For the past 8 years, NASA astronomers have been monitoring the Moon for signs of explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the lunar surface. “Lunar meteor showers” have turned out to be more common than anyone expected, with hundreds of detectable impacts occurring every year.

They’ve just seen the biggest explosion in the history of the program.

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National Weather Service meteorologists are currently conducting damage surveys from last nights severe thunderstorm outbreak. The very early data suggests that there were at least 16 tornadoes late yesterday afternoon and overnight.

EF-4 tornadoes contain winds up to 200 mph. EF-3 tornadoes contain winds up to 136-165 mph.

The preliminary damage survey, with details on each tornado, can be found below.

This is VERY PRELIMINARY and it will change.

View Preliminary Track Map in a large map

Base Reflectivity Data from KFWS at 7:58 pm CDT	Storm Relative Velocity Data from KFWS at 7:58 pm CDT
Base Reflectivity Data from KFWS at 8:58 pm CDT	Storm Relative Velocity Data from KFWS at 8:58 pm CDT
Base Reflectivity Data from KFWS at 7:58 pm CDT	Storm Relative Velocity Data from KFWS at 7:58 pm CDT

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
844 PM CDT THU MAY 16 2013

...NWS DAMAGE SURVEYS FOR 05/15/2013 TORNADO EVENT...

...16 TORNADOES HAVE NOW BEEN CONFIRMED. ALL SURVEY CREWS HAVE
RETURNED FOR THE DAY AND SOME OF THEIR INFORMATION HAS BEEN
INCLUDED IN THIS UPDATE...
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Montague County Tornado Wednesday Afternoon (KXAS)

A killer tornado touched down in Hood County in North Texas, southwest of the DFW Metroplex around 8 p.m. Wednesday night. By early Thursday morning the death toll had reached six, with at least 100 people injured—25 requiring hospitalization. The cities of Granbury and Cleburne were hard hit, but most of the deaths were thought to have been in the Granbury area. The tornado was reported to be a mile wide near Cleburne.

The tornado was one of several reported touchdowns in North Texas Wednesday, caused by an upper level storm system that was lifting northward into Oklahoma.

Late Wednesday night, the storms developed southwest into the northern Hill Country, prompting Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for San Saba, Lampasas, Llano, Burnet and Williamson counties. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued for all of the KXAN viewing area until 6 a.m. Early Thursday morning.

Decreasing clouds and very warm temperatures are forecast Thursday, with temperatures climbing to the upper 80s. High temperatures in the low-to-mid 90s are forecast Friday, with readings remaining near or above 90 degrees through the weekend.

An upper level low pressure system over northern Mexico will move into west Texas tonight, then into the southern Great Plains on Wednesday. As this upper low approaches, an increasing chance for showers and thunderstorms is expected overnight across south central Texas. A few strong storms are possible, mainly along and south of the U.S. Highway 90 corridor. The main concerns are damaging winds and hail.

Even though many areas received impressive rain totals on Friday evening, we desperately need more.  Hopefully, considering Friday’s rain soaked the ground pretty well, tonight/tomorrow’s rain will filter down into the lakes.  Lake Travis is currently 43′ below normal levels and Lake Buchanan is 23′ below.  Here are forecasted rain totals through Wednesday evening from one of our computer models we use in the First Warning Weather Center.

Now here is a cool byproduct of having hundreds (or thousands) of satellites orbiting the earth.

Made possible by Time Magazine and Google, the website below allows anyone to  zoom in on Landsat images (which look like the images you would see on Google Earth), and use a scroll bar to advance through time.

A sample image from the site, showing an aerial view of the comparatively-undeveloped Austin in 1984.

Time Magazine Timelapse

This allows you to see how your town, neighborhood, or anywhere on the globe has changed and developed since the images began in 1984.

Have fun exploring!

This week’s rain is a certain help but as you can imagine we’ll need more to keep our yards and gardens green as the temperatures heat up . Here are some tips from our partners at Earth Gauge about getting the most out of your sprinkler system.

Smart About Sprinklers

Did you know that homes with automatically timed sprinkler or irrigation systems use up to 50 percent more water than homes without these systems? The amount of water wasted can jump even higher if sprinkler heads are damaged or pointed in the wrong direction, or the system is programmed incorrectly.

Taking a few minutes to tune up your sprinkler system saves water and money. EPA’s WaterSense program offers these simple steps to make sure your sprinkler system is in top shape before the summer watering season is in full swing:

• Inspect. Check for missing, broken or clogged sprinkler heads. If you aren’t sure what to look for or how to replace broken sprinkler heads, ask a professional for help. Get started with a list of WaterSense certified landscape professionals.
• Connect. Look for leaks where sprinkler heads connect to pipes or hoses. If you notice water pooling in your yard, a leak may be the culprit. A tiny leak the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen can waste over 6,000 gallons of water per month!
• Direct. Make sure you aren’t watering the sidewalk, driveway or side of your home. Redirect any sprinklers that are hitting the wrong spot.
• Select. Program the right watering schedule for your yard and climate – and update the schedule with the seasons. As the weather warms up, avoid watering mid-day when the sun will evaporate much of the water before it reaches your plants.

More tips for sprucing up your system, picking the right watering schedule and managing your irrigation

An upper-level trough digging over the southwestern U.S. began sending disturbances our way Thursday afternoon, and did not cease until late Friday night.

Several rounds of severe weather and heavy rainfall brought central Texas much-needed relief from an otherwise mainly dry month of May.

48-hour rainfall totals (Thursday AM – Saturday AM) from the LCRA Hydromet network.

Rainfall totals in the metro area approached 3 1/2″ in some areas by Friday night as the continued heavy rains caused flooding of several low-water crossings in the area.

That upper-level trough has now become cut-off from the main jet stream flow, sinking even deeper south into northern Mexico. This re-routing of the jet stream will steer the storms into south Texas over the next several days instead of here in central Texas.

That means that our Mother’s Day weekend is looking fantastic. Enjoy!

Storm reports and rainfall totals from Friday’s storm system are below.

Mostly Cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms on Saturday. Rains will will taper off by Saturday afternoon/early evening…with skies becoming partly cloudy. Lows Saturday morning will be generally in the 60s…with highs Saturday in the low 80s… to mid 80s Rio Grande Plains. Partly Cloudy and warm Sunday with lows in the 50s north to the lower 60s south. Highs Sunday will be in the upper 70s Hill Country to mid 80s Rio Grande Plains. (NWS)

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX

941 PM CDT FRI MAY 10 2013

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...

..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....

            ..REMARKS..

0500 PM     TSTM WND GST     REAGAN WELLS            29.55N  99.80W

05/10/2013  E60 MPH          UVALDE             TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

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