Horrible Tornado Season in USA

IMG_0002_3.webp

Worst tornado season since 1995.

This picture was taken last Tuesday from my front yard. The tornado, an EF2 wedge is about 1 mile away, moving away from us to the northwest. At its closest point, it was 500 yards north, just past the edge of the development, in a corn field. It left a 1/4 mile wide path.

Over the course of 5 hours, the sirens went off 7 different times. One funnel passed directly overhead and did significant wind sheer damage without touching down. Between that and the hail damage, I need a new roof.

I'll be glad when this tornado season ends. With the loss of life this year, I'll be thankful our only casualties have been the roof, a fence and a few windows.
 
I think June is the peak month for Tornado's, at least in Oklahoma. I hope this year is an exception and the peak is already behind us.
 
There was a tornado in Springfield, Massachusetts yesterday (1 dead), and another in Westfield, Mass, (2 dead).
The shocking thing about these tornados is that the New England states area just doesn't get tornados. I think the last one they had was back in somewhere around 1972 or so.
As my friend Chris said, "this is the kind of stuff we watch in movies. We just don't get these here".
 
Forsaken said:
But now Hurricane season is suppose to be starting soon.
Click to expand...

Don't say that. I've been through several of those. The most frightening thing I've experienced outside of combat was having the roof torn off the house by a hurricane. Not piecemeal, mind you, but the entire roof at once.
 
Peggy said:
There was a tornado in Springfield, Massachusetts yesterday (1 dead), and another in Westfield, Mass, (2 dead).
The shocking thing about these tornados is that the New England states area just doesn't get tornados. I think the last one they had was back in somewhere around 1972 or so.
As my friend Chris said, "this is the kind of stuff we watch in movies. We just don't get these here".
Click to expand...

I grew up and lived for many years in the Western MA area, so it was strange to see the video of the funnel passing over the Connecticut River, sucking up water and knocking big rig trucks over. I was born in 1971 and I don't recall any tornadoes growing up. We had one major Hurricane, Gloria (if I remember correctly) in the 1980s and of course blizzards from time to time. So, this tornado business is bizarre.
 
Fred Sherman said:
Don't say that. I've been through several of those. The most frightening thing I've experienced outside of combat was having the roof torn off the house by a hurricane. Not piecemeal, mind you, but the entire roof at once.
Click to expand...
We're overdue for one in our area. :(
 
Fred Sherman said:
Don't say that. I've been through several of those. The most frightening thing I've experienced outside of combat was having the roof torn off the house by a hurricane. Not piecemeal, mind you, but the entire roof at once.
Click to expand...

Been through many hurricanes, including Andrew. I'm glad to not be living in Florida anymore.

jadmperry said:
I grew up and lived for many years in the Western MA area, so it was strange to see the video of the funnel passing over the Connecticut River, sucking up water and knocking big rig trucks over. I was born in 1971 and I don't recall any tornadoes growing up. We had one major Hurricane, Gloria (if I remember correctly) in the 1980s and of course blizzards from time to time. So, this tornado business is bizarre.
Click to expand...

It really is. All of the weather this year has been very bizarre.
 
I have a feeling Tornado alley is shifting east and if it really does it will be bad being in high population density areas.

I don't know the accuracy of this quote but here it is. "The state which has the highest number of tornadoes per unit area is Florida, although most of the tornadoes in Florida are weak tornadoes of F0 or F1 intensity. A number of Florida's tornadoes occur along the edge of hurricanes that strike the state. The state with the highest number of strong tornadoes per unit area is Oklahoma. The neighboring state of Kansas is another particularly notorious tornado state. It records the most F4 and F5 tornadoes in the country."

From here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_climatology

I see the numbers quoted for the average number of tornados here varying quite a bit so I don't trust the numbers. I have seen the average quoted as between 57-74. Most of our tornados don't hit anything. If F-3-F-5 tornados start becoming common to the east of here it will be very very bad. The change in weather is starting to become startling.
 
An F4 hitting a wheat field in Kansas is not good for the farmer and to a slight degree reduces the food supply causing almost unmeasurable cost in food.

Imagine what an F4 would do in New York City.
 
Peggy said:
It's almost impossible to prepare for a tornado. You have very little warning. 10 - 15 minutes tops, sometimes not even that much. You grab your kids and run for a bathroom or basement, and hope for the best.
Click to expand...

Not completely true, especially with the storms of the past six weeks.

For days leading up to the severe weather outbreaks, local National Weather Service offices, local televisions stations, even the Weather Channel were talking about these storms. The Weather Channel even has their TorCon ranking system (scare factor). The higher the number, the more likely there will be tornadoes in a certain area.

Taking a peak at the forecast in the morning (smartphone apps, local newspaper, morning television, etc) will pretty much give you an idea if there's a chance for severe weather for the day. If so, keep an eye to the sky. Check the weather every couple of hours. Make sure you have a NOAA Weather Radio at home and at work/school. Seriously, a really good weather radio costs $40 and will last for many years, if not forever. There's no reason not to have one.

I hope you've heard of "Build a kit. Make a plan. Be informed." Take a couple of hours, build a kit and make a plan. It's really not that hard. Then just stay informed. It's amazing how a little preparation could literally save your life.

We spend hours, days, months, years building our online communities. Why not take a couple of hours and prepare for a disaster?
 
Chimpie said:
Not completely true, especially with the storms of the past six weeks.

For days leading up to the severe weather outbreaks, local National Weather Service offices, local televisions stations, even the Weather Channel were talking about these storms. The Weather Channel even has their TorCon ranking system (scare factor). The higher the number, the more likely there will be tornadoes in a certain area.

Taking a peak at the forecast in the morning (smartphone apps, local newspaper, morning television, etc) will pretty much give you an idea if there's a chance for severe weather for the day. If so, keep an eye to the sky. Check the weather every couple of hours. Make sure you have a NOAA Weather Radio at home and at work/school. Seriously, a really good weather radio costs $40 and will last for many years, if not forever. There's no reason not to have one.

I hope you've heard of "Build a kit. Make a plan. Be informed." Take a couple of hours, build a kit and make a plan. It's really not that hard. Then just stay informed. It's amazing how a little preparation could literally save your life.

We spend hours, days, months, years building our online communities. Why not take a couple of hours and prepare for a disaster?
Click to expand...

The warning was not sounded until after all this had happened. In fact this system was not expected to have a tornado in it, at first it was called a micro burst but that has been changed. This was just 50 miles north of the weather center portrayed in the movie Twister.

092.jpg


093.jpg


035.jpg


034.jpg


024.jpg


059.jpg


076.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom