The weather

[patrick66]

That Jarrell F-5 was as violent as they get! A Chevy guy I know on another forum lost everything he owned. He and his wife were on their way home from work, and their kids were away, too, thankfully. It slabbed his home and shop. I think they found a picture. Just terrible.

The May 8, 1999 tornado that hit OKC was one of over fifty tornadoes THAT DAY alone in OK. It killed 45 and injured several hundred. A buddy of mine that lived off I-240 on the South side, had just finished restoring his 1967 Chevy Impala SS 427 fastback coupe. A beautiful Marina Blue car his Dad bought new. It flew four miles through the air after my buddies' home was destroyed. The car landed, nose-down, through the roof of a house four miles away. The rear bumper and taillights were sticking through the roof of a house that otherwisw had no damage. He got the totalled car back, and salvaged what little he could. The rear bumper, taillights and rear trim panel hang in his new garage as garage art.

 

[Tink]

I mentioned earlier the June 8, 1966 F5 that hit Topeka when we lived there. I wont post all the depressing damage pictures..but they are out there online.

I also wont go into the things we saw ... and the things OTHER people saw as I listened to adult conversations. It was terrible carnage.

I will put this up...the storm path, where we were, and the fact no one we knew was killed. The tornado was meandering a bit, lifting and settling, but it was still a city block or two (or more) wide when it got to us (red arrow I put on map).

Our house lost windows (they all were blown OUTWARD) and roof pieces, tree landed on garage, there were blades of grass like porcupine needles in the wood siding, debris everywhere,..then the house next door was basically untouched, then four in a row leveled.

Enough of that. Lets all try to stay safe why don't we..and take weather threats seriously.

View attachment 71203

Wow. That was 4 days past my 11th b'day. It would have scared the you know what out of me. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tink]

I remember the myths about tornadoes:

1) They don't turn - That is pure BS.
2) They don't cross rivers or low-lying areas. More BS.
3) They die out, once they hit terrain. Wrong again. Terrain doesn't matter. The conditions for a tornado to form and continue as a tornado DO matter.
4) They don't start in hilly or mountainous areas. A tornado doesn't care where it starts - as long as the weather requirements for one to form are there, it will form.
5) My favorite - A tornado won't form over water...What do you think a "waterspout" is???
6) Opening windows in your house will save your house from the pressure changes and keep your home intact. - Absolute BS! It does nothing but make your home MORE susceptible to damage and destruction. The weakest point in most homes for wind is the garage door(s). Large, flexible, and weak. When they blow, your home now becomes a giant windsock, and the wind will blow your interior walls out along with the roof at that point. Garage doors go? Your home follows in one of two seconds. Same thing applies with the open windows.

The funny things about the tornado that struck my house and shop were interesting to me. First, the roof of the house raised completely off the house, then set right back down, one inch off to the North. Next, the camper shell on the back of my '96 Dodge Cummins 3500 was completely destroyed, with the largest piece we found, being the front window. BUT, two big boxes of Avon products remained undamaged in the bed (wife was an Avon lady then!). A 1953 Hudson Hornet I had flew about 600 feet through the air, and landed on its' tires. It then rolled about 400' through the pasture and did a J-turn, rolling backwards. Very little damage on that car! Next was my Ford pickup. It was picked up three times and had the crap beat out of it. The tailgate was the only bit that was undamaged. My IN-dash stereo was uninstalled by the tornado and never found. The hood went bye-bye, too. My screen door stayed put and locked. It bent the frame on my A-C tractor! Lots, lots more happened. We found stuff in our field from our house (and others) for over four years.

Simply amazing, thanks for sharing.

 

[Tink]

AH Tink. Stay away from Austin and a bit north then. In the late '90s I saw a category 3 gut an Albertson's in Cedar Park little bit west of Round Rock and left the two east and west walls standing and nothing at all left between them. And a year after that I saw what happens when a category 5 comes south rite down I-35 and decides to suck the well laid and permanently planted asphalt off a city street and bark off all the trees in Jarrell 'bout 20 miles north of Round Rock and close to 3 dozen lives lost out of a town of less then 500 on a work day that time.

