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The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no...

Florida officials say two adults have been killed and four children have been seriously injured after two suspected tornadoes swept through central Florida early Sunday. The dead and injured were all members of the same family and living in a mobile home in Duette, Fla., near Tampa. The grandparents were killed, and the children were taken to the hospital. Their father was injured as well. At least three tornadoes have been reported in the area, where severe weather warnings were issued Sunday as storms continued to battle central Florida, according to The Weather Channel.

Four people were killed in Garland, Texas, after fierce storms and tornadoes swept through the region Saturday, police said. All four deaths occurred near the intersection of I-30 and I-90 in Garland, within a couple thousand feet of each other, Garland police spokesman Mike Hatfield said. It is believed all four victims were in vehicles at the time, Hatfield said. There were also multiple injuries reported at an apartment building south of I-30, he said, but the injuries were not considered life threatening. At least two tornadoes were confirmed to have touched down south and east of Dallas beginning at...

One of the many tragic consequences of human-caused climate change is the nearly unprecedented lack of tornadoes during the first half of March. According to Greg Forbes, severe weather weenie at The Weather Channel, the only other year when this happened was 1969. Clearly, this is just one more example of how we are destroying the climate system.

We have a bit of a problem in the weather world. It's a good problem, and it has kept death and destruction to a relative minimum: In the last three years, there have never been fewer tornadoes in the United States since record-keeping began in 1950. According to Dr. Greg Forbes, severe weather expert at The Weather Channel, there have been 838 tornadoes spawned in 2014 through Dec. 15. That still seems like a boatload of twisters, and it is, but when that number is visualized with averages, it tells a bigger story of the 2014 Tornado Shortage. Keep in...

PILGER, Neb. — Shock and grief gave way to hard work Wednesday in Pilger as crews began removing what the tornado left behind. Only about 350 people live in the town where an estimated 80 percent of buildings were leveled or damaged beyond repair Monday. But on Wednesday — the first day people other than residents were allowed into the affected areas — 1,800 people registered as volunteers and came to lend a hand. Some came with no connection to the town, but many others were family and friends of Pilger residents, or neighbors who had been spared.

At least 18 people were killed Sunday by three separate tornadoes spawned by a powerful storm system that moved through the central and southern United States. The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management confirmed early Monday that at least sixteen people had died after a tornado tore through central Arkansas, while an Oklahoma county sheriff's dispatcher reported that one person had died in the town of Quapaw, near the state's borders with Kansas and Missouri. Fox News has also confirmed that one person died when a tornado hit Keokuk County, Iowa. The Arkansas tornado touched down about 10 miles west of...

Tornado alley is about to come out of hibernation with a ‘significant multi-day severe event’ that may match all-time historic tornado outbreaks. Forecasters are predicting severe storms across Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas from Saturday to Monday that are expected to produce strong tornadoes impacting millions of people. The confluence of a low pressure system and moisture from the Gulf of Mexico are forecast to fuel supercell thunderstorms that will produce heavy rain, damaging winds, hail and deadly twisters. The storm front will move across the Rocky Mountains and into the southern plains by Saturday morning before strengthening on the...

For the second consecutive year, U.S. March tornado counts are among the lowest on record. March U.S. Tornado Stats Through March 20, only four tornadoes have been confirmed across the nation. According to The Weather Channel's severe weather expert Dr. Greg Forbes (Facebook | Twitter), only two other Marches have featured fewer tornadoes through the first 20 days of March, dating to 1950: 1969: 0 tornadoes 1951: 3 tornadoes However, the lowest March U.S. tornado count on record dating to 1950 was six tornadoes in March 1951, according to Forbes. If the rest of the month features at most one...

