Severe weather is kicking off today in Michigan with some large hail being reported out of some storms.  The National Weather Service office in Grand Rapids, MI sent us this picture of a hail stone that was reported at 12:15PM local time near Ludington MI.  Severe weather is possible throughout much of the lower peninsula today with the main threats being large hail and damaging tornadoes.  A large tornado is not out of the question as well.

Some video is just coming on of the Hail Storm that impacted the St Louis Metro Area on April 28th 2012.  This video is from O’Fallon IL which is near St Louis, and its quite a hail storm indeed.  Above is a picture put on Twitter of the hail in Fairview Heights IL by Mikey Vincent.

The Norman Oklahoma Police Department just released Dash Cam footage of a police car driving into a tornado on April 13th 2012.  Sgt Robert Scott appeared to be on his way to seeking shelter at the police station when the tornado caught up to him.  You can see and hear the debris and tree branches being thrown at his patrol car just as he pulls into the Norman Oklahoma Police Department.

This shows how dangerous it can be driving into a tornado like this chaser did in Wichita Kansas as you have no visibility and could easily have trees and debris thrown through your car door killing you.  Chasers should follow the tornado, not intercept it.  You can’t save lives if your part of the people that need saving.

4.5 Inch Hail was reported in Okawville, IL which is part of Washington County according to the National Weather Service in St Louis, MO.  While the Storm Report reports that a trained spotter is the one who reported it, and these are known to be false reports at times a second report by a National Weather Service employees states that there was 3.5 Inch Hail at his location.  Both hail reports were measured.

Definitely some dangerous storms out there today, with many funnel clouds being reported as well.

4.5 Inch Hail in Okawville, IL

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
640 PM CDT SAT APR 28 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0520 PM     HAIL             OKAWVILLE               38.43N  89.55W
04/28/2012  M4.50 INCH       WASHINGTON         IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            CORRECTED FOR TIME

3.5 Inch Hail in St Clair County IL

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
655 PM CDT SAT APR 28 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0415 PM     HAIL             O`FALLON                38.59N  89.91W
04/28/2012  M3.50 INCH       ST. CLAIR          IL   NWS EMPLOYEE

            RELAYED FROM A NWS EMPLOYEE. RELATIVE OF EMPLOYEE
            REPORTED 3.5 BY 2 INCH HAIL. DISC SHAPED. LASTED FOR
            ABOUT 10 MINUTES.

On the April 28th 2012 opening night of horse racing a thunderstorm producing hail decided to pay a visit to the Churchill Downs according to twitter users at the track.  The above photo from Kyle Piercy via Twitter shows hail falling as people seek shelter under the roof of the stands at the track in Louisville Kentucky.  We will bring you more information as it comes in.

One is dead, with over one hundred injured – four critically after large hail and heavy winds blew over a tent in the St Louis Metro area at a tent set up next to Kilroy’s sports bar not far from Busch Stadium.  17 people were taken to local hospitals according to local police and the death was the result of a heart attack a victim suffered under the tent after it collapsed.

The incident which happened about 3:50 PM local time had wind gusts between 60 and 80 MPH according to witnesses, but meterologists are claiming that measured wind speeds in the area were more near 50 MPH.  According to Public Safety the tent was permitted and inspected per city code.

The St Louis Cardinals Game ended just nearly one hour earlier.

Thanks to our reader Joey Mosteller for the tip.

Several Notable Chasers were pulled over during today’s chase by the Kansas Highway Patrol and either ticketed or warned about the illegal activities that they have been repeatedly doing during storm chasing.  This has been a long time coming, and after chasers drove into the Wichita Kansas tornado recently putting the public in danger and a Kansas Emergency Manager claimed chasers were obstructing emergency response vehicles.  I for a long time have stood against this behavior, and today so did the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Reed Timmer and TVNs Dominator Pulled Over

Reed Timmer and TorandoVideos.net’s Dominator was pulled over and ticked today, as seen in the picture above.  Many chasers are saying they have footage of repeated reckless driving by the dominator.

David Reimer of Texas Storm Chasers Pulled Over

David Reimer of Texas Storm Chasers was also pulled over today for illegal use of emergency vehicle lighting for using strobe lights and lightbars while on the Storm Chase today.

What are your thoughts on the crackdown?

There is likely to be some tornadoes later today in the Kansas – actually a pretty significant chance of them.  So when that happens this page will switch over to a live blog of the tornadoes so we can keep everyone up to date.  So be sure to click the like button at the top to share this page with your friends and family so they can stay up to date on the latest weather information today.  Below is the information we have this morning.  Above is the SPC tornado possibilities for today.

The Storm Prediction Center Day 1 For April 27 2012

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE ONGOING THIS MORNING OVER WESTERN KS
AHEAD OF THE MAIN UPPER SYSTEM.  PRESENT INDICATIONS ARE THAT THESE
STORMS MAY CONTINUE THROUGH THE MORNING AND INTENSIFY FURTHER BY
EARLY AFTERNOON OVER CENTRAL KS AS A COMBINATION OF DAYTIME HEATING
AND MOISTURE ADVECTION DESTABILIZE THE REGION.  THE CLUSTER OF
STORMS IS EXPECTED TO TRACK EASTWARD ALONG/NORTH OF PRIMARY
INSTABILITY GRADIENT THROUGH THE DAY ACROSS CENTRAL/EASTERN KS AND
EVENTUALLY TOWARD THE KC AREA BY EARLY EVENING.  BACKED LOW LEVEL
WINDS AND ENHANCED VERTICAL SHEAR NEAR THE WARM FRONT WILL PROMOTE
SUPERCELL STRUCTURES CAPABLE OF LARGE HAIL.  STORMS MAY EVENTUALLY
BECOME SURFACE BASED BY LATE AFTERNOON WITH AN INCREASING RISK OF
TORNADOES /POSSIBLY STRONG/.