I recall those events and know those locations well. Beautiful country. Austin is close to 200 miles from me. My mother in Western NY would call me every time bad weather came on the news about Texas and worried I was in danger. It is hard for her to understand how big Texas is even after visiting many times. I know you know all that as you've been here. Houston and the burbs get plenty of tornadoes but the vast majority of them are the smallest on the scale. I can't recall a single asphalt scraping tornado here.

 

[patrick66]

More tornado trivia!

Do you know where and when the first tornado warning was? It was at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City in March 1948. The tornado appeared 13 minutes after the warning was issued. The Tinker Weather Bureau issued the warning.

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

The company I worked for donated somewhere over 3 dozen 20' and 40' storage containers to the home owners in Jarrell at no charge to collect and store their belongings or replace and store for as long as they needed them. I was the delivery guy for all those storage units. One I delivered to a woman that took about a half mile ride in her bath tub and that F5 then gently sat her down out in the pucker brush without a scratch. I told her she would be fine when I handed her the locks for the storage unit I dropped in her driveway 'cuz the Lord was watching out for her

 

[1978 NYB]

Good job Jer!

 

[amazinblue82]

The company I worked for donated somewhere over 3 dozen 20' and 40' storage containers to the home owners in Jarrell at no charge to collect and store their belongings or replace and store for as long as they needed them. I was the delivery guy for all those storage units. One I delivered to a woman that took about a half mile ride in her bath tub and that F5 then gently sat her down out in the pucker brush without a scratch. I told her she would be fine when I handed her the locks for the storage unit I dropped in her driveway 'cuz the Lord was watching out for her

nice gesture Jer.

depending on how one views the "unseen" forces in the Universe, that was one 'lucky" or "blessed" lady.

the people who are blown from their homes/shelters are subject to all that debris (glass, metal, wood, etc) traveling at 70-100+ mph in the funnel plus impact injury when they come down. out in the open like that....um, um, um.

thats my childhood fear that lingers to this day..gettin caught in/driven into the "open" by one of these beasts. blades of grass driven like a nails into our wood siding back in '66...getting goosebumps here.

anyway...again good deed done Jer

 

[amazinblue82]

Wow. That was 4 days past my 11th b'day. It would have scared the you know what out of me. Thanks for sharing.

I was about to.turn 7...its seared in my memory like yesterday. all of it.

I dont try to impose my storm experience on anyone....but i do try to "share info" on this topic.

many more more damgerous things in the world. people just seem to take unnecessary risks with severe weather. no need to become a "survivor" before it sinks in that tonadoes aint things to trifle with

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

I waz just the gofer-dufer guy and gettin' paid doing what I waz told to do and making az many trips up I-35 to Jarrell and back to Austin az day lite would allow starting the 2nd day after those folkz got hit. Even dropped ah couple 40's at the high school for donations 'cuz there waz no more room inside the school building. The 1st couple trips in I waz escorted to the home owners site by the guyz with the badgez and gunz. That'z where I went from smooth asphalt to rumble strips like some TDOT had used a machine to create the change in the road surface,,, ABSOLUTELY UNREAL.

 

[patrick66]

Tornadoes are truly fascinating creations to me. Destructive, yet beautiful in an odd way. How a feather can be driven through a fence post, or seeing a car or other object fly two miles and land nearly unscathed is mind-boggling! After the tornado that hit my house happened, maybe four days later my neighbor across the street from me got a call from a guy 60 miles away, letting her know that he found her checkbook in his yard, and he would send it to her. Sixty miles away!

I don't get all worked up over a tornado warning. I'm cautious, keeping an eyeball on the TV, and put the handful of things we NEED into the storm shelter. I don't dive into the shelter until I am sure the tornado is CLOSE, within a half mile or less. I'm a bit claustrophobic, to start with, and I'm not sitting in a shelter with my family and two dogs until I'm confident it's here. The problem is the tornado sirens sound for the entire county, even though the actual tornado may be 25 miles away on the other side of the county and won't possibly be a threat! That's changing this year, as the warnings are going to be triggered for specific areas where the tornado actually IS, rather than the whole county. People were getting very complacent, because of that issue.

