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Travel weather: Clouds, showers and possible thundershowers
were likely to slow things down a bit from Boston and Providence
southward into the three New York City airports early in the week.
Slowdowns were possible in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington as
well, though the rain was expected to be more limited in those
areas. Nice improvement expected in all locations by the middle part
of the week, with sunshine and warmer temperatures making a
comeback. On the West Coast, much of the week features quiet
weather. A few showers possible on Wednesday, but no widespread,
prolonged stormy weather expected from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
People whose travels include flying in or through Denver could
expect a bit of light snow and rain early in the week. The Chicago
hub will be unusually tranquil for this time of year, with showers
expected on only one day. Quiet weather expected for flights in and
out of Hartsfield in Atlanta as well. Showers and storms early in
the week in Dallas will give way to cooler temperatures.
Farm is tornado magnet: Over the course of just nine days, a
farm in Nebraska was struck twice by tornadoes -- this after being
hit by tornadoes in 1981 and 1993 as well. The first of the most
recent twisters to hit the farm outside of Adams, Neb., occurred on
April 6. It was a relatively "tame" F0 tornado, according to
criteria in the Fujita scale. Damage from that storm came to
$55,000. Then just nine days later, a second tornado, this one of F2
intensity, touched down and destroyed three empty grain bins, a
windmill and several trees. The parents of the current owners of the
farm lived there in 1981 and 1993 when tornadoes caused minor
damage.
The Fujita scale rates tornado intensity based on factors such as
estimated wind speed and damage that occurred. The scale runs from
F0 to F5.
Late snowstorm buries the Plains: A powerful late-season
snowstorm that produced drifts as high as 5 feet is also being
blamed for the deaths of at least four people last week. The
heaviest of the snow occurred over western parts of South Dakota. In
the city of Lead, the snow was measured to a depth of nearly 60
inches. A 100-mile stretch of Interstate 90 was closed to allow
crews to remove the snow. Winds gusting to as high as 84 mph caused
considerable blowing and drifting, compounding the snow removal
process. All four of the fatalities occurred due to vehicle crashes
on icy or snow-covered roads.
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 CompuWeather case of the week: Moonshine
On a stretch of rural highway in Tennessee, a pickup truck ran
into a cow that had wandered out of a nearby pasture and onto the
shoulder of the road. The driver of the pickup sustained injuries as
a result of the crash, and the truck itself was heavily damaged. The
driver retained the services of an attorney, who filed suit against
the farmer who owned the cow. In addition, the county in which the
accident took place was named in the suit, citing inadequate
lighting on the road. The driver claimed that he could not see the
cow "until the last moment" because of how dark it was. The accident
had taken place at 1:30 a.m.
Attorneys working for the insurance carrier that underwrote the
policy covering the county contacted CompuWeather. They wanted to
know what factor, if any, the weather played that night. After going
through the details of the accident, the meteorologist assigned to
the case suggested that an analysis of the moon and how much light
it provided be included in the report.
The weather was clear that night, with no fog, haze or other
natural obscuration present. That would prove to be an important
point when combined with the result of the astronomical portion of
the analysis. The meteorologist determined that the moon was between
its waxing gibbous and full phases, meaning that approximately 87
percent of the surface was illuminated that evening, at an angle of
70 degrees above the horizon. In plain language, "a lot" of natural
light would have been present.
Defense attorneys, at the suggestion of CompuWeather, retained a
lighting reconstruction expert. Working in conjunction with
CompuWeather's forecasting division, the expert was able to take his
light meter readings on a night when the weather was similar to that
on the night of the accident and when the moon was in a similar
position and phase. It took more than six months for those
conditions to come together. But the CompuWeather forecast office
kept track of the weather and was able to alert the expert days in
advance.
After presenting the weather and lighting evidence, it was
determined that a lack of lighting did not play a factor in causing
the accident that night. Thus, the county was deemed not liable in
the matter. The driver eventually settled with the farmer. The cow,
sadly, did not survive the ordeal.
CompuWeather's expert reports help settle 98.5 percent of all
clients' weather-related cases and claims prior to litigation.
[Compu-Weather]
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