Very sorry to hear that Ennis, my thoughts are with you. EDIT: No doubt you've already heard this, but they're going to be letting residents back into town next week with Identification to get clothes and other neccesities, but then ya'll won't be let back in for a month.
http://www.wwltv.com/This is an absolutley astonishing storm...price of gas has gone back up too, word has it its 2.99 in NY...anyone care to confirm that?
So the latest story is extremely strong thunderstorms and an heightened chance for Tornadoes out my way. Why, I do not know.
Simply stated:
Because landfalling Tropical Systems often offset the existing balance of the atmosphere around them. Since they generally provide their own wind feilds, this interacts with the existing wind flow...allowing for wind shear, or turning of the winds with height.
Now if a thunderstorm taps into this shear, then rotation can develope inside the cell. When a storm begins to rotate, the National Weather Service will generally issue a Tornado Warning for the area...however, rotation does not neccesarily equate to a tornado, as a tornado can only occur once the rotation reaches the ground.
Thankfully in most cases, tornados spawned by Tropical Cyclones are weak and short lived. Although there are rare instances like the 1989 F3 that actually hit my city thanks to a landfalling tropical system that caused something like 2 million dollars in damage to crops and commercial interests.
the Charlotte area
Charlotte eh? Spartanburg here.