Thank You, Missouri Governor Nixon

Gov. Nixon inspecting the damage. Photo from
St. Louis "Post-Dispatch"
Headline from Saint Louis Post-Dispatch online:

The story:

SUNSET HILLS  Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Saturday credited the advance warning of the storm for saving lives and preventing major injuries from the New Year's Eve storm that ripped through the St. Louis area.
At a press conference here Saturday morning, Nixon said the National Weather Service gave residents between 12 and 30 minutes of warning of the tornadoes.
Despite many homes being leveled from eastern Franklin County to north St. Louis, no major injuries were reported in the St. Louis  area.
The entire article is at the above link.

It is infrequent that the life saving work of the meteorological profession gets the recognition it deserves. Thank you, Gov. Nixon! The story of how these tornadoes were successfully tracked is here.

I also want to give my colleagues at WeatherData a pat on the back for their outstanding work in yesterday's storms. We had numerous clients in the path of those tornadoes and they were able to help our clients avoid injury and property losses.

UPDATE 3:24pm Saturday:
Photo and quote from the Clarion-Ledge of Jackson, MS

There was considerable tornado damage around Jackson, MS in darkness on New Year's Eve. More than 20,000 homes and businesses were without power. Excellent warnings were issued by the National Weather Service and,


Mississippi Emergency Management officials expect to release damage estimates later today.
No deaths or major injuries have been reported...

These types of "surprise" (out of season, in darkness) tornadoes used to kill scores of people. The preliminary count has 40 tornadoes occurring yesterday with a number in densely populated areas. The death toll of six was tragic and meteorologists continue to work to reduce it further. But, we have made tremendous progress!

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