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From: Jesse Ferrell (WeatherMatrix) (jesse{at}weathermatrix.net)
Date: Sun May 26 2002 - 15:49:54 EDT
At 03:58 PM 5/26/2002 -0300, you wrote:
> The bridge collapased during a severe thundestorm..could winds have
played a
> role?
> http://www.msnbc.com/news/757631.asp?pne=msn
In accident situations, it is always possible that the weather had
something to do with it. I'm not sure how bridges are affected by winds or
water weight. The article says a couple of curious things:
A. "The I-40 bridge collapsed at 7:48 a.m. during a severe thunderstorm,
according to the Highway Patrol..."
That sounds correct per the observational data below.
B. "Webbers Falls Mayor Jewell Horn described the collapse as an accident
and said that the barge may have come loose overnight and hit the bridge in
the early morning. She said that it was not clear when exactly when the
barge hit the bridge and suggested that it may have been the weight of
heavy vehicles crossing the bridge that finally forced it to collapse."
Here's what we know:
This seems to say that they aren't sure when the barge actually hit the
bridge, but per the above the bridge went down at 7:48am. The barge could
have hit the bridge before that, and the weather could have loosened the
barge except the conditions look pretty calm and benign overnight. If the
outflow boundary (see below) had loosened the barge, it should have shown
up somewhere in the obs data as a high wind gust.
C. "A second bridge where traffic would have tried to pass after the first
bridge collapsed also was hit Sunday morning and was shaking but hadn't
collapsed, Horn said. It wasn't clear if the same barge hit both bridges."
Here's what we know:
1. Location: Webbers Falls OK
Map:
http://www.mapblast.com/myblast/map.mb?&CMD=GEO&IC=0:0:8:Bridge%20Collapse+(MSNBC)&AD2=&AD3=Webbers+Falls,OK&AD2_street=&apcode=&W=456&H=259&GMI=1&myzoom.x=255&myzoom.y=7
2. The nearest NWS obs site that I can see is JSV (Salisaw OK), which did
report heavy thunderstorms at 10:30 am (8:30 am Central Time) but winds of
only 14 knots. The other stations nearby reported similar conditions.
10am 72 63 73 080 5 3008 43 BKN 50 BKN HI ??? 7 T
1019 72 63 73 200 14 3012 12 SCT 18 SCT 37 OVC 7 -TRW
1036 70 61 72 140 6 3012 12 SCT 18 BKN 55 OVC 3 TRW+
1036 70 61 72 140 6 3012 12 SCT 18 BKN 55 OVC 3 TRW+
11am 66 61 82 210 5 3013 27 SCT 50 SCT 80 OVC 7 TRW-
1116 66 61 82 000 0 3011 90 OVC 7 T
1136 66 61 82 000 0 3012 100 OVC 7 TRW-
3. The radar shows thunderstorms in the area, and a good outflow boundary
out ahead of them.
http://www.rap.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/neilley/NIDS_archive?Radar=INX&Composite=NONE&Start_date=20020526&Start_time=09&Duration=360&Frequency=15&Parameter=1
4. The NEXRAD Storm-Total precip doesn't look locally high in that area
(you can see the lake and the I-40 on this map).
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/radar/latest/DS.80stp/si.kinx.shtml
5. There are a couple of Oklahoma Mesonet stations in the area but they are
now pay-only. If anyone has access to this data I'd be interested to see
if there were any high wind gusts reported in the area.
http://okmesonet.ocs.ou.edu/network/
6. AWS pulls MUSKOGEE/DAVIS FLD, OK NWS station so that probably says they
don't have any stations out that way.
http://www.instaweather.com/
-- ==================================================== Jesse Ferrell - Meteorologist & Internet Developer - WeatherMatrix 3500+ Weather Enthusiasts Can't Be Wrong! www.weathermatrix.net============================================================= StormReports Email List -- For Options Including 1 Email/Day: http://wxmatrix-membersonly/group/stormreports/join TO UNSUBSCRIBE, EMAIL TO: stormreports-unsubscribe{at}wxmatrix-membersonly
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