Weather Report

Weather Report has now been bringing you weather forecasts and storm reports for an entire year!  Our first year has been a great one with a lot of support and growth.  2008 was full of weather events that kept us busy keeping you informed.  Thanks for your patience and support!  In this special report, we will take you back to December of 2007 when Weather Report was first established.  We will then work our way through time, showing all the major weather events and improvements that have gotten us where we are today.

12/12/07-  David Harrison went to the THV studio in Little Rock to visit chief meteorologist Ed Buckner.  Ed taught David how to read models and make forecasts.  This experience eventually led to the establishing of Weather Report.

12/16/07-  Weather Report sent out its first advertisements to potential subscribers.

12/18/07-  The first weekly forecast was sent to 6 subscribers.

12/22/07-  Weather Report sent out its first Holiday Edition.

1/7/08-       Arkansas experiences its first tornado outbreak of the year.  This system spawned 50 tornadoes across the country and was the second largest January tornado outbreak in history.

2/5/08-       Another tornado outbreak kept Weather Report on its toes on the night of February 5th.  A tornado broke a state record by traveling a total of 122 miles, destroying Atkins and causing major damage in Clinton.  In total, this storm system killed 14 people and will go down in history as the ‘Super Tuesday Outbreak.’

2/18/08-    Weather Report announced the opening of its website: www.weatherreport.webs.com.

3/6/08-       Winter Weather hits the state, covering the ground with up to 18 inches of snow.  This system closed schools across the state.

3/13/38-    The floods begin when a strong storm system stalls over the state, dumping 5 inches of rain and spawning one tornado.

3/17/08-    The flooding continues when another system stalls and produces 8 inches of rain.

4/3/08-       Yet another tornado outbreak struck the state.  This system spawned at least 6 tornadoes and produced 5 inches of rain.  This rain added to the rainfall in March caused ponds, creeks, and lakes to overflow their banks and flooded the state even more. 

5/2/08-       A major tornado outbreak hit the state on the 2nd.  A total of 11 tornadoes killed 7 people.  One tornado stayed on the ground for 45 miles and reached EF-3 status.

5/10/08-    Another round of tornadoes hit Arkansas when a strong cold front moved through the state.  Even though there were only four tornadoes, one of these hit the major town of Stuttgart, destroying 250 buildings.  Discovery channel’s ‘Storm Chasers’ was there to document the tornado. 

5/26/08-    Weather Report purchased GR2 Analyst.  Analyst is a high tech radar program that allows chasers and storm trackers to go inside the storm through 3D graphics to locate possible tornadoes.  This has helped us tremendously when tracking severe weather.

6/13/08-    Throughout most of June and July, little rainfall and extremely hot temperatures led to moderate drought conditions.  This contributed to several small forest fires in the central part of the state.

7/18/08-    David Harrison went to the National Weather Service in North Little Rock to visit chief forecaster John Lewis.  John showed David the standard operations at the Weather Service and even let him launch the 6 p.m. weather balloon! 

8/24/08-    Remnants of tropical storm Fay brought isolated thunderstorms to southeast Arkansas.  This would prove to be just the beginning of the state’s tropical weather.

9/1/08-       Hurricane Gustav hit the coast of Louisiana as a category 3 hurricane.  It then followed a cold front and turned towards the state.  Most of central and west Arkansas experienced tropical storm force winds and received up to a foot of rain.  Nearly 100,000 Entergy customers were without power and numerous trees were blown down.

9/12/08-    Hurricane Ike hit the coast of Texas as a strong category 2 hurricane.  It then, just like hurricane Gustav, turned toward Arkansas.  Excessive amounts of moisture in the state kept Ike as a strong tropical storm as it crossed through Arkansas.  Unlike Gustav, hurricane Ike mainly produced strong wind gusts and tornadoes.  7 tornadoes were reported and numerous trees were blown down knocking out power to 250,000 homes and businesses.  The storm only dumped 5 inches of rain, and flooding was minimal.  Hurricanes Gustav and Ike were the first strong tropical systems to hit the state since hurricane Rita in 2005.

12/16/08-  The first round of winter weather in the 08-09 winter hit the state.  A strong cold front moved through the state, dropping temperatures at least 30 degrees.  Moisture behind the front turned into sleet and snow.  Up to half an inch of ice fell in central Arkansas, while the north got an inch. 

12/16/08-  Weather Report has been providing weather forecasts for an entire year.  As you have read, this past year has been full of extreme weather.  Compared to the six subscribers we sent our first forecast to, we now send Weather Report to over 50 addresses!  We would like to thank you for all of your support and hope that you stay with us for another great year!

Thank you for a great year!