 

[amazinblue82]

yeah, I hear a siren, or get a weather alert on phone, TV, etc., its NOT an automatic "run for the basement" thing. one look at the sky and I can tell if its close by or right on top of me..generally.

Word is "warnings" don't really work. the old "cry wolf" syndrome. "Weatherales" get us all worked up, then nothing happens (be it snow, hurricane, tornado, whatever). then everybody is pissed cuz nothing happened this time, and the last time, and the time before that. so they ignore future watches/warnings.

yeah, the county-wide warning system is a bit of an annoyance..30 mile wide county, storm enters one side, moving 40 mph, and you got 45 minutes to figure out whats going on on your side of the county..generally.

Except, when one pops up AHEAD of the one that just entered your county, and its literally lands on top of you with very little notice. Big super-cell might spawn multiple funnels anywhere from its underbelly, and the first one they saw was at the trailing edge of the super cell that's overhead right now.

Anyway, here's a counterpoint on sirens and warnings. Basically, this author is "anti" siren/warning system as configured: outdated, not intended to be heard indoors, recycled relics of the A-bomb days, etc. Makes some good points, and some kooky ones in my view. Anyone interested can take a peek and see what you think.

http://thevane.gawker.com/why-do-communities-keep-wasting-money-on-useless-tornad-1692687984

Guess I still want a warnings/watches system of some sort, and updated for advances in technology, etc. I do wanna be awakened from a dead sleep by "something" letting me know of the danger..even if TEN times in row nothing happened in the pasts... other than my house disintegrating around me.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

The May 8, 1999 tornado that hit OKC was one of over fifty tornadoes THAT DAY alone in OK.

I was there that day on the west side at the TA on 40. Scared the crap out of me, my wife, and the dog hanging out in a empty tractor trailer. Luckily it went northeast through town from the south, amazing that only a few miles away all that mayhem going on.

 

[patrick66]

We had a NOAA weather radio for a VERY short time! The old ones gave you warnings no matter where they were in the entire STATE! First time that thing went off was one Tuesday morning at 1:30 am, and the warning was for a county 100 miles southwest! Unplugged that and took out the batteries. The new radios will only go off if something is in the same general area, but complacency grows from those, also. I've lived in OK for over 33 years. I'm pretty attuned to the weather, to begin with. The little gadgets and such are OK for some, but I've survived with my gut instinct and experience telling me when to prepare, when to hide and when to relax.

 

[amazinblue82]

For any of your weather-philes. Supercells explained. I agree with patrick66 .. It really is fascinating in a way if anyone is interested in this stuff.

The tornado is miniscule compared to its "parent" storm, a formation 40,000 feet tall, and 3-5 miles wide, all sorts of things -- wind shears, updrafts, downdrafts, differential temperatures -- going on inside a supercell thunderstorm.

The "mesocyclone", the bottom end of which comes down outta the wall cloud as the tornado we see tearin' up stuff, is a few miles tall, and a mile or two wide, going up through the cell, spinning like crazy, but we can't see it with the naked eye. The wall cloud under the mesocyclone itself might be spinning tho...that's a bad sign.

This is a real simple depiction..again, lots of atmospheric conditions precedent to this cell forming are interacting to create the potential for tornadoes.

Severe Storms and Supercells | Weather Underground

 

[70bigblockdodge]

I had to load out of Muskogee OK the next morning so pulled out of TA about 3:30-4 am and went through town on 40 before they closed it. It looked like a war zone had to weave back and forth to miss all the debris, truly something TV can't quite show until you see it first hand.

 

[amazinblue82]

The advanced weather classes. To read the sky, ya gotta KNOW YOUR CLOUDS .

Link is the source of this info, plus some other helpful links that I don't show below.

Road Trip Survival: Recognizing Which Clouds Mean Danger

"While everyone hopes for beautiful, sunny weather when going on a road trip, it is crucial to be prepared for severe weather.

