THE NEWSLETTER APRIL 2010

Welcome to the issue of the WEATHERFUN Newsletter

Words From Jerry

Greetings fellow Weatherfun members and welcome to the April Weatherfun Newsletter and Jerry's words. Due to current weather conditions up here in the north east I will not elaborate on the current conditions. I know that we have been sending out several sites to keep you well informed of the current conditions. We still have some roads closed even here in the town of Warren. You can go down any street and see water flowing in the street from the homes and them pumping out basements. Here is the channel 12 web site again that has a lot of good information on the flooding and good reading material. WPRI.com | Eyewitness News T.F.G. Green airport is open but residents are having problems getting to it because of roads that are still closed. REUNION: The 2010 Weatherfun Family Reunion is now scheduled for the dates of July 8 to the 11th. Of course you are welcomed to come a little earlier if you wish. Full information will be sent out within the next couple of days. All you need to do is set aside the dates head northeast to the Rhode Island area and have a grand time. Same rates as last year apply. Till next month I hope the weather in your area is warming up, flowers are coming out and the grass turning green. Remember this is your newsletter and if you would like to see a weather related article here please send it to Bill or me. Till next month enjoy your weather. JERRY LAROCHE WEATHERFUN FOUNDER/PRESIDENT

March's Weather 2nd: 2 to 4" of snow fell in northern Georgia and up to 6' in parts of central North Carolina. 6th: Moderate rain in Southern California with reports of water spouts offshore, lightning strikes and moderate rainfall for the Station fire burn area. 8th: A tornado in Hammon, OK torn the roofs off of 5 homes and damaged several others. 10th: Severe weather in Arkansas with several tornadoes that damaged homes, killed one person and injured several others, while there were flooding rains in parts of Alabama. 11th: Severe weather in the Tampa Bay area and Central Florida caused road closures due to flooding and downed trees, and school activities were canceled. A tornado damaged 28 Units at a Golf Resort. 13th-14th: A nor'easter battered the East Coast with high winds and heavy rain, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands and flooding dozens of communities. Rainfall totals in some areas reached over 5" and JFK airport had a 75 mph wind gust. Up to 9 deaths were storm related. 17th: Warm temperatures in California with some areas reaching 80 degrees for highs. 19th: The Denver area and most of the front range of the Rockies had a late Winter snowstorm of 7 to 12" of snow. 20th-21st: A powerful storm hit the southern Plains on the first weekend of spring with 8 to 12 inches of snow. Temperatures dropped over 30 degrees from the day before. Northeast Oklahoma, northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri were the hardest hit. 21st: The Red River in Fargo, ND crested just below record high flood level. Moderate to heavy snow fell across northeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas, with some places reporting eight to 12 inches. 23rd-24th: An early Spring snowstorm in the Rockies with 6 to 16" of snow in Colorado. The heavy, wet spring snowstorm forced airlines to cancel scores of flights at the Denver airport and left thousands of people without power. 26th: A tornado in Alabama ripped off roofs of several houses, knocked down trees and powerlines. 28th: Severe weather in western North Carolina with golfball size hail and up to 6 tornadoes that damaged several mobile homes, regular homes, businesses and caused power outages. 29th: A tornado cut a 5-mile-long swath through Oakland Park, FL ripped trees apart, damaged houses, knocked out power and left roads strewn with debris. 29th-30th: 4 to over 9 inches of rain caused flooding from New Jersey to New England. Many roads and highways were under water. Rhode Island was the hardest hit and a part of Route 95 was closed near Providence. It has had more rain this year than the first 6 months of last year. Luckily no lives were lost. Boston received 4.89 inches of rain. That is more rain than normal for the entire month of March. 30 inches of snow in Soda Springs, California and more than a foot elsewhere in the Sierra Nevada. 30th: Denver, Colorado, had a high of 82 degrees. That broke a 131 year old record which was set in 1879. 31st: Childress, Texas recorded a record-breaking high temperature of 98 degrees. Only a trace of snow was recorded for March in Rochester, N.Y. This is the only March in 126-year history without measurable snow.

CAM OF THE MONTH Sacramento, CA

Links 4 You An Introduction to Weather Map Symbols and Terminology

Tornado Warning: A little history The first official tornado forecast (and tornado warning) was made by United States Air Force Capt. (later Col.) Robert C. Miller and Major Ernest Fawbush, on March 25, 1948. The USAF pioneered tornado forecasting and tornado warnings, mainly due to the Weather Bureau's strong discouragement/ban on the use of the word "tornado" in forecasts or statements, fearing that it would cause the public to panic if they predicted tornadoes. In 1950, the Weather Bureau revoked their ban on the word "tornado", thus allowing public tornado warnings. February 27, 2010, a tornado 15 miles northeast of Taft, California occurred. The tornado was weak and was rated as EF0 (on the Enhanced Fujita Scale). This was the only tornado in the month of February. The last calendar month without a tornado was January 2003.

Do You Know About Tornadoes? You can learn about tornadoes by reading Tornadoes - A Weather Guide Tutorial

Hurricane Contest Later in May, the WEATHERFUN Hurricane Contest will begin. This is always one of our most popular contest. So watch your inbox for the start date. Remember, to win the Hurricane Palque, you have to be in it to win it.

We hope that you enjoyed this month's Newsletter. See you next month, and be sure to visit the WEATHERFUN Website, but most of all have fun with your weather.

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