A storm system that buried parts of Wyoming and South Dakota in heavy, wet snow on Friday also brought powerful thunderstorms and possible tornadoes to the Great Plains. The storm dumped at least 33 inches of snow in a part of South Dakota’s scenic Black Hills, National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Helgeson said Friday afternoon. Later in the day, thunderstorms rolled across the Plains, and witnesses reported seeing tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota. …

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - The greatest risk of being impacted by a significant tornado in the United States is in a Deep South corridor that includes Huntsville and Birmingham, not the Great Plains region of Oklahoma and Kansas, according to a study co-authored by a University of Alabama in Huntsville researcher. The research paper was written by Tim Coleman, an adjunct professor and researcher in the Earth Systems Science Center at UAH, and Grady Dixon, an associate professor of meteorology and climatology at Mississippi State University. The paper is scheduled to be published by the American Meteorology Society's Weather and Forecasting,...

If you’re like me, you’re a news and politics junkie who follows current events with obsessive, hawkish vigilance. Sometimes, the never-ending outrages pouring in make you just shake your head with exasperation, wondering how so much can be so wrong, so often, everywhere. But certain events are like sudden, brilliant beacons of light and hope in an abyss of darkness and despair. They remind us that sometimes when all appears to be irredeemably lost, God has other ideas. In fact, that’s basically the entire message of Christianity: ”The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone” (Psalm 118:22, Luke 20:17)....

Storm chaser, Tim Samaras, his son Paul and crew member, Carl Young were killed Friday in a tornado that ripped through El Reno, Oklahoma. Samaras followed storms for over 30 years. His fascination with tornadoes began when he was about six years old and saw the tornado in The Wizard of Oz. Samaras once stated, “My passion for storm chasing has always been driven by the beautiful and powerful storms displayed in the heartland each spring."

“Today is one of those days that could produce tornadoes that are the type that you cannot survive even at the center of your house and away from windows,” said Martin. “The danger zone is directly east of the dryline from Oklahoma City to the Texas border. This is going to be a very dangerous setup.” Martin issued the enhanced tornado watch at 12:05 pm and it is in effect through the evening hours. Storms are expected to develop later than usual. “The dryline is the focus spot right now,” said Martin. This is easily seen in Western Oklahoma this...

MAJOR TORNADO OUTBREAK IMMINENT!!! (Please Share) I don't often get worked up over events. There are times when all of the parameters are there and very little happens, generally because the models underestimate the CAP strength which prevents thunderstorm development. You better pray they aren't estimating this one correctly because the rest of the ingredients are all there for large damaging tornadoes between the hours of 6pm and midnight across C OK.

Here we have Oklahoma City and it's suburbs in ruins. Not a peep from the Pres or FEMA. Who is minding the store in D.C. Apparently No One.

Let me preface by saying that I'm not criticizing Bill Karins for his choice of words. Thank, uh, goodness, we live in a country where we're free to believe in any God or no God at all. But I do see Karins' construction as a sign of the cultural times. The Morning Joe meteorologist today aired dramatic footage of the weatherman at the NBC affiliate in Wichita, Kansas ordering his colleagues to take shelter because a tornado was headed right at the station. Said Karins: "By the grace of whatever, God or whatever else, it lifted the second it got...

A pack of tornadoes killed at least six people and injured dozens in East Texas Wednesday night. The city of Granbury, southwest of Ft. Worth was hardest hit.

Baseball-sized hail is tearing the siding off homes in northeast Nebraska, a tornado has touched down in Kansas and forecasters are warning residents across the nation's midsection to brace for "life threatening" storms. The National Weather Service says a rain-wrapped tornado touched down in southwest Kansas on Saturday afternoon, while at least three possible tornadoes were reported earlier in central Oklahoma. No injuries were immediately reported. But forecasters are expecting the most dangerous weather later in the day and are warning residents across the region of possible fast-moving tornadoes overnight. Officials say a large area spanning from Minnesota to Texas...

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for sections of north central Kansas Saturday afternoon after earlier reports of ripe conditions for storms across the heart of the country. The counties included in the warning are western Jewell County, Mitchell Couonty, Osborne County and Smith County, all in north central Kansas, according to the National Weather Service. The warning will last until 12:45 CDT. Earlier, for only the second time in U.S. history, the Storm Prediction Center issued a high-risk warning more than 24 hours in advance, said Russ Schneider, director of the center, which is part of the...