A tornado a mile wide ripped into Kansas, I can't quite believe this hasn't already been posted. Aside from the fact that this is scary and that 11 people died (so far ), a rather large part of me can't even register those facts cause it's busy going "Cool!". A real F5 tornado, a mile wide! The weather geek in me can't help but take enjoy the fact that these things can actually exist and weren't just made up by Hollywood types for Twister.
On a more sober note, are all you central staters OK after the recent storm surge?
[ May 08, 2007, 11:13 AM: Message edited by: Alcon ]
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Alcon, I'm going to be honest.
I have two problems with your post. The first is the profanity, which is against the terms of service for this site and unnecessary, so I'd like to politely ask you to edit your post and remove it.
The second, is any type of expression of glee or happiness about an event that took the lives of 11 people, that we know of so far. We do have hatrackers in that part of the country, that might have lost friends or family.
I'm not saying you can't be impressed by the weather event...but a little bit different tone might be called for here.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I agree...although I am sure Alcon didn't mean it quite the way it sounded.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
Profanity fixed. I dunno, if I can change the tone much more than that. The awe and perhaps boyish reaction of going "Cool!" to the raw power of nature is pretty much what I'm feeling just now...
I'm sorry if it offends people, I was hoping to share that awe and enjoyment of this event.
Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :
This news is hitting me rather hard tonight. A few weeks ago was the fortieth anniversary of a major tornado in my area. No, I wasn't alive when the tornado hit, but I went to all of the anniversary events (I have a friend who's a metereologist, and I promised her I'd go and take notes) and it was a rather exhausting weekend, listening to survivors telling their stories and seeing photos of the devastation that occured in intersections I pass through all the time.
I'm really feeling for the people in Kansas right now. I can't imagine losing 95% of your town.
Alcon: I think awe is a natural reaction. I felt curiosity and awe while looking at many of the photos of my area's tornado. Not sure I'm comfortable with the word "enjoyment" though.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
Remember watching Twister, how the storm chaser characters were happy when big tornadoes showed up? That sort of enjoyment. Were I not so into space, storm chaser is something I mighta considered doing.
Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :
<== never saw Twister
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
Hmm... It's sorta hard to explain. It's the same enjoyment I feel when watching a jet fighter fly over head or do maneuvers. Intellectually I know that thing's sole purpose is to kill people. But all I feel is "holy cow, that's awesome!"
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
They are impressive. Of all the natural disasters, it is one you can actually see. Alcon, I understand your awe. I took it as more awe than glee or happiness, but I read it after the edit. It's hard to be amazed by something that kills.
Still they are amazing to see.
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
I took it as you were turning into Robert.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
I'm a bit bemused that the link was to the BBC.
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
The news from that town is awful. Those poor townspeople.
I share Alcon's awe of tornadoes. Here I relate when I tried and failed to see an average F1 or F2 tornado.
I hope if ever I hear of an F5 in the area I would have sense enough to take shelter immediately. Tornadoes that size are stone killers.
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
I'm pretty sure Alcon didn't mean any disrespect by voicing his awe at the power of this tornado. As a Kansan, I didn't take any offense. The storm was awe-inspiring, and a little scary, even on the doppler radar Friday night, which is where I (safely) observed it from. I say scary, because that thing was heading N-NE and NE, directly toward my location. Thankfully, it didn't hold together that long.
As a 'storm chaser' (I use that term loosely; I haven't chased any storms for more than 3 years), I had to reconcile my love of storms with the harsh fact that they destroy lives. My excitement in seeing a tornado might inspire loathing or other emotions in the people around me, particularly if they've been injured (emotionally or physically) by a tornado in the past.
Gluing together my awe and interest in the weather with that awareness involved some hard questions about my motivations and character.
My conclusion was this: I would rather that storms rumbled over empty country, where nothing, not even crops, were damaged. I don't take any delight in seeing property damage. Also, I'm not a weather buff purely because I get an adrenaline rush. Every time I observe the weather, I add to my body of knowledge about it. Realistically, damage and injuries from severe weather will happen regardless of my desires, and regardless of whether I pursue weather as a hobby.
The best thing I can do is remain respectful of the fact that other people have different experiences with the weather than I do.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Go-lly. Don't take this the wrong way but I'm glad the count is only 11. What a monster of a tornado.
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
Thanks for the link aspectre. I'm amazed the fatalities are only at 11 after seeing those photos.
This guy's blog has animations of the radar reflectivity and Doppler velocities of the tornado.
Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
It's a shame no one seems to have gotten pictures of the tornado itself, although I can understand why people would probably have other priorities while it was actually happening.
Posted by Architraz Warden (Member # 4285) on :
quote:Originally posted by ricree101: It's a shame no one seems to have gotten pictures of the tornado itself, although I can understand why people would probably have other priorities while it was actually happening.
Didn't the tornado hit at 10 or 11 at night? Which to me would be worse I think... Something about not being able to see what's coming / happening / happened.
