Tornado Alert! Beware!

[KPTitan]

That's it! I'm officially putting the county I live in under a tornado alert for the whole summer, and no, not officially OFFICIALLY, but hey, I live here.

The reason why, you may ask?

We've had 4 tornadoes, and several severe thunderstorms almost every week since the beginning of May. That's an indication that this is gonna be one of those years where we get more frequent severe weather. Good 'ol Wyoming weather....*shakes head*

[WarioLoaf]

That sucks BIG TIME.

Hate tornadoes. hate'em.

[KPTitan]

That sucks BIG TIME.

Hate tornadoes. hate'em.

The tornadoes we get over here aren't so bad. They're the weakling EF-0's, 1's, and the rare 2's. Extremely rare that they go above EF-2. I've seen only one 6 years ago, and it followed me to my house! It didn't touch the ground though, so my house was saved! lol.

This recent storm last Thursday produced 3 tornadoes that touched the ground, almost right near the outskirts of town (thank god I live 7 miles east of town!). It also produced multiple funnel clouds. I just happened to be up in Montana when that all happened.

By the way, does anybody know what a bonafide tornado is?

[Dark Fact]

Up here in Manitoba, there have already been reports of funnel clouds and tornadoes in the communities west of Winnipeg. Hell, our weather station even stated a "Tornado Watch" for our city. This was the first time I ever seen a watch for the city of Winnipeg. Luckily, there were no tornadoes that night and we only got a light rain shower but if a tornado were ever to hit us, the damage would be incredible as the majority of our houses, luxury and old, are built with standard wood frames. :sweat:

[Stuckey]

I don't know much about tornadoes but I know hurricanes bring the awesome. During hurricane season (June - November) we pretty much alternate between weeks of ridiculous heat and ungodly downpours. At least four times a year the parking lot at our complex floods and a couple dozen cars are ruined.

[tucsoncoyote]

I don't know much about tornadoes but I know hurricanes bring the awesome. During hurricane season (June - November) we pretty much alternate between weeks of ridiculous heat and ungodly downpours. At least four times a year the parking lot at our complex floods and a couple dozen cars are ruined.

And then there is Monsoon Season in Arizona, that usually starts within 2 weeks (Either way) of the 4th of July (The Average start date is July 3rd but I've seen the summer rainy season here in Tucson Start as early as Mid june (June 17th 2000 being the earliest start) to as late as the third to fourth week in July (The Latest Start being July 25th, back in 1987.)

But every day just like clockwork the thunderstorms would roll in with their rain, their wind, sometimes a hail and on a really rare occassion a tornado... so Yes Arizona has tornadoes, but not that all strong.

But believe me the worst thing folks here in Tucson (and Phoenix) have to deal with are the Flash floods and the stupid people who drive into half full washes, only to have to be rescued by the local fire department..(that's why we have stupid Motorist laws here in the state.

But believe me once in a great while we'll get a tropical disturbance that drops enough rain to give us our summer quota. as you can see by the data on this page, (http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc/monsoon/monsoon.php) we get almost half if not all in this short 3 month period of monsoonal summer rains.

Ah and to think that it's just 2-3 weeks away.. time to enjoy the fun..

:coyote:

[GuardianKid13]

Well, downhere in Florida it's hurricane season!:sweat:

[WarioLoaf]

Here in Pennsylvania, we get no hurricanes or tornado stuff. I've never encountered any. Thats why, what i said before, hate Tornadoes. They could destroy all i hold dear. But if we do get one, i doubt it would exceed F2.

[tucsoncoyote]

Here in Pennsylvania, we get no hurricanes or tornado stuff. I've never encountered any. Thats why, what i said before, hate Tornadoes. They could destroy all i hold dear. But if we do get one, i doubt it would exceed F2.

Don't be too sure of thisWarioLoaf, after all this outbreak in 1985 (http://www.ems.psu.edu/PA_Climatologist/State/patorn.html), shows that an F2 is more then likely not the case In reality I say to anyone who lives anywhere in the Lower 48 that a tornado of any size really is possible.

:coyote:

[WarioLoaf]

Don't be too sure of thisWarioLoaf, after all this outbreak in 1985 (http://www.ems.psu.edu/PA_Climatologist/State/patorn.html), shows that an F2 is more then likely not the case In reality I say to anyone who lives anywhere in the Lower 48 that a tornado of any size really is possible.

