Newman! Otto Have you ever noticed they are never in the same room together? Perhaps they are the same person.  [In fairness, I was filling my Diet Coke while Wayne Knight, the actor who played Newman was getting a coffee while waiting for a plane in New York. He is much better looking in person than on Seinfeld,  I suspect because the producers wanted him to appear poorly on camera as he was a semi-villain.]

We have a very small area with a significant tornado risk today.  The brown = a significant risk of tornadoes. Hatching = if a tornado occurs, it could be "strong" (EF-2 or stronger). 

To all of my colleagues, enjoy the day and the well-earned accolades.  We have eliminated  downburst-caused airline accidents  saving  hundreds of lives. The death rate from tornadoes has been cut by 95%!

The NWS's job -- and only job -- should be to provide outstanding forecasts and  storm warnings for the public-at-large, which pays their salaries.  With the National Weather Service falling apart , the last thing they should be doing is redeploying meteorologists -- when they are already badly shorthanded -- to World Cup cities to provide weather security for the matches.  Kansas City World Cup ticket prices. These are the  least expensive tickets for each match.  Addition: These are prices for the Denver games. The price is for a pair of tickets. You want to tell me to believe the  organizers cannot afford a few thousand dollars for an  expert commercial meteorological service?! The FIFA (World Cup organizers) should take the revenue from just a few of those tickets and pay a commercial weather company -- which after all specialize in this type of assignment -- to do the weather security. This especially true since NWS meteorologists' training in han...

 A safe room, properly constructed, is the way to go. This survived the Enid EF-4 tornado one week ago today.  You can also purchase a tornado shelter. If your home has neither a basement nor a safe room, Survive-A-Storm makes fine shelters. They also have the Storm Warn service where (my recorded voice) will call you for a tornado warning or a warning of ≥ 80 mph winds only.  That way, you don't get called at 5am for hail; which usually, and loudly, makes its presence known without a phone call.

I want to congratulate the NWS for its high quality forecast and warnings of yesterday's violent tornadoes in the South. Undoubtedly, lives were saved given the severe damage.  Well done!!