In The Vortex

Category: Extreme Weather

All things Extreme Weather!

  • FedEx Plane Crash In Lubbock, Texas

    With the onset of our first real winter weather this season, comes the crash of  a FedEx cargo plane at Lubbock’s Preston Smith International Airport.  Above is some raw video taken by one of the photographers at the station I chase storms for, KCBD.

    The crash occurred at 4:37 a.m.  with temps below 20F and a freezing mist.  During the entire night freezing fog/mist, sleet and even a little snow has fallen, coating everything in a sheet of ice.  Airport officials have now stated that weather was not a factor.

    UPDATE for actual conditions at the time of the crash:

    Conditions at: KLBB (LUBBOCK, TX, US) observed 0953 UTC 27 January 2009
    Temperature: -7.8°C (18°F)
    Dewpoint: -9.4°C (15°F) [RH = 88%]
    Pressure (altimeter): 30.13 inches Hg (1020.4 mb)
    [Sea-level pressure: 1022.7 mb]
    Winds: from the N (10 degrees) at 16 MPH (14 knots; 7.3 m/s)
    Visibility: 3 miles (5 km)
    Ceiling: 500 feet AGL
    Clouds: overcast cloud deck at 500 feet AGL
    Weather: FZDZ BR (freezing drizzle, mist)

    The plane, a FedEx ATR-42 dual prop plane, was landing on the end of the runway, veered off and caught fire.  Both pilots made it out safely.  One was treated and released, the other is in the hospital at this writing in satisfactory conditions.  Reports are they both walked away from the plane.

    The airport was immediately closed, but has now been reopened with limited services.

    Weather in west Texas has been on a downturn the last 36 hours as an artic cold front gripped the southern plains just in time for trof of low pressure to bring in a little moisture.  Farther east, conditions are even worse, with just about all modes of winter weather associated with this system.  Large numbers of auto accidents being reported all across the southern plains, as is typical with winter weather down here.

    Unfortunately the measurable precipitation will end up being on the low side, in an area on the verge of drought already.  Some places recieving this winter precipitiation have not seen measurable precip in over 3 months.

  • My Favorite TV Meteorologists are at KCBD

    A recent thread started over on StormTrack about who was everyone favorite mets, so I added a post and thought I would share it here with my readers.

    My favorites are of course the guys I work with all the time.

    John Robison

    Steve Devine

    Cary Allen

    John is the chief met and has been with KCBD since 1983, a year before I even started chasing, and is like the Dick Clark of weather, they guy just doesn’t age much. No matter how bad things get, even when we have had tornadoes about to plow through a town, he’s always kept a calm cool demeanor and never overplays a situation unlike some of the other stations here do with their “run for your live” reporting on thundershowers.

    Steve is our morning guy and also has a very calm demeanor when sever weather is in progress and always enjoys long conversations in severe weather.

    Cary has every bit as much of a storm chaser heart as I do, even if he can’t get out as much as he would like. He only recently returned to KCBD a couple years ago, he had been there before. He also still does stuff for a lot of central Texas radio stations remotely. We have lengthy conversations about chasing stories and the weather of the day.

    While they are all colleagues, I am also pleased to call them friends. Although we are in a smaller market, I think they are as good of a team of weather guys you can find anywhere, which in do small amount contributes to why KCBD is #1 in our market by a HUGE margin. If you ever are in the area, or staying the night, you’ll get your best weather coverage right there on Ch. 11.

    When svr wx is threatening, almost always all three of them are working together on it.