Advances in weather forecasting

By Elton Camp
Elton4562@Yahoo.com
In the 1930s, weather forecasting throughout the nation was in its infan
cy, mainly relying on ground reports, weather balloons and past trends. Advance
warning of threatening conditions were rarely possible and people suffered as a
result, especially in the rural areas.
People spoke about the “September gales” that occurred spasmodically in the
fall of the year, but had no way to associate them with the remnants of hurrican
es that blew into Alabama from the Gulf of Mexico. Even people in South Alabama
were often taken by surprise by destructive hurricanes when they arrived with u
nexpected ferocity. The most lethal hurricane in United States history struck G
alveston with warning coming from the weather bureau only within hours of its ar
rival, far too late to attempt evacuation.
The first year my parents worked in North Alabama, one of the heaviest s
nowfalls in the history of the area blanketed the ground with nearly two feet of
heavy, wet snow. It fell on already frozen ground and the temperature remained
well below freezing for weeks afterward. Transportation came to a halt for nea
rly two weeks. The winter storm had come as a complete surprise to the public a
nd to the weather bureau.
Mother had experienced snow only as scattered flakes in the air where she’d grown
up. Her unfamiliarity with North Alabama enabled her husband to have fun at her
expense.
“It snows like this a whole lot. I’ve seen it even deeper and it’ll stay most of the
winter. We won’t be able to get around. And you’ll go for months without seeing yo
ur parents. You might as well get adjusted to it.” It was only after hours of he
r upset and tears that he admitted the cruel tale was untrue.

The following spring, they had potentially much more serious encounter w
ith severe weather. One day had been distinctly cool, but overnight a warm fron
t abruptly moved into the area. Due to the clash of temperatures, the sky grew
threatening. A dark, ominous wall cloud appeared. Brilliant lightning flashed
repeatedly. The thunder from close bolts vibrated the windows of their rural sc
hoolhouse.
“We’d better get all the children in the same room. They’ll feel better with us both
,” Eloise urgently whispered to her husband. He nodded in agreement.
As the teachers stared apprehensively out the window, they saw a dark funnel dro
p suddenly from the wall cloud. It extended almost instantly to the ground and
began to roar. Large pieces of hail rocketed from the sky.
“It’s a tornado,” Howard whispered. “There’s no storm pit anywhere that’ll hold this many
eople. Even if there were, we wouldn’t have time to get to it. We’ll have to ride
it out where we are.”
“We’re going to play a game,” she called out to the children with as calm a vo
ice as she could muster. “Everybody get down on the floor under the desks and cov
er your head with your arms. Anybody who moves or talks loses.”
The children obeyed but giggled at the strange instructions. While the
adults watched out the window, the tornado passed on the opposite side of the ro
ad from the school. A dense debris cloud of dust, leaves, limbs, and pieces of
tin arose as it ground along. Since it moved parallel to the building, they es
caped damage. It might have changed direction at any moment. There had been no
advance warning or even notification that threatening conditions were moving in
to the area.
Significant improvements in weather forecasting didn’t come until after th
e horrible “day of the tornadoes” in the 1970s. The death and destruction of that d
ay, including the town of Guin in Marion County made the government and weather
authorities ashamed and they became determined to do better. From that came Dop
pler weather radar, satellite photos and the warning systems that have saved cou
ntless lives.