I can share a bit of Alcon's awe, I've seen three tornadoes in my life without having to chase them far (the joys of living in the Texas Panhandle). Those just ripped up farmland and fence (and F2 at the strongest I believe), so there wasn't any guilt associated with being amazed by those.
I have however helped clean up the aftermath of several of the Dallas tornadoes in the late 90's. I got to learn the markings for first check / last check / survivor / fatality that they leave on the buildings as they conduct searches. Even among the destruction and suffering they can cause, there are some spectacular and frightening things tornadoes can do (such as 2x4s through trees, and framing nails clear through a car).
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
I've read there's a video of the Greensburg tornado accompanied by a smaller twin which collapsed before the EF5 hit the town. Possibly taken by the same amateur tornado chaser who captured that "First Pictures" video immediately after the tornado had passed.
Viewing the devastation, that 1563 survived out of 1574 townspeople can only be described as miraculous, regardless of basement "tornado shelter"s (check out KAKE's "Macksville Farm Leveled" video).
On an ironic note, "Greensburg was named for stagecoach driver D. R. Green. He once ejected Carrie Nation from his coach after she snatched a cigar from his mouth and tossed it away." And, "Among the only structures that survived in Greensburg was the Bar H Tavern," KiowaCounty's sole bar. And apparently the only public accommodation left sufficiently intact to safely use as a temporary morgue.
[ May 08, 2007, 09:16 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
quote:
quote:It's a shame no one seems to have gotten pictures of the tornado itself, although I can understand why people would probably have other priorities while it was actually happening.
Didn't the tornado hit at 10 or 11 at night? Which to me would be worse I think... Something about not being able to see what's coming / happening / happened.
Pictures of another night tornado in Kansas: this one lit by the lightning flashes of the accompanying storm. But I've read that even without lightning, a tornado can internally generate a glow bright enough to distinguish it from the background night. There is a video of the same Harper tornado available for purchase.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
And now Parkersburg has also been devastated by an EF5 tornado. More photos. With 200+mph/322+kph winds, an EF5 rips homes off of their foundations. And even basement storm shelters provide little-to-no protection.
2007 and 2008 produced the only two EF5s in this past decade. One can only hope that this is not a beginning of a trend.
And it's still over a month before the peak of this year's tornado season is reached.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
Wow... that is really worrying. F5s have in the past been really, really rare. Having two hit in consecutive years is very not good.
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
quote:And even basement storm shelters provide little-to-no protection.
Proof, please.
If people retreat to their basements and huddle under a $10 card table from Wal-Mart, then they can expect to be crushed by debris. That's why tornado warnings are also accompanied by the instruction to "take shelter under a sturdy piece of furniture, such as a workbench." To quote a famous storm chaser and weather scientist, "The atmosphere is notoriously intolerant of ignorance on the part of human beings."
Study after study has indicated that the best place you can be in a tornado is below ground.
quote:And it's still over a month before the peak of this year's tornado season is reached.
This depends on your location. In the southern plains, tornado season is past it's normal peak. In the northern plains, the season is just getting started.
quote:F5s have in the past been really, really rare.
This is true, especially when you look at the big picture. There are a lot of tornados every year! In fact, we average about 1200 tornados a year in the US (2). Only a small fraction of a percentage are ever rated at F5. In order to be rated as an EF5, the tornado must create damage that can be rated as EF5. If the tornado occurs over open country and damages no structures, then it will not be rated as an EF5.
(Also, keep in mind that the damage scale has been altered. I'm not enough of an expert to guess whether this will make a difference one way or another in the number of EF5 ratings handed out.)
If you look back to the 90s, however, there were quite a few EF5 tornados reported (1). The most obvious trend in the number of tornados reported is an increase in the number of tornados reported. Because of an increased awareness and the use of storm spotters in many areas (among other factors), more tornados are recorded and reported than in years past.
Wow. What a miracle that anyone survived that level of damage. Such a profound sadness for all those people. I don't think I can complain about my scorching summer temperatures here anymore.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
The more populated we become, the more nasty storms there will be, simply becuase there's more people to get hit by them. This is especially true of tornados that generally hit sparcely populated (but quickly growing) parts of the country.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
What parts of the country that are sparsely populated are growing quickly? I know that in Kansas, small towns in remote areas are continuing to whither as their young citizens move to larger cities and their older citizens die. I had assumed that that was probably a common trend nationwide.
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
I think the perception of sparsely populated areas growing in population is created by the continuation of suburban sprawl. People see the sprawl continuing and witness rural areas turned urban. Of course, sprawl expands the areas that cities effectively cover, and thus, increases the odds they'll be impacted by a tornado.
Noemon's right about the trends, though.
Posted by luthe (Member # 1601) on :
quote:Originally posted by Alcon: Wow... that is really worrying. F5s have in the past been really, really rare. Having two hit in consecutive years is very not good.
Two years is a little small to draw any conclusions from.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
), a rather large part of me can't even register those facts cause it's busy going "Cool!". A real F5 tornado, a mile wide! The weather geek in me can't help but take enjoy the fact that these things can actually exist and weren't just made up by Hollywood types for Twister.