We lost a living legend over the weekend. Wichita's Connie Palacios, who worked on the B-29 assembly line at Boeing's Wichita Plant (below) during World War II, passed away. over the weekend.  While I only got to shake her hand once, she was quite a lady -- who was never reticent to state an opinion or tell us about her experiences.   Wichita, America, and the U.S. Army Air Force were lucky to have her. May she rest in peace. 

We commemorated 100 years since this awful event eleven months ago.  It is known as the great Tri-State Tornado of March 18, 1925. Until last week, I -- like most meteorologists -- quoted a horrible death toll of 689. Now we learn that an exhaustive study has concluded as many as 801 died from this single storm that moved from southeast Missouri, across the width of southern Illinois, and into southwest Indiana.  Above is an older map, easier to understand, with the correct path, but also with some inaccuracies regarding the specific damage and deaths in some locations.  The Tri-State Tornado had the longest path, the longest violent path, the worst death toll and set other records. The article at the red link (above) will tell you a great deal about this event that we pray is never exceeded. 

The answer is NO! The story is a bit of a mess and won't try to explain all of it. Here are the bottom lines: Yes, the tornado forecasts,  including the watch, on the 13th (Monday's tornadoes in Ottawa and in Miami County) were objectively poor. But few meteorologists who are familiar with tornado forecasting believe the weather balloon issue was the determining factor .  As to people, the 5-person team that issues tornado watches has been staffed with five well-qualified meteorologists the entire time. No cuts.  With regard to the tornado warning for Belton on the 17th, it was out six minutes before the tornado even formed. While a little more lead-time would have been nice, 6 minutes is adequate to dash to the basement.  The above said, the senior leadership of the NWS and NOAA need to resolve the weather balloon issue as soon as possible and the resolution should be based on meteorological science rather than convenience. 

I wish that were true.  East Wichita suffered a tornado* in September 1992 that was accompanied by a tremendous hailstorm to the north of its path. Our home had 3" hail and needed a new roof. Hail often accompanies the stronger tornadoes.  *The tornado struck a particularly junky area and there was a joke this tornado had "the potential to cause millions of dollars of improvements." As it turned out, it didn't. They rebuilt it as junky as it was before. Sigh. 

Friday's severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. There will be quite few more tornadoes added when the damage surveys are completed.  For your weekly planning, we don't expect to have to deal with tornadoes on any significant basis until Thursday of this week.  Hopefully, that will give the numerous damaged areas time to recover and give first responders a break. 

The wonderful Kansas sky! Click to see the second photo.