It began as a relatively normal summer day. SPC had issued a Slight Risk for our DMA July 11th, 2010. I watched the radar diligently as a single cell storm developed in a matter of minutes and intensified over Williamson County, one of our more populated areas. Much to my surprise, no warnings were issued, yet reports, pictures and videos began to pour in.
As a meteorologist who reports for the news department 60% of her time, I cover as many weather and science related stories as possible. While the storm itself impacted just a small percentage of our viewers, severe storms like this are common and can strike any part of the Midwest at any time of the year. I took this event as an opportunity to educate and show the public how the NWS assesses damage. The story involved trailing the Warning Coordination Meteorologist, viewer video and photos, and an explanation of the culprit, a microburst with sustained winds of 75 mph.
The conclusion as to what caused the damage didn't heal the scars that had been made on the surrounding land and its people. At its strongest the storm produced golf ball size hail, destroying more than two dozen acres of freshly planted pumpkins. Devastation overwhelmed the farmer, who thought all was lost. I joined him for a follow up story on his harvest in October and much to his and my surprise, his loss was minute compared to what could have been debilitating.
This same practice can be done for numerous weather events, like drought for example. I did stories throughout the fall months on lack of rainfall impacting various subjects: agriculture, local vineyards and wines, and leaf color. As station scientists we are obliged to do more than explain what's going on outside a viewer's window; we must show the impacts weather has on the local economy and its people.
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