From the NWS Wichita April 27 2012 Area Forecast Discussion

EXPECTING THUNDERSTORMS TO
DEVELOP ALONG THE DRYLINE ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS BETWEEN
18-21Z. MOISTURE IS STREAMING NORTHWARD AS THE WARM SECTOR PUSHES
INTO SOUTHERN KANSAS. THIS WILL CAUSE LOW CLOUDS/MVFR CEILINGS TO
BE A CONCERN FOR THIS MORNING/AFTERNOON. STORMS COULD COULD SEVERE
WITH HAIL BEING A CONCERN THIS MORNING AND THEN HAIL...WIND AND
TORNADOES THE CONCERN WITH THIS AFTERNOONS DEVELOPMENT.

From the NWS Wichita April 27 HWO

THE GREATER COVERAGE OF STORMS IS
EXPECTED ACROSS CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL KANSAS ALONG A WARM
FRONT. OTHER MORE ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS MAY DEVELOP IN SOUTH
CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS AHEAD OF A SURGING DRYLINE. THE STORMS
WILL BE CAPABLE OF VERY LARGE HAIL UP TO BASEBALL SIZE...DAMAGING
WINDS...AND A FEW TORNADOES. THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE EASTWARD OUT
OF EASTERN KANSAS THIS EVENING.

From Topeka KS April 27 2012 HWO

SIGNIFICANT ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATER
THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. SUPERCELLS COULD FORM THIS
AFTERNOON AND PRODUCE LARGE HAIL TO THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS AND
SOME DAMAGING WINDS. TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH THESE
STORMS. THE HIGHEST LIKELIHOOD FOR THESE STORMS TO OCCUR WILL BE
SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70 AND EAST OF A SALINA TO WICHITA LINE.

From Topeka KS April 27 2012 AFD

EXPECT INITIAL STORM MODE TO BE SUPERCELLULAR. A FAVORABLE LOW
LEVEL SHEAR PROFILE...CHARACTERIZED BY BACKED SURFACE AND 850 MB
WINDS VEERING WITH HEIGHT TO SW WINDS AT 500 MB WILL CREATE A
FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR THE STRONGEST STORMS TO PRODUCE A
TORNADO OR TWO. ALSO ANY STORM WHICH MOVES OUT OF THE WARM SECTOR
AND CROSSES THE WARM FRONT COULD ALSO PRODUCE A TORNADO AS IT
ENCOUNTERS THE BAROCLINIC ZONE. STORM MOTIONS WILL BE ROUGHLY
TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AROUND 40 MPH...WITH RIGHT MOVING SUPERCELLS
MOVING E-SE AT 25 MPH

In yet another blow to the tornado damaged town of Woodward Oklahoma the White House announced yesterday that it is denying federal aid for tornado victims in the town.  The application for a Presidential Declared Disaster made by Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin was denied Friday by the Obama administration.  A presidential disaster declaration would of opened up additional assistance to property owners and residents in the area.

You can view picture of the Woodward Oklahoma tornado damage here.

There are significant problems in the Storm Chasing Community – and I don’t think anyone is arguing that other than the people that don’t really pay attention to whats going on.  The bigger problem is what should be done to rectify the problem in a fair manner, and what should be done about those that continue to put themselves and others at risk.There are chasers who are doing really stupid things driving into tornado’s with vehicles that are not fitted for it.  There are chasers who are stealing other chasers photographs claiming there his own.   There are chasers who operate unlicensed remote control aircraft drones illegally for commercial purposes.  There are chasers who are getting in the way of first responders.

Many of the chasers who claim they are more experienced are blaming the locals who are just rubberneckers.  The problem is chasers are rubber neckers as well and there really is no distinction between a chaser and a rubber necker.  The other problem is unless something is done there will be significant lives lost due to chasers activities during a tornado strike.

Chasers were mad at the Kansas Highway Patrol for blocking their access to roads near a tornadoes path claiming it violated their liberties to get closer to the tornado, when roads were not blocked chasers accidentally (but by making a series of stupid choices such as chasing at night, in a urban area, and without radar data) drove right into a tornado putting their lives and others in the area at risk.  Yes I’m saying others because if there injured it stops rescuers from assisting other victims who didn’t drive into the tornado, and their vehicle can easily become a flying projectile.

Yes there are serious problems in the storm chasing community.  The truth is it does not matter if it’s an experienced storm chaser or someone just starting it out still reflects on the community.  The fact is that these stupid behaviors by storm chasers will cost lives eventually either directly by them driving like fools, driving into a tornado, or indirectly by hindering rescuers or themselves needing rescue and stopping rescuers from rescuing others.

This is going to be a hard problem to solve, but it is a problem.  What do you suggest should be done to solve the problem?  What should be done to those that repeatedly put themselves and others at significant risk in stupid situations?  My opinion is if your putting yourself in danger, your also putting others in danger because you have just added to the list of people needing medical attention in a community overwhelmed by a tornado and are now part of the problem.