The sixth meeting of the 2012-13 year took place at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Jackson. During the meeting, Dr. Michael Brown, Mississippi State University professor, presented research and findings from the April 27, 2011 Smithville tornado and on land scarring associated with the April 24, 2010 Yazoo City tornado.
Meeting Minutes
Call to Order
The sixth NWA/AMS meeting of the 2012-2013 year took place on Tuesday, April 23rd at WFO Jackson, MS. The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm with pizza and soft drinks provided by the treasury fund.
Rolls
The recording secretary, Eric Carpenter, passed around a sign-in sheet for attendees. 18 people were present.
Minutes Approval
Eric summarized minutes from the previous meeting held at WFO Jackson, MS in February. The minutes were approved.
New Business
The business session began at 6:10 pm when the treasurer, Jason Brand, gave a treasury report. The treasury had $343 as of 4/23/13. Joanne Culin, NWA Chapter President, then followed by introducing our guest speaker for the evening, Dr. Michael Brown, professor at Mississippi State University. Dr. Brown’s presentation included research and findings from the the Smithville tornado from April 27th with the Yazoo City tornado from April 24th, 2010.
In an effort to determine how residents in the Smithville area received and perceived warning information during the deadly EF-5 rated tornado, Dr. Brown and his research team conducted a survey. Participants were asked about their most trusted methods for receiving warnings and what they considered to be the most valuable information in warnings. Residents were also asked to give testimonials about life-saving actions. While there were multiple sources for receiving warnings, including sirens, television, and family communication, a common finding was that folks generally sought confirmation from more than one source. After several warnings earlier in the day with no tornado, there was a need to seek proof that this tornado actually existed. Also, some residents noted that the television meteorologists had a different tone suggesting that this was different and they needed to take action to save their lives.
Following the Smithville tornado portion of the presentation, Dr. Brown moved on to his next topic concerning land scarring in the long-tracked Yazoo City tornado. The purpose of this research was to investigate how vegetative discontinuities resulting from severe tornado damage can translate into differential heating boundaries, thus leading to enhanced convection in the absence of synoptic-scale influences. The Yazoo City tornado track was compared to several test tracks from the region using lightning (NLDN) and upper air data from 2006-2010, and it was determined that there was a significant increase in convective activity during synoptically benign days following the tornado in 2010. For more information concerning both of these studies, please send an email to eric.carpenter@noaa.gov.
Adjournment
The meeting concluded at approximately 7:30 pm and it was adjourned.
Minutes submitted by Eric Carpenter, Recording Secretary.
Dr. Michael Brown presents research about public response to the April 27, 2011 Smithville, MS tornado.
For more pictures from this meeting, click here.
Central Mississippi Chapter of the NWA and AMS 