April Monsoon

Published 12:00 am Saturday, April 2, 2005

A strong cold front and an upper-level disturbance covered the area again Thursday and early Friday with severe weather.

Many were still drying out from a soaking that came through the area last weekend, leaving several downed trees, power outages and a few chipped windshields from quarter-sized hail.

According to David Baxley, CBS8’s weekend meteorologist, the storms are classic spring disturbances.

&uot;Our recent inclement weather has been caused by classic springtime scenario,&uot; he said.

&uot;By classic, I mean it happens when warm, humid air has been streaming out ahead of several sharp cold fronts from the west. During the springtime, there’s a battle going on between wintertime and springtime, causing marked temperature contrasts and wind shifts. These low pressures barrel toward the Southeast, and when certain parameters align just right at just the right time, thunderstorms can be produced.

Depending on how these low pressures track across the state and how unstable the atmosphere is, Mother Nature can unleash violent thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.&uot;

Here in Butler County that translated into some minor problems throughout the area.

According to Bob Luman, Butler County Emergency Management Agency director, other than heavy rains, few problems were reported.

&uot;We had a few trees down in the area and over the weekend there were some power outages, but nothing as significant as other areas around us,&uot; he said.

On Friday morning, Luman was driving around the county checking on flood prone areas for any serious nees.

&uot;We’ve had a several inches of rain in the last 24 hours,&uot; he said.

&uot;We’ve got water up in several places and we are monitoring things because we’re worried about people’s ponds or dams breaking.&uot;

That was the case on Shamrock Lane in the Midway community where a pond trap homeowner Jonathon Smith inside.

The water covered the road and driveway preventing him from driving out.

By early afternoon the water began receding.&uot;

Another danger in the area involved lightning.

Luman said over the weekend and in the storm late Thursday night, some experience lightning hits.

&uot;I’m sure some computers are not up and running right

now,&uot; he said.

Baxley said the weekend should look great with mild temperatures and drier conditions.