Ice...covered with snow...yikes!

I woke up this morning and found my river birch trees bending over and touching their toes.

About a 1/4 inch of ice is coating everything not inside and under a roof. Speaking of rooftops, the ice and snow has clogged guttering systems and is weighing down everything.

The good news; we don't have as much snow as the folks just to the west of the metro area. Snowfall totals west of Pratt are reported at more than two feet. Forecasters say we should climb just above freezing today...maybe by a degree or two...so hopefully the ice will melt off the trees and power lines.

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to next week: Temperatures in the upper 50s!

Send me your storm photos...I'll post them online. E-mail stormshots@kfdi.com

Wind, wall clouds and hail...

The National Weather will be trying to confirm the reports of four tornadoes in Cowley County Monday.

Storm spotters reported four brief tornado touchdowns near Geuda Springs and Strother Field Airport. Minor tree damage has been reported there. The winds also made travel for high profile vehicles (trucks, vans and semis) tough and dangerous. Several people were blown off the road while driving.



I did not get a chance to get out and chase, but I directed KFDI's Interactive Coverage in the Internet...and I also directed Wichita Eagle storm chaser (photographer) Travis Heying to a tornadic thunderstorm.

Travis got into the storm in Cowley County and found a few interesting cloud formations, and maybe a rotating wall cloud.

Severe weather on Monday?

The National Weather Service has painted southcentral Kansas yellow -- meaning a medium or moderate risk of severe weather.

A big storm system is moving our way will bring chances of "rapidly developing thunderstorms"...that could become severe quickly.

Main threat will be hail and strong, damaging wind. Tornado chances could also be good...although not as a probable as first thought.

Stay with KFDI News for the latest severe weather threat and forecast information. Monday could be a good day for storm chasers across the central region of the state. I'd start in Pratt...

Another sports computer debacle

The Big 12 gets six teams in the NCAA tournament. That's cool...but is it deserving?

There were four teams who finished 9-7 in the conference (K-State, O-State, Texas and Texas A&M). That'd be good enough for a four-way tie for 4th place in the Big 12. K-State received the 1st round bye in the tournament and the other three had to play. I can understand sending Texas and Oklahoma State to the Big Dance. They each won two games in the conference tournament. Texas beat Colorado and K-State...and Oklahoma State beat Iowa State and Oklahoma). K-State doesn't deserve to get in because Texas beat the Cats in the tournament.

The "wait a minute" thought from me comes from the NCAA bid for Texas A&M. The Aggies were bounced in the first round of the tournament by lower seeded Texas Tech. In theory, the Wildcats survived the tournament a day longer.

For the Big 12 to get six teams in and K-State get over looked is crazy. Remember, I said K-State didn't deserve a bid either.

Instead, that sixth Big 12 bid should have gone to Creighton (who won 26 games compared to the Aggies 23). Or how about St. Mary's...or Auburn....or San Diego State... or....the list could go on.

Maybe it's time we let the games in the regular season decide the NCAA invitations...and not a computer. After all...what is the RPI?

I think the RPI and college basketball is becoming as frustrating as the BCS computer thing!

Shocker basketball...the post-season?

The Wichita State men's basketball season might not be over.

The Shockers are awaiting a possible invitation to play in the CBI post-season tournament. The College Basketball Invitational will include 16 teams that are not invited to play in the NCAA or the NIT. The games begin next Tuesday and if the Shockers are invited, the would probably play next Wednesday.

Wichita State sports information officials confirm the school is waiting to hear from the CBI selection committee --- a phone call that could come on Sunday.

Shocker basketball SID Larry Rankin would only say "we're waiting for Sunday".

Stay with KFDI News and this blog for the latest discussion on college basketball's selection Sunday.

ESPN commentators at the Big 12 Tournament

Does anyone else think it's funny how much the commentators on TV were talking about how "Texas A&M was a guarantee in the NCAA tournament" before they got beat by Texas Tech?

I mean, seriously...Texas A&M blew a 15 point lead as a 6th seed in the tournament and got beat by the 11th seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders...and you're telling me they belong in the NCAA tournament over (7th seed) Oklahoma State or (4th seed) K-State?

Maybe that will teach those ESPN wannabies to remain unbiased while they are broadcasting the Big 12 Tournament games.

I wonder how that 'foot in the mouth' tasted....huh Doug Bell? Whatever happened to non-partial broadcasting?

History burns in Wichita

Wichita's historic Comley-Neff house was destroyed by fire last night. The house near 11th and Broadway was built by a prominant lumberman in 1899. It was added to the National Historic Register in 2005.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Firefighters had hoped they had stopped the fire on the second floor, but the fire got into the walls and spread into the attic. Once that happened, crews had no choice but to stand outside and pour water on the house, hoping to keep themselves safe.

Fire danger....YIKES!

The fire danger is real...it nearly took my house.

Here's video proof...

Severe weather awareness week

Well, severe weather awareness week is kicking off with a bang.

Wind, rain, hail and tornadoes on Saturday as a preview of the week and then round two Monday night.

Tune into AM 1070 Morning Newsradio Tuesday at 9:20 and 9:40 and we'll be talking to National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist Chance Hayes about severe weather preparedness.

E-mail your questions to jwells@kfdi.com

Still a mystery

Well, I checked with the National Weather Service on Monday and they told me they were still checking reports and would hopefully have a revised number of weekend tornadoes Tuesday or Wednesday.

One of the weather service assessment team members told me they had in correct and incomplete data from the weekend reports.

There were initially seven reports of tornadoes in southcentral Kansas...but something tells me a few of those reports were on the same tornado (Reno and Harper counties).

Weekend tornadoes = first chase day for KFDI

The National Weather Service will continue damage assessment today to check the report of seven tornadoes in Kansas on Saturday.

Weather service storm reports of tornado touchdowns came from Reno, Harper and Barber counties. There were four reports from Reno, two from Harper and one from Barber. Damage assessment officials are checking to see if a few of the reports may have been duplicates of the same tornado. No major damage or injuries were reported from the weekend storms.

It's my guess that a few of the tornado reports were from the same twister...just different people reporting to the NWS at different times.

I'll call Chance Hayes with the NWS-Wichita later today to find out.