:coyote:

wow. Never knew that.

I live near Phillie, and those are near the pochonoes. so, i dunno, but i never knew that outbreak existed.

[tucsoncoyote]

wow. Never knew that.

I live near Phillie, and those are near the pochonoes. so, i dunno, but i never knew that outbreak existed.

Believe me Outbreaks (which are 10 or more tornadoes in a given system) occurs a lot more then most folks know. In fact just in May when Greensburg KS got hit by an EF5 storm that obliterated that town of 1500 it was part of a storm system that in 3 days generated almost 200 tornadoes.

and it's not how long the storms last but rather how many.. In fact there have been outbreaks in 1953, 1966, 1974, 1985, and there are so many I can count that it's not uncommon.. Also a lot of folks get a misnomer that eastern storms can be less powerful then their Midwest Counterparts.

I mean here is a good example in La Plata Maryland, tornado of April 28, 2002. In this storm it was rated as an EF4, and this occurred some 20 miles south of Washington DC.. Imagine this type of storm cutting a swath through the nation's capital.. starting at Arlington running east down the mall and hitting the Capital.. believe me it happened in 1812 before a lot of the buildings were there.

So believe me I study stuff like ths for breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I study severe weather a lot these days, be it hurricanes, Thunderstorms and even yes tornados...

so Let's say you got an "Amateur Meteorologist" who knows a lot more then you realize.. that's why you have me around..;)

:coyote:

[WarioLoaf]

Believe me Outbreaks (which are 10 or more tornadoes in a given system) occurs a lot more then most folks know. In fact just in May when Greensburg KS got hit by an EF5 storm that obliterated that town of 1500 it was part of a storm system that in 3 days generated almost 200 tornadoes.

and it's not how long the storms last but rather how many.. In fact there have been outbreaks in 1953, 1966, 1974, 1985, and there are so many I can count that it's not uncommon.. Also a lot of folks get a misnomer that eastern storms can be less powerful then their Midwest Counterparts.

I mean here is a good example in La Plata Maryland, tornado of April 28, 2002. In this storm it was rated as an EF4, and this occurred some 20 miles south of Washington DC.. Imagine this type of storm cutting a swath through the nation's capital.. starting at Arlington running east down the mall and hitting the Capital.. believe me it happened in 1812 before a lot of the buildings were there.

So believe me I study stuff like ths for breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I study severe weather a lot these days, be it hurricanes, Thunderstorms and even yes tornados...

so Let's say you got an "Amateur Meteorologist" who knows a lot more then you realize.. that's why you have me around..;)

:coyote:

Oh dear, well the chances are low, but i pray it never occurs in the next 5- 10 years.

[tucsoncoyote]

Oh dear, well the chances are low, but i pray it never occurs in the next 5- 10 years.

Well more then likely it wont, but there are a lot of other cities in the US that are more at risk then Washington or Philadephia or even Boston (Back in 1953 the Worcester MA tornado was reported to Boston and that's Massachusettes.

But if you want to see some of the Cities at risk here are a few.

Dallas, TX - One Well Placed, 1 mile wide EF5 tornado ripping though Downtown Dallas could really be big trouble, and espeically if it formed just Southwest of the Baseball Stadium that houses the Texas Rangers.(I mean if you have 40,000 - 50,000 fans at a game and this happened they might at best have a few minutes warning to move all those folks. But they have shown that this is the worst case scenario...Luckily it hasn't happened.. at least not yet.

St. Louis, MO - Now if Dallas is a worst Case Scenario that has never happened, St. Louis, MO, is the worst case Scenario that has happened. in fact according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_tornado_history), St. Louis hasn't been hit just 1 or 2 times but more on the order of 10 times. And that's just the Downtown Area down by the river.. In the Entire St Louis Metro Area, the city has been hit at least 55 times.. and this has been since 1870.. When the US Weather Service has been keeping records.. and in fact not all of the storms during that time were small. At least 3-5 storms were in the Upper EF Scale (3-5) and in fact the worst Case Scenario for St. Louis is an EF4 hitting and going through downtown before crossing the river near Busch Stadium.. again Busch Stadium and the Gateway Arch would be at risk, but again Busch Stadium would be the most dangerous place to be.. and even then you might have at best 15 minutes to evacuate under the stadium.

