WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS - TRAVEL WEATHER

HEAVY WEATHER will once again result in delays and possible cancellations of flights heading in and out of Dallas/Ft. Worth during the first half of the week.  Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis may all see their share of problems as well, thanks, or no thanks, to rain which is expected several times this week.  Showers will invade the Northeast, but probably nothing bad enough to cause anything more than minor delays from Boston and Providence, southward into New York City and Philadelphia.  Even quieter weather expected for Hartsfield in Atlanta, as well as Charlotte.  Bookend type rain for the West Coast, with drizzle and showers during the first part of the week in Los Angeles, followed by a chance of showers and even thunderstorms in San Francisco on Thursday and Friday.

GLOBAL WARMING FOR THE BIRDS:  In what could be a sign of adaptation to global warming, more and more species of birds are being found in places further north than usual.  Some are even staying for the winter season, instead of following the usual migratory path to warmer climates.   According to Cornell University ornithologist David Winkler, birds may have nature’s best advantage against temperature rise, as they can simply fly away.   And that can make them bellwethers of climate change.  Still, others contend that outside factors may contribute to the anomaly, including a growing popularity in backyard bird feeders and a loss of native habitat to development. 

KATRINA DISASTER FAULT OF THE  CORPS:  According to a study released last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are at fault for the floods which followed Hurricane Katrina.  The Team Louisiana report is the state of Louisiana’s official state study of the levee failures.  Among the key findings, the report states that the Corps based its designs on research through 1959, doing nothing to strengthen them when research in 1972 and 1979 increased the projected strength of the model storm the system was to protect against.  In addition, in 1985 the head of the levee project ordered his staff to ignore an official reduction in the elevation of the land they were building on.  That left levees and floodwalls as much as two feet lower than claimed.

SOUTHWEST STORMS:   At least 16 tornadoes touched down in eastern New Mexico last Friday, destroying numerous buildings and injuring 16 people, several of them critically.  The worst of the damages occurred in the towns of Logan and Cloves.  Two dozen mobile homes were destroyed in Logan, which also saw flooding rains.  Severe weather outbreaks are not uncommon in eastern New Mexico, near the Texas border.  But they normally occur from about mid-April on.
 

COMPUWEATHER CASE OF THE WEEK "Outside-In Rain"

While walking down the indoor stairway within her apartment complex, a woman slipped and fell on the landing in between the second and first floors.  The tumble sent her down the remaining ten stairs to the ground floor, causing severe injury to her back.  She was unable to return to her job and perform her normal work duties.  Surgery was unsuccessful in helping her mobility, and the accident left her unable to move around or to sit for an extended period of time.

The woman claimed that she slipped because there was a puddle of water on the second floor landing.  She stated the reason why the water was there was due to rain coming through a large window which was routinely left open.  She said that the hand cranks, which were used to open and close the windows, were missing.  Thus, the windows were frequently left in either the open or shut position for days and even weeks at a time.  Attorneys representing the owners of the apartment complex presented a settlement offer in the amount of $ 175,000.  The woman’s attorney felt that the offer was inadequate to compensate his client for her pain and suffering.  He sought out the expert advice of CompuWeather to hammer down the facts of the case.

At trial, the CompuWeather forensic meteorologist testified that there had been a heavy rainstorm the night before the accident occurred.  Over one inch of rain had poured down at the location of the apartment complex.  In addition, the storm produced strong, gusty winds from an east and northeasterly direction for the first seven hours of the more than ten hour rain event.  This was a critical point, as the window in the apartment complex faced east.  The conclusion was that the strong east winds would have caused the rain to be blown through the window and onto the adjacent stairway landing where the slip had occurred on the morning after the rainstorm.

The testimony by the CompuWeather meteorologist finished the second day of the trial.  The next morning, before court was called to order, a settlement figure of $350,000, or double the original offer amount, was presented to the Plaintiff and accepted.