-- The Appalachian Catastrophe Continues -- Local Government Blocks Man From Placing an RV on His Own Land Because of 'Zoning' Please listen to the brief interview above with Shawn Hendricks where he talks about the continuing need in the southern Appalachians. He, like so many in the area, mentions that FEMA is nowhere to be found and that ridiculous local regulations are also hampering the recovery effort. I promise: the interview is well worth your time. It it Shawn who made the observation that is the title of this piece.  The red link also takes you to Operation Shelter (tweet below). Below, from Friday, is a brief tweet about their latest work. Please consider a donation!!  You will also find links to other worthy groups at the end of this piece.  Please, please watch the entire video .  As his FEMA fails at every level.... I seriously doubt the Biden's made an appropriate donation to the area. Given his press operation, we'd hear about it if he ha...

Heavy snows will continue southeast of each of the Great Lakes. Significant snow will also be falling at noon in West Virginia and the northern Great Plains. Other than that, conditions will be generally good for travel.

Heavy snow is falling in northeast Kansas and Missouri.  Below is the radar as of 10:04am. Please drive carefully. 

Snowfall forecast: This is a classic "lake effect snow" day downwind of each of the Great Lakes as shown by radar at 11:30am EST. These snows can be extremely heavy with whiteout conditions. Use caution if traveling in these areas. 

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. We Americans have so many reasons to be thankful.  But, this year more than most, a group of Americans is desperately hurting. Below are this week's reports from Matt Van Swol who has been doing amazing work on  the ground in western North Carolina. I urge you to follow him if you want the latest news.   Jesus told us we have a personal, individual responsibility to help the poor. These churches are helping people carry out that obligation.  FEMA continues to treat the people of southern Appalachia in a cruel and criminal manner. I don't use those words lightly.  That interview is here .  On the other hand, Franklin Graham has announced that Samaritan's Purse will build 1,000 homes for the people of the area.  But it isn't just homes that need help. So do small businesses .  So, if you have had a good year please donate as soon as possible.   Samaritan's purse is here .  EmergencyRV is here ....

The story is here . The video is top right  after a commercial plays.  -- original post --  Regan Porter of Fox 4 Kansas City interviewed me this morning regarding the rebuilding of the damaged Ruskin Heights Tornado Memorial . She will also be interviewing the head of the Ruskin Homeowners' Association.  Regan says it will air between 4:30 and 6:30pm with a shorter version between 9 and 10:30pm. Hope you can tune in. 

National Storm Warnings Winter storm warnings continue in Colorado and Utah (pink) with high wind warnings for New Mexico. Purple = winter weather advisories. The gray in the South is dense fog advisories. Winter storm watches in effect for parts of New England.  Below is the forecast for 6pm CST today: The snow in Colorado and Utah is forecast to taper off by 6pm. Forecast for 6am Thursday Radar at 7:54am: Snow continues in Colorado with a mix of precipitation near the Kansas-Nebraska border that is mainly sleet.  Travel safely!!

Here is an update as to pre-Thanksgiving travel weather.  Weather Warnings Pink, winter storm warning. Purple, winter weather advisory (lesser condition) Dark turquoise, lake effect snow warning Brown and amber, high winds Light turquoise, freeze warning  Forecast for 6pm CST this evening.  Forecast for 6pm Wednesday. 

Kansas City Star, 2010 The evening of May 20, 1957, a F-5 tornado struck the south Kansas City suburb of Ruskin Heights. I was a five year-old boy growing up in the area and was both terrified and fascinated by the events of that evening. My mother drove us through "ground zero" the next day. As a result, that very day I knew I wanted to be a meteorologist. The tornado also played a role in me meeting my future wife, Kathleen! In addition to I, Dennis Smith (formerly of The Weather Channel) and the outstanding storm researcher Les Lemon, who passed away several years ago, also were inspired to become meteorologists as a result of the tornado.  Meteorologists privately comment that F-5 tornadoes are so powerful they "clean up afterward." Here you see the home utterly blown away with only the commode left after the tornado. With the terrible loss of life, a memorial to the tornado victims was erected the next year. It was placed directly in the tornado's path acro...

