So I’m in my car on the way home from work, listening to some jazz, and the radio is interupted with the eerie beep-beep-beep of the Emergency Broadcasting System. A computerized voice intones:
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR… KNOX COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE LOUDON COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE UNTIL 745 PM EDT. AT 635 PM EDT… NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTH OF EATON CROSSROADS… OR 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF OAK RIDGE… MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR… FARRAGUT AROUND 645 PM EDT KARNS AROUND 655 PM EDT BEARDEN AROUND 705 PM EDT KNOXVILLE AROUND 710 PM EDT 7 MILES SOUTH OF HALLS AROUND 715 PM EDT
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING… WINDS UP TO 60 MPH… WHICH COULD PUSH OVER SHALLOW ROOTED TREES AND BREAK TREE LIMBS ABOUT THE SIZE OF YOUR WRIST. HAIL UP TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER… OR THE SIZE OF QUARTERS. VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WHICH MAY CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING. FREQUENT AND DEADLY CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING.
SEEK A STURDY SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!
STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
Yikes. I’m a New Englander. I don’t think I had ever heard the EBS before, other than “This is a test. This is only a test.” And where in the car do I get away from the windows?
Made it home safely, and watching the storm from within the apartment, but staying away from the windows!
… later…
Quite the show! No sooner posted than I shut down the computers and yanked the power cords from the walls. The sky went black and the winds whipped the trees around. Power went out three times. Water just poured from the skies. Pretty impressive!
Fifteen minutes later, the sun’s out. Man!
In New England, we get about four days warning when a blizzard is coming. Probably why I’ve never heard the EBS up there.