Climate Change? Nahhh ...

Stories say the candle workers were in a safe space. Not sure what that means, but apparently, they tried

 

Red state? You can wait!

 

For a tornado that big, if you aren’t in an underground shelter then you aren’t safe. Stairwells, closets, bathrooms don’t cut it versus a storm like that.

 

I'm no longer working for a living, so I had the luxury of taking shelter. But apparently there were jail inmates working at this candle factory. In light of the Southern tradition of jail/prison labor, I wonder if they were there voluntarily.

 

Never saw that. Be interesting to see if anyone follows up.

 

I’ve worked in a candle factory seasonally. December is around the clock operation given how many are given as gifts.

 

Accorting to WaPo, a shift supervisor said “They [management] don’t make nobody stay against their will ... When the tornado sirens go off, we move to the back hallways and line people up in a safe spot.”

This storm was clearly massive. My first thought was that this factory was probably built like a giant mobile home, but it apparently had masonry walls that couldn't stand up to the forces that hit it. I agree that the only reasonably safe spot from a storm like that would be below grade.

 

Christ. $8 an hour and mandatory overtime. No wonder the county jail became their staffing agency.

 

One thing I've noticed over the last 10-15 years: "Panhandle-hook" winter storms have been occuring earlier in the season. Here in Wisconsin the climatic pattern used to be that a series of "Alberta clipper" weather systems ushered in winter by rolling in a series of cold snaps from the northwest, along with relatively dry snowfalls of 6 or 8 inches max. A storm coming up out of the Southwest was rare until late February or early March, when sufficient energy was present to push weather northward.

Now we get narrow belts of heavy precip that might clobber one narrow band with a foot or more of wet slop while areas on the warm side of the front get rain. We got 1.3 inches of rain Friday night, along with thunder and lightning. Rain in Wisconsin in mid-December isn't normal.

What once were late-season winter storms have always generated tornadoes in the South, but the tornado season used to start in March more or less.

 

My morning run temps this week (all at the same hour):
Monday - 57
Tuesday - 27
Wednesday - 45
Thursday - 32
Friday - 52
Saturday - 60
Sunday - 33

I have literally gone from shorts to thermals in a 24-hour span.