Here is updated travel weather as ofd 1:15pm CST Monday: Forecast Tuesday at Noon Central Time Some things to look for. Note the "organ" in northern New England: that is ice in the form of freezing rain. Allow lots of extra time.  Wednesday, Noon Central Time A mix of rain or snow is possible from I-70 in western Kansas to near Denver as well as along I-15 in southwest Utah. Heavy snow is forecast in the Colorado mountains and Wasatch.  Rain is likely in Southern California which generally causes traffic jams disproportionate to what a light rain causes in other parts of the nation. Lake effect snow is likely near the Great Lakes.  Have a great Thanksgiving!!

Please read these posts from yesterday evening: -- and -- With the reporting from a number of independent reports, groups and bloggers last week and the week before creating interest, legacy media reporters have finally returned to the area and they shocked at what they find. There are two words to describe how the people of western North Carolina are being treated: cruel and criminal. I suspect the Biden Administration and NC Governor Democrat Roy Cooper are exacting retribution for this area voting for President-Elect Trump. How would you expect them to vote after the way they have been treated ?! A National Disaster Review Board would provide a measure of accountability for how people are treated during and after disasters. Now, there is no accountability at all -- so they can get away with it. 

For Monday, 1pm CST: It would not surprise me to see significant flight delays at San Francisco and, possible, the Chicago airports due to weather.  Please note: while the contrast between blue (snow) and green (rain) in California is difficult to discern on both maps,  heavy  snow is forecast for I-80 in California through 6am CST Wednesday. If you are going to travel in that area, you may need to carry chains.  Tuesday, 6pm CST: Starting in the East, there will be considerable lake effect snow on the south and east side of the Great Lakes. There will be heavy snow in the Colorado Rockies, the Wasatch and throughout parts of Nevada and Idaho. If you are driving on I-70 or I-80 in these areas, please prepare for winter driving conditions.

The smiling face above belongs to Pat Carroll, the proprietor of Gallup Map in downtown Kansas City. He is holding a map I purchased from his store as a budding high school meteorologist in the late 19 60 's. I was driving through downtown KC a few weeks ago and was pleasantly shocked to see Gallup Map  Company was still in business. As a high schooler who wanted to be a meteorologist, I often stopped in to buy maps for plotting weather information. For the first time in 60+ years, I visited last week. They still have a great selection of maps, art and related materials. I wanted to purchase a quadrangle topographic map for part of Johnson County and, it turned out, the area I needed was covered by two maps. Patrick used his computer tools to splice the two together and I had exactly what I needed.  Storm Chasers:  He has a great selection of state Gazetteers.  It was great to see a family-operated business continue to flourish after decades in business. 

Above is the November precipitation from the 1st to yesterday morning. Heavy rain fell in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area not fully accounted for on the national map. See below. Below is the forecast precipitation until 7am CST on the 30th. The West is off to a good start for rain and snow. 

Here's a general idea of the weather in the pre-Thanksgiving travel period.  Map is valid from Monday evening until Wednesday evening.  The snowy Sierra pattern will continue into Tuesday night.  Forecast High Temperatures Tuesday Forecast High Temperatures Wednesday

An amazing 19" of snow has fallen on High Point, NJ. 

This is valid from Tuesday to the Sunday after Thanksgiving With regard to precipitation, since it is late November, colder than average + wetter than average = well, you get the idea. Stay tuned for more updates. 

I received criticism yesterday because I wasn't telling FEMA's side of the story. Fair enough, here is a video FEMA produced about putting the first  trailer into the Appalachians. Sorry I cannot embed it.  However, please keep in mind the fact below. And........ Reporter Bree Dail reported the above yesterday. Who is making these decisions?!

Flash Flooding in California  The torrential rains are falling on parts of Northern California. Radar 10:30am PST. Due to wind, San Franciso International has nearly 3 hour flight delays.  Purple =  a "high" risk of flash flooding into tonight. Red = moderate risk.  Rainfall amounts to 9a PST. Early Season Snow in the East Radar: 12:38pm CST. In New England, needed rain is falling as the area has been in a drought or dry spell (depending on location).  Snow (blue) is falling on Chicago (where there have been light accumulations) and average flight delays of 45 minutes at O'Hare. Newark has 45 minute delays.  It will snow this evening over the devastated areas of the southern Appalachians due to Hurricane Helene.