Idahna, Oregon buried in snow; Mayor asks for emergency help

kgw.com Northwest News Channel 8 ^ | 01:11 PM PST on Sunday, February 3, 2008 | KGW and kgw.com Staff

[justa-hairyape]

I have been watching your areas storm threads on freerepublic. Do not have cable. Was also able to stop the shipment of a time critical package today because of those threads. The package was going from the west coast to the east coast. Probably through the Fed Ex Memphis hub. There are now reports that the Fed Ex hanger in Memphis was damaged. Gonna be a lot of late shipments. Also right now a Tornado just went through Nashville. So there are weather events more serious then snow. The US is trapped between a cold Pacific and a mild Atlantic. That could be magnifying the titanic clash between cold Northern Air and Warm Sub-Tropical air. Could be one heck of a tornadic season.

[justa-hairyape]

Guard Helps Idanha, Detroit Dig Out From Snow

DETROIT, Ore. -- The Oregon National Guard will help people dig out from several feet of snow in Idanha and Detroit on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, more than 30 citizen soldiers and airmen with heavy equipment responded to the eastern Marion County cities along Highway 22.

The National Guard soldiers were sent by the 1249th Engineer Battalion and the 142nd Civil Engineering Squadron. Two front-end loaders on trailers, six dump trucks, two Bobcats and two Humvees were sent to the area.

[Stonewall Jackson]

I just got my power back here in E-Town. We got hit by a small tornado and some really strong straight-line winds last night. One of the local high schools, Central Hardin High, has suffered severe damage and will probably be closed for about a month while they repair the damage. There are also a number of residences and businesses that have suffered damage.

Bardstown got clobbered by a tornado, but with all of the damage, the local news channels are simply overwhelmed and have not been able to report on everything.

It looks like Louisville got nailed by two tornadoes, while a couple of others hit neighboring counties.

It will probably be a couple of days before we know exactly how bad the damage is.

I work as a manager at the local Lowe's Home Improvement Center, and I imagine we are just about sold out of OSB, plywood, sump pumps, and shop vacs by now. I head in to work in a few hours, but I plan on heading out early to check the damage before going to work.

[justa-hairyape]

Amazing info. The Mid South right now is where the Cold NorthWestern Pacific Arctic Air mass ends up slamming with full force into the South Central Sub Tropical Air mass. Apparently this storm was also fueled by a disturbance that came in low and also affected So Cal. We did not get as much rain as the previous storms. The current track has 6 to 8 storms in a row coming off the Pacific. These are tracking toward the Northwest US. The Northwest will be buried under more snow after this next set. An Arctic air mass is also coming down from Northwestern Canada. So now that the Mid South has cooled down, these additional storms should be on the cold side when they get down there. Right now we need the increasing daylight to start warming the US. That would cause the Titanic Tornadic activity to shift more west into the Tornado Alley. They are more prepared for these types of events. Although if your historic early season activity is any indication, perhaps not.

[Tailback]

I work for Marion County Public Works but just got back from Kuwait a few weeks ago. I went in to the office yesterday to check in (I’ll be back to work next week) and a significant number of the road crews were working up in Idanha moving snow along with a contingent from the National Guard. It sounds like they’re getting the help they need but it won’t change the fact that a lot of homes are seriously damaged.

[sonic109]

GLOBAL WARMING ALERT ! TONS OF SNOW ALL OVER THE COUNTRY

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Wow - you have been busy. Thank you for all your efforts and for this report. Yes, I knew our heroes would be there to help the people of Oregon.

[Stonewall Jackson]

Sorry, it was Brandenburg, not Bardstown, that took a hit last night. Fortunately, it was a small F1 that some homes and businesses and only caused one minor injury. Back on April 3, 1974, during the Great Tornado Outbreak, Brandenburg was almost wiped off the map by an F5 that destroyed or heavily damaged 90% of the buildings in the town and killed 32 people.

I went over to see the damage to Central Hardin High and it looks pretty bad. Almost half of the gym's roof is completely gone, there are large holes in the roof of the main building, almost every window in the school is broken, the enclosed hallway between the main building and the freshman wing has collapsed, the marching band director's tower is knocked over, all of the light poles in the parking lot are lying on the ground, and the press box in the football stadium is sitting on the fifty yard line.

Here's what the inside of the gym looks like.

The Central boys basketball team had just clinched first place in the regular season just a few hours earlier in this gym and were supposed to host the 17th District Boys Basketball Tournament starting this coming Saturday. The school district has not yet determined where the tournament will be played, much less where the students will go to class until their school has been repaired.

[Grizzled Bear]

But for heaven’s sake - look at the effort put together for Katrina!

Quick, send Sean Penn to Oregon with a tractor, a snow shovel and a camera crew. He should take Celine Dion with him!

[justa-hairyape]

We have a very strong La Nina in the Pacific and this report from icecap helps to explain why these Tornadoes occurred. Article excerpt follows.

Feb 06, 2008
Tornadoes Rip Through South in Typical La Nina Fashion
By Joseph D’Aleo, CCM

...Tornado outbreaks are more likely in La Nina years. A few years ago, I did a study of the years with the maximum number of tornadoes for every month and found that from the fall to the spring they were all La Nina years. The Superoutbreak of April 1974 came after one of the strongest La Ninas on record. And Eugenio Hackbart at the METSUL reminded me also in a similar La Nina in a cold Pacific era, in February 1971, more than 100 people died during an outbreak in the Mississippi Delta.... An unpublished manuscript by Knowles and Pielke (1993) observed that tornadoes during ENSO cold phase (La Nina) are stronger and remain on the ground longer than their warm phase (El Nino) counterparts. They further showed that there is an increased chance of large tornado outbreaks (40 or more tornadoes associated with a single synoptic system) during ENSO cold phase (La Ninas). Given the strength of this La Nina, what it has been able to do in January and February and that history, we might expect a very stormy spring from the south to the Ohio Valley.

In La Ninas, the cold tends to want to stay across the north and strong warmth builds at times across the south. Storms along the boundary feed on the contrast and severe weather often results. To the north of the storm track, it is ice or heavy snow that is the problem and that will be the story over the next few days.... Thunderstorms will likely be in the cards further south until the cold air begins to filter back in and be reinforced this weekend with an arctic blast. Wild swings as we said a few months back are also typical of La Nina.

[Stonewall Jackson]

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

[justa-hairyape]

Heavy snow, rain a reminder of 1996 Oregon flood conditions.
2/6/2008, 12:10 p.m. PST
The Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Heavy winter snow and rain are setting up conditions similar to the 1996 flooding that caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage across much of the state.

The heavy snows 12 years ago were followed by warm storms with heavy rains that combined to flood most of the Willamette Valley and the major cities of Oregon.

On Tuesday, the 12th anniversary of the first day of heavy rains that triggered the flooding, even more snow had fallen than in 1996, officials said.

"It's entirely possible we will get one of the dreaded rain-on-snow events," said George Taylor, an Oregon State University climatologist.