Chicago, IL - Now Chicago, IL, is called "The Windy city, but one well placed Twister rolling through downtown Chicago, cutting across the "Loop" would cause massive damage.. Now in fact Downtown Chicago hasn't ever been hit by a twister directly but since 1855, at least 86 significant tornadoes have hit the Chicago Metroplex and in fact the 1967 Oak Lawn tornado ripped across the south side of the city killing 33 people before heading out over Lake Michigan, in fact this storm track was just 12 miles south of Downtown. Imagine if this EF4 storm had gone right through Downtown. Believe me, You wouldn't want to see the Carnage.

Oklahoma City, OK- Now Oklahoma City Oklahoma, and it's surrounding metropolitan area is perhaps the most struck city next to St. Louis, and in fact since Records have been Kept in Oklahoma city, this area has been hit a total of at least 70 times in the 130 odd years and in fact the last two times it was hit were in 2003, and previously on May 3rd, 1999, when a monsterous EF5 storm hit the suburban city of Moore, just before slamming into the Southwest side of Oklahoma City proper.. In fact the EF5 of 3 May 1999, recorded the highest speeds ever 318 mph according to Doppler radar, and in fact this storm also made people realize that Taking shelter under overpasses was a bad idea.. in all something like 43 people died, and at least 4 of those as they were trying to hide under overpasses.. Luckily Oklahoma city gets hit only about once every 4-5 years so it's due probably in the near future for another strike.

And these are just a few of the many cities, others include:

Kansas City, KS/MO (Last time hit was in 2003
Amarillo, TX, Last time hit also 2003,
Lexington KY, Last time hit, 2006
Nashville TN, last hit by an EF2 on April 6, 1998
Fort Worth TX (http://www.dallassky.com/fwtornado.htm), last hit in Last hit in 2000.

The point is this: Tornadoes can really Occur anywhere in the US (Even Alaska and Hawaii), they can occur any time of Day, (But Afternoon between 3PM and 7PM usually is the norm, but tornadoes can occur even at night,
Tornadoes do move from SW to NE (but not always a couple tornadoes have traveled west or even NW.. Perpindicular to the actual Track)
and these storms can range from a few feet (EF0's usually are small), to as big as 2.5 Miles across (The Wilber/Hallam, Nebraska, Storm of 2004 (http://www.stormgasm.com/5-22-04/5-22-04.htm) was this huge 2.5 mile wide EF5).

so you see Tornadoes are not thinking creatures, they are just forces of nature that can do a lot of damage, even in places like Wyoming or even Utah, (Salt Lake City was hit by an EF 2 back in August of 1999, and it was the first storm to produce a tornado death since the 1870's..)

So believe me Tornadoes are nothing to sneeze at, they're powerful storms that can take and turn any town, or city metroplex and turn it into scrap in just mere minutes. So that's why I respect such severe weather, and if you think Tucson is safe? Last time we had a tornado in our city was just 3 years ago.. during the summer monsoons.

so you see, This is why I watch this weather.. throughout the year.. cause sooner or later a storm will form, and things will change.. but a lot of things can be replaced, Human lives however can not.. Take a tornado warning seriously and you will be glad to come out of any storm alive.

:coyote:

and these are the 3 most likely spots.. Other cities at Risk interestingly include:

Kansas City, KS/MO,

[KPTitan]

Quote from tusconcoyote: so Let's say you got an "Amateur Meteorologist" who knows a lot more then you realize.. that's why you have me around..;)

:coyote:


Lol, that makes two of us. Thank god, I finally meet somebody who's interested in that stuff as much as I am!:D

And once again, more tornadoes for me, again! Had another one on the 16th (June 16, 2007). I lost track of count last time, but now that makes 5 total so far for over here in 2007. And the thing is, that's supposed the maximum amount of tornadoes per year for us, and summer has only begun! I'm gonna turn my XANA-proof shelter into a hiding place for tornadoes also, lol. (yes, I'm obsessed with Code Lyoko, and I'll be damned if a tornado got to my recorded CL collection!)

About that storm last Saturday....there was some wicked-a** rotation going on above my house, and I coulda swore I was gonna get it that time, lol. I would've taken a picture of it and posted it on here, but the stupid camera had full memory!:crying: