Weekend weather rumbles

Published 8:19 pm Monday, June 15, 2009

Last weekend brought high winds and heavy rain as several systems traveled through the area.

Kevin Laws, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said the recent storms were part of a mesoscale convective system, which are mini storm systems that form upstream. The weekend storms came from the Missouri-Arkansas area.

Laws said these storms had a strange flow pattern and are difficult to forecast.

Laws said this type of storm usually produces strong damaging winds, like those experienced across Alabama over the past few days.

Laws said the storms were widespread and intense.

“Over the weekend nearly 200 strong storms were reported,” Laws said. “I saw winds yesterday at nearly 100 mph. That’s close to an F2 tornado wind speed.”

The high winds scattered trees and branches across the county.

“We had some trees blocking the roads,” Johnny Kelley, road foreman for the County Road Department, said. “We also had some damage at the Higgins Ferry Park.”

Kelley said there were more roads blocked on the north side of the county, and workers were clearing up trees for about five hours Sunday.

Laws said the recent storms were not the typical summertime storms.

“Generally what we see is the normal afternoon-type thunderstorms,” Laws said.

Laws said the regular pattern of summer weather should be returning soon, bringing high temperatures with it.