huge loss of life 00:05:58.790 --> 00:06:02.360 then. 1890. And more recently, people will remember 00:06:02.360 --> 00:06:05.519 the devastating tornadoes in December 2021. That 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:07.759 wasn't that long ago, and it caused mass fatalities 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:10.120 too. So Kentucky's definitely vulnerable. It 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:13.540 is. And this latest event brings up another difficult 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:16.420 issue that's been talked about quite a bit. Staffing 00:06:16.420 --> 00:06:18.560 challenges at the National Weather Service at 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:21.060 NOAA. Ah, yes. I heard something about that. 00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:23.560 Staffing cuts. That's right. Pretty significant 00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:28.589 ones. Over 560 employees lost. due to actions 00:06:28.589 --> 00:06:30.589 under the previous administration, apparently. 00:06:30.730 --> 00:06:34.610 Over 500. That's a lot for a critical service 00:06:34.610 --> 00:06:37.370 like weather forecasting. It is. And the office 00:06:37.370 --> 00:06:39.449 in Jackson, Kentucky, the one that covers many 00:06:39.449 --> 00:06:42.250 of these areas, just hit so hard. It's one of 00:06:42.250 --> 00:06:44.269 several that are short -staffed. And what does 00:06:44.269 --> 00:06:46.540 that mean, practically? Well, for one thing, 00:06:46.579 --> 00:06:49.360 it means they aren't routinely operating 24 seven 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:51.839 anymore. That sounds risky, especially with severe 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:54.959 weather. It certainly raises concerns, but it's 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:56.600 really important to highlight the dedication 00:06:56.600 --> 00:06:59.220 of the folks working there. OK. Despite being 00:06:59.220 --> 00:07:01.600 short staffed, the meteorologists at the Jackson 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.180 office saw the severe weather outbreak coming. 00:07:04.660 --> 00:07:06.420 They knew it was serious. So what do they do? 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:08.699 They made the call. They brought everyone in 00:07:08.699 --> 00:07:11.120 for the overnight shift anyway. They knew they 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:13.040 had to be there to issue warnings and support 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:16.129 the local emergency managers. Wow. So they stepped 00:07:16.129 --> 00:07:19.269 up despite the limitations. Absolutely. We heard 00:07:19.269 --> 00:07:21.610 from a NOAA employee who wanted to stay anonymous 00:07:21.610 --> 00:07:23.790 basically saying the staff knew they had to bring 00:07:23.790 --> 00:07:26.850 everyone in. It was about saving lives with those 00:07:26.850 --> 00:07:29.250 warnings. That's incredible commitment. Really 00:07:29.250 --> 00:07:31.779 speaks volumes. It really does. And the union 00:07:31.779 --> 00:07:33.879 that represents these employees. What's their 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:36.300 take? Their representative made it clear that 00:07:36.300 --> 00:07:39.259 even with the staffing shortages, the accuracy 00:07:39.259 --> 00:07:41.720 and the timeliness of the warnings issued for 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:44.759 these tornadoes were not affected. OK, that's 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:46.579 reassuring. The warnings got out effectively. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:49.439 Yes, which is a credit to the skill of the staff 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:52.040 they do have. So are steps being taken to fix 00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:54.779 this staffing problem? Well, NOAA has announced 00:07:54.779 --> 00:07:59.120 some opportunities. About 155 spots for meteorologists 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:02.269 and other specialists to transfer into understaffed 00:08:02.269 --> 00:08:05.449 offices, including Jackson. So that's a start, 00:08:05.490 --> 00:08:08.209 at least. It's a positive step, yes. But the 00:08:08.209 --> 00:08:10.889 underlying concern, it seems, might still be 00:08:10.889 --> 00:08:13.589 there. Meaning? Meaning the same NOAA staff member 00:08:13.589 --> 00:08:15.990 warned that if these shortages persist long term, 00:08:16.069 --> 00:08:18.250 we could see more offices having to cut back 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:20.910 hours. Which could lead to? Potentially, yeah. 00:08:21.209 --> 00:08:23.790 Missed forecasts or maybe just increased burnout 00:08:23.790 --> 00:08:25.470 for the forecasters who are there, especially 00:08:25.470 --> 00:08:27.209 with things like hurricane season coming up. 00:08:27.350 --> 00:08:30.259 That's a huge workload. That's a really sobering 00:08:30.259 --> 00:08:33.000 thought. Burnout is one thing, but missed forecasts. 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:36.100 Exactly. And it's not a new concern, either. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:38.379 Former directors at the Weather Service have 00:08:38.379 --> 00:08:41.200 actually warned in the past about staffing levels. 00:08:41.299 --> 00:08:44.500 Dang one. Warning that inadequate staffing could, 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:47.899 tragically, lead to needless loss of life if 00:08:47.899 --> 00:08:51.779 forecasts or warnings are compromised. So these 00:08:51.779 --> 00:08:53.779 aren't just operational issues. They have... 00:08:53.850 --> 00:08:56.870 real -world, potentially life -and -death consequences. 00:08:57.029 --> 00:08:59.730 That's the core of the concern, yes. Okay. So, 00:08:59.850 --> 00:09:02.789 wrapping this up, we've talked about the absolutely 00:09:02.789 --> 00:09:04.929 devastating impact of these recent tornadoes, 00:09:05.049 --> 00:09:06.730 particularly in Kentucky and Missouri. Yeah, 00:09:06.730 --> 00:09:08.950 the human cost, the physical destruction. We've 00:09:08.950 --> 00:09:11.370 looked at the warnings that went out, the preparations, 00:09:11.750 --> 00:09:14.070 the advice given. And the community response, 00:09:14.250 --> 00:09:16.230 too, like the Fire Chief's suggestion. Right. 00:09:16.230 --> 00:09:19.049 And then this critical context of the challenges 00:09:19.049 --> 00:09:22.149 facing NOAA, the National Weather Service, with 00:09:22.149 --> 00:09:24.559 staffing. Mm -hmm. the dedication of the staff 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:26.700 versus the resource constraints they're facing. 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:28.759 It really leaves you with a question, doesn't 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:32.399 it? As we potentially face more severe weather 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:34.940 events, maybe more frequently, maybe more intensely. 00:09:35.340 --> 00:09:38.340 Yeah, what's the right balance? How do we ensure 00:09:38.340 --> 00:09:40.779 that the dedicated professionals doing this vital 00:09:40.779 --> 00:09:43.759 work have the support and the resources they 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:46.919 truly need? What level of investment is necessary 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:50.159 to protect public safety effectively in the face 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:52.740 of these powerful forces of nature? That's the 00:09:52.740 --> 00:09:55.500 question to ponder. A really vital point. And 00:09:55.500 --> 00:09:57.419 just a reminder for everyone listening, if you 00:09:57.419 --> 00:09:59.759 want to stay informed and explore more about 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:02.659 the science behind weather, do follow meteorologist 00:10:02.659 --> 00:10:06.720 Rob Jones. He's on Instagram. TV meteorologists. 00:10:06.899 --> 00:10:08.740 And on YouTube, search for Rob Jones Hurricane. 00:10:08.860 --> 00:10:11.059 You'll find his channel and the Meteorology Matters 00:10:11.059 --> 00:10:13.539 podcast playlist there, too. Lots of great info. 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:15.460 Thanks for tuning in to Meteorology Matters.