Checking weather forecasts and staying alert to any weather-related watches and warnings is extremely important when heading out on the open road. A weather radio is a must.

However, in a severe weather situation, conditions can change rapidly and the weather can turn volatile quickly. Being able to read the clouds for severe weather can help save your life.

The following is a breakdown of ominous looking clouds and whether there is imminent danger or they are actually benign.

Cumulonimbus Clouds
Rapid vertical growth in these cauliflower looking cumulonimbus clouds show that there is a mature thunderstorm, likely producing heavy rain. Abundant moisture and instability due to cool air aloft and heating at the surface set the stage for cumulonimbus to develop.

A lifting mechanism such as a cold front can help trigger these clouds to form.
Heavy rain, frequent lightning, strong winds and hail can all be threats associated with cumulonimbus clouds.

Scud Clouds
Scud clouds may appear to be ominous as they hang vertically below a cumulonimbus clouds. Sometimes scud clouds are mistaken for funnel clouds (see below).

However, these clouds are benign and non-rotating. They often have a raggedy appearance that sets them apart from funnel clouds.

Shelf Clouds
Shelf clouds often form at the leading edge of a gust front or outflow boundary from a thunderstorm, or strong winds flowing down and outward from a storm.

The outer part of a shelf cloud is often smoother with a notable rising motion exhibited by a tiered look (hence, the name shelf cloud!). Underneath, a turbulent, unsettled appearance is often the case. A shelf cloud should be seen as a harbinger of strong winds, so take caution.

Wall Clouds
A wall cloud is a cloud that is lowered from a thunderstorm, forming when rapidly rising air causes lower pressure below the storm's main updraft.

"Wall clouds can range from a fraction of a mile up to nearly five miles in diameter," according to the National Weather Service. Wall clouds that rotate are a warning sign of very violent thunderstorms. They can be an indication that a tornado will touch down within minutes or even within an hour.

Funnel Clouds
A funnel cloud is a rotating column of air (visible due to condensation) that does not reach the ground. If a funnel cloud reaches all the way to the ground then it is classified as a tornado

When out on the road, a funnel cloud should be treated as a tornado, since they could touch down.

Tornadoes
A tornado is a rotating column of air, reaching all the way to the ground. Strong tornadoes are one of the most destructive forces of nature on a small scale. The strongest of which can level entire towns.

A roaring noise, often compared to that of a train, can be heard in many cases when a tornado touches down. Vehicles are NOT a safe place to be if there is a tornado nearby.

Thunderstorm Anvil Clouds
Anvil clouds are the flat top of a thunderstorm, or cumulonimbus cloud.

Anvils can spread up to "hundreds of miles downwind from the thunderstorm itself," according to the National Weather Service. Lightning can strike from anvil clouds, even far away from a thunderstorm.

Lightning described as striking "from out of the blue" is usually from an anvil cloud that has drifted from a thunderstorm.

Mammatus Clouds
The rounded and smooth look of mammutus clouds captivate onlookers.

.

They are often found underneath anvil clouds of severe thunderstorms; however, they can form underneath clouds associated with non-severe thunderstorms as well.

Asperatus Clouds
Asperatus clouds are very ominous in appearance, usually described as looking like a rough sea.

An abundance of heat in the atmosphere is needed to produce enough energy for the dramatic, rolling formations of asperatus clouds. Another factor is the interaction of very moist air (often on the fringes of thunderstorm complexes) with very dry air.

The darkness of the clouds is likely due to the large amount of water vapor. Asperatus cloulds are not necessarily accompanied by stormy weather. In fact, they have often been observed without the development of thunderstorms."

 

[Fury440]

Gives the phrase "Don't mess with Mother Nature" a whole new meaning. Storms of that magnitude don't leave you anywhere to run except underground. Not this cowboy, I'll stay up here in the north with bears and the "good" beer!

 

[1978 NYB]

Crappy weather and salt everywhere has me in a cabin fever status not being able to drive my NYB for the last 3 weeks.

 

[polara71]

mine wont be out for eight more weeks