National Weather Service explains why severe weather threat didn't materialize
FOX 5 Live VIPIR radar showing storms on the morning of May 6, 2022. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
ATLANTA - The author of a National Weather Service thread on Twitter has a sense of humor about a forecast "bust."
Meteorology isn't an "exact science," and forecasts tend to over-prepare for severe weather events more often than downplay the possibility. That was the case Friday, May 6, 2022, when NWS issued Tornado Watches in North and Central Georgia as potentially damaging storms rolled through.
The chance for severe storms dwindled until the calendar turned to Saturday and the threat had passed.
Why the false alarm? The National Weather Service blames dry slots.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines a dry slot as a "zone of dry (and relatively cloud-free) air which wraps east- or northeastward into the southern and eastern parts of a synoptic scale or mesoscale low pressure system." Dry slots are often visible in satellite images.
NWS says dry air was in abundance and suppressed strong to severe storms. Models were off on how a band of storms moving through Friday morning would develop, and the possibility of dry air wasn't very apparent.
The shear, which can produce rotation, was moving a direction that didn't favor "accessing" the potential.
The tweet thread went on to explain that "bust" days are frustrating to meteorologists, but they're thankful there was no severe damage to life or property from stormy weather.
"So, all this to say that we understand yesterday didn't go as forecasted," the final tweet said. "This is a tough discipline and we do our best with what we've got. We're very thankful we didn't have an outbreak of severe weather and hope you enjoy the mild and dry Mother's Day weekend."