La Nina blamed for fierce weather
Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008
In Arkansas, 2008 has been full of the stuff usually seen in disaster movies.
Heavy rains, flooded rivers and tornadoes have pounded the state.
It’s enough to make even the most modest of complainers wonder if they’re caught in the script of an end-of-times movie.
But it’s not make-believe. This spring season is the worst of this young century, and more bad weather is predicted in Northwest Arkansas today.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service say a phenomena known as La Nina — a cooling of water along the equator — is the reason why the state and country are experiencing nearly double the number of tornadoes in 2008 than in an average year.
Weather experts have confirmed 14 tornadoes in Northwest Arkansas since January, four fewer than the 18 documented between 2000 and 2007, said Mike Teague, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa.
The tornadoes have been recorded in Carroll, Madison, Franklin, Washington, Benton, Crawford and Sebastian counties.
The rest of the state has seen about 50 tornadoes, which is twice the annual average, said John Lewis, a senior forecaster at the weather service’s office in North Little Rock.
As of Monday, 905 tornadoes had been reported nationwide, Teague said, which trumps a three-year average of 544.
La Nina is making the southern branch of the jet stream stronger than it should be, energizing systems moving north and eventually into Arkansas, Lewis said.
He called the combined weather events — heavy snow, ice storms, torrential rains and tornadoes — a “once in a lifetime” experience.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lists most of the state at a slight risk for severe weather today. Rain and thunderstorms will move into Northwest Arkansas about 4 p. m., with storms becoming more severe later in the evening, Teague said.
Benton County Emergency Management Director Marshal Watson said he’s developing a sixth sense when it comes to bad weather.
“We’ve faced severe weather week after week since January,” he said.
“I’m concerned this will be a weather pattern we’ll see throughout the year, specifically through summer months.”
He said he would be keeping a close eye on the weather today.
“People typically associate tornadoes with Oklahoma, Kansas and the Plains, and they don’t realize how susceptible we are to that damage,” he said.
Randy and Allison Williams are hoping the rain stays away until they can fix the holes in the roof of Pinecrest Private School, located south of Walton Boulevard and Arkansas 112.
A small tornado Saturday destroyed pieces of the building’s roof, exposing a prekindergarten classroom to the elements and damaging the structure’s plumbing.
“When we came into the room, all the desks and chairs were against the wall,” Allison Williams said, peeking into the room marked with neon pink and orange signs that read “DO NOT ENTER.”
Art projects still hung around the room, including a paper kite, its string tail flopping in the breeze created by fans meant to dry moisture on the floor.
A pipe burst when the tornado lifted pieces of the building’s plumbing out of the ground, flooding much of the carpet in the east wing. Most of the building’s plumbing and air conditioning will need to be replaced, Randy Williams said. After-school care will be relocated to Eagle Heights Baptist Church until the wing can be repaired. Randy Williams said he feels fortunate no children were in the building when the storm hit. “How can we not be grateful and feel for others ?” he said. “We’re probably feeling onetenth of what others have gone through when they’ve had a total loss.”
To contact this reporter: aotoole@arkansasonline. com
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
