Wicked Weather Warning Wakings
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (128824)
Gainesville, Florida
February 24, 2016 6:37am CST
Okay, let me start off by saying the title probably doesn't make much sense, but my high school English teacher would be mighty proud of me for my creative use of alliteration!
I didn't get much sleep last night, due to the fact that weather warning alert notifications were going off on both my personal and my work cell phones throughout the night. I am a very light sleeper, so each warning notification that popped up on my phone woke me up.
We have severe weather approaching the north central Florida area, with strong thunderstorms and tornados affecting the region with the advance of this most recent cold front.
Although I am a very tired puppy this morning, I appreciate all the weather alert notifications that were sent out throughout the night. Fortunately, to this point there hasn't been any tornados touching down yet, but it's nice to know someone out there was looking out for us during the night.
My biggest fear during severe weather events is that a tornado will strike overnight when everyone is sleeping. In those situations, people have little to no warning that danger is imminent.
So, to whoever sent out weather alert notifications all night last night, I thank you for your service (even though my body is silently cursing you due to a lack of a good night's sleep!). Keep up the good work!
And everyone out there who was or is in the path of this dangerous weather, I hope you stay safe!
19 people like this
19 responses
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
24 Feb 16
There was a 4.8 earthquake yesterday north of Bakersfield, which is in the desert way outside of Los Angeles. I did not feel it, and neither did they in L.A. It cause no damage as far as the news reported. I'll take a little shaking over a tornado any day.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Feb 16
I think an earthquake would freak me out, especially since I've never experienced one! It's kind of sad to say this, but every time I've ever visited California I was sort of hoping to experience a minor quake just so I can say I've been in one!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Feb 16
@ElizabethWallace That's true! I've been reading quite a bit of information on the Oklahoma earthquakes. It's really sad what's going on there and in other places that allow fracking.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
25 Feb 16
@moffittjc You don't have to travel this far to feel an earthquake. Thanks to the fracking fanatics, Oklahoma now has more earthquakes than California. They are getting pretty big now too.
@VivaLaDani13 (60812)
• Perth, Australia
5 Apr 16
How does that work anyway with the notifications? Do you have to sign up to something to be notified or is this something that just happens to every one of you in and around the area?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Apr 16
In the past, you either had to be sitting near your TV watching for warnings to be posted, or you had to have a special emergency weather radio. Now, everything's done through smartphones. The cell phone service providers have all partnered with the government to automatically send out alert notices and warnings in the event of severe weather. It's quite a loud and annoying alert system, but that's what makes it so effective.
1 person likes this
@VivaLaDani13 (60812)
• Perth, Australia
6 Apr 16
@moffittjc Such a great idea. I like it.
1 person likes this
@VivaLaDani13 (60812)
• Perth, Australia
6 Apr 16
@moffittjc lol that will sure boost your heart rate then!
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
24 Feb 16
Who cares whether the title makes sense or not? Sense is overrated and I much prefer nonsense.
It is in the light of news about severe weather in many areas that I feel fortunate to live in such a temperate climate, despite the fact that I am constantly unhappy with the rain.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
24 Feb 16
@moffittjc Doubtful, because I was rather insane before I saw my first rain. It can be depressing to have for days on end, but we accept it is fact of life since we cannot control it.
Most English people usually see the amusing side of most things, so it would more than rain to make me miserable.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Feb 16
I often wonder, do you ever get used to the constant rain, or is it pretty much a depressing site all the time? I have friends who live in Seattle, where it rains all year long, and they seem like the most depressing people I have ever met. They say it's because all that rain makes them sulky.
At least you seem to have a good sense of humor, so the constant rain may not be affecting you too much! Wait, since you are full of nonsense (as you said yourself), maybe all that rain has gotten to your brain!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Feb 16
Usually when we have such severe warnings as we are having today, it is usually over with quickly. The faster these cold fronts push through, the more severe the weather, as the cold air mass collides with the warm air from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. It's like two trains colliding at full speed! This will hopefully be all over with by 10am, and then it will clear up. But then we'll have very strong winds for the rest of the day, and that's when a lot of the damage will start to hit, as numerous trees are downed by the winds.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Feb 16
@Elizaby I heard those initials last night (PSC), as well as another one I hadn't ever heard of before: PDS, which stands for Possible Development Scenario. It gets pretty scary when they start talking about tornados and start throwing out acronyms and other related jargon that we've never heard of due to the fact that we never get that kind of weather!
1 person likes this
@Elizaby (6902)
• Pensacola, Florida
24 Feb 16
@moffittjc Here we were in the moderate risk that the weather center puts out which is rare for where we are at (except for hurricanes) and the weather service has the initials PSC (possible severe conditions) which our weatherman said you generally only see those initials in tornado alley as that classification has never been seen here.
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (91013)
• United States
24 Feb 16
Thankfully we don't get many tornado warnings here but I think tornadoes scare me more than any other type of storm. I see some areas did get hit by tornadoes pretty bad but glad you were/are safe
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (91013)
• United States
25 Feb 16
@moffittjc I have to take back what I said about no tornadoes here. That storm that came through last night has us under tornado warnings too and it was mighty scary for me. WE also had a terrible thunder storm with lightening and crazy winds.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Feb 16
I'm glad all of my friends here on myLot seem to be safe and sound!
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Feb 16
The radio reports this morning are predicting that we will get winds up to 60 mph today! That's crazy!
