Hit Again!

8:15 am – It has become all too surreal to be on 97.7 FM with Stevie Ray Hemann relaying the tornado reports.  In the broadcasting business it is called “wall-to-wall” coverage.  You leave regular programming and give undivided attention to the severe weather threat.  A supercell thunderstorm with a tornado had done significant damage in South Memphis through East Memphis and was leaving the city headed NE.  A pronounced “hook echo” signature was evident on the cell.  This would be the location of the tornado.  It wasn’t difficult to track.  It never got lost in the thunderstorm.  It was an appendage on the south side of the supercell. 

Communicating this information on the radio the storm was consistent in its path.  It would generally travel along the I-40 corridor.  The hook return stayed south of I-40 until it was 9 miles due west of downtown Jackson.  At 6:50pm it took a jog to the left and went across I-40 and into Union University.  Below is the image for the StormLab Doppler Radar that I utilize in my severe weather coverage.  The image time is 6:59pm:

THWT is my location near North Park.  The hook is the lower right side of the echo. Above the “hook” the white pixiated area is where the large hail was being detected by radar.