2 people like this
@Elizaby (6902)
• Pensacola, Florida
24 Feb 16
@moffittjc They have been gustying in the 50s here today and were in a wind advisory til at least 6 tonight.
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Feb 16
I guess they got a couple of tornados farther south from where I live. That always seems to be the case...severe weather will approach the western panhandle of Florida and cause destruction, then fizzle out in north central Florida where I live, and then come back with a vengeance in central and southern Florida. I guess I'm lucky that the bad stuff always seems to jump over where I live!
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
24 Feb 16
We lucked out - as the storms moved north they weakened and all we got was many inches of rain and lots of strong winds.
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
25 Feb 16
@moffittjc We had 4 inches of rain but the wind yesterday was horrible. Stuff flying all over ...our bird feeder when across the yard and it never did that before and we have bad winds a lot.
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
@AbbyGreenhill Four inches of rain is a lot! Was there bad flooding at all?
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Feb 16
It was the same with me as well...as the storms moved farther east and south, they fizzled out as well. We barely got any rain out of the whole ordeal!
@Tampa_girl7 (54714)
• United States
25 Feb 16
We survived a night of bad weather too.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
Didn't Mississippi get hit with a bunch of tornados? Was everything okay in your town?
@jillybean1222 (6406)
•
26 Feb 16
no wicked weather here today. i do understand the wicked weather wakings because i grew up in tornado country
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
25 Feb 16
That threat is very scary. I know that it would keep me awake. I hope that things calm down in your part of the country.
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
It's all good now! Today was an absolutely picture-perfect day, and not a cloud in the sky!
@JESSY3236 (22199)
• United States
25 Feb 16
We were under a tornado watch, but I don't think anything bad happen around here.
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
Yeah, we were under a watch as well, but all that severe weather just fizzles out. It never even really stormed here at all, just some breezy conditions and a few sprinkles from time to time. Don't get me wrong...I'm not complaining about it one bit!
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Feb 16
When there is a major bushfire we keep tabs on it online. I think others are able to access the information on their mobile phones but ours is rarely turned on.
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Feb 16
Here in Florida we have to keep an eye out for major wildfires as well. This is the time of year when normally things get so dry that forest fires flare up. However, we have had an incredibly wet winter, so we probably won't have a bad wildfire season this year.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Feb 16
@JudyEv It seems like it's never ending. In Florida, we pretty much have wildfire season, and hurricane season! That pretty much covers our whole year! And the two go hand-in-hand with each other. If we have an active hurricane season, we usually have less wildfires. If we have a slow hurricane season, it usually means we have a bad wildfire season.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29819)
• Momence, Illinois
24 Feb 16
I hope the tornadoes die down before they cause any deaths or damage. We currently have howling winds and sleet. By 9 am we are getting snow with high winds which means drifting and in the rural areas closed roads. It's supposed to snow from 9 am until tomorrow morning with total accumulation between 3 and 8 inches. Man I was so hoping for no more snow this winter.
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Feb 16
We had such beautiful spring-like weather last week, that I was hoping our winter here in Florida was over. However, with this nasty cold front moving through, it looks like we'll have at least another week of cold.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
@fishtiger58 Since I'm a Floridian and know absolutely nothing about snowfall quantities, I am venturing out on a limb here and thinking that 4 inches is probably not too horrible? What is typical in a snowfall? Or I should ask, what is considered a really heavy snowfall?
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29819)
• Momence, Illinois
25 Feb 16
@moffittjc We ended up getting like 4 inches, but the drifting snow is really bad. I had a 3 foot snow drift the whole length of my driveway last night. It's supposed to be in the 50's Saturday so thankfully it should all melt
@iamshane487 (1138)
• Manila, Philippines
25 Feb 16
I have not seen tornadoes in personal ever and there is no tornado in our place.
@amadeo (111937)
• United States
24 Feb 16
Here we are getting the tail end of all of this.Heavy rain and gutsy wind.We are waiting for this.
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Feb 16
I couldn't believe when I turned on the news this evening that you guys are now the ones getting hit with all this nasty weather! It's unbelievable that these storm systems can stretch so far across the country!
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
24 Feb 16
Good use of alliteration. Perhaps Woefully Woken by William's Willfully Wicked Weather Warnings would have worked as well? Or Tornadoes be Toppling Tommy's Turquoise Tomatoes ...
I would have got so fed up I'd have turned my phone to silent!
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Feb 16
Okay, you totally blew me away with your examples of alliteration! Much better than mine!
The only reason I didn't turn my phone to silent is that with two kids in my house, I need to make sure I am ready and prepared to respond to any potential disasters! I would never be able to live with myself if I disabled an alert system and something happened to my children!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Feb 16
Well, I'm pretty sure the crazy wind you are experiencing right now in the Philippines is not related to our storms we are having here! If so, we'd all be in pretty big trouble, as that would mean it is a worldwide storm!
@Elizaby (6902)
• Pensacola, Florida
24 Feb 16
I had those alerts for most of the evening til about 11 last night watching the happenings on TV . Tornado did hit in the northeast part of Pensacola though the warning started in the southwest part where I am but the tornado didn't touch down til after it past here.
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Feb 16
Did you ever see any follow up reports that mentioned how many tornados touched down between Louisiana and Florida? I didn't see a total number, but I briefly caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye a map on the weather channel that looked like it had a dozen or so tornados marked on it.
