BS: Texas twisters

Subject: BS: Texas twisters
From: Deckman
Date: 16 May 13 - 12:27 PM

I just heard from Stilly River Sage. She's O.K. The twisters came within 20 miles of them. bob(deckman)nelson

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 16 May 13 - 12:55 PM

Twisters rare here next to the Rockies, but sometimes strong winds from the west (over 100km) overturn trucks on the highway and damage farm buildings. Twisters have occured in the Alberta prairies, but they are short-lived and not very strong.

I lived in Texas-Oklahoma for several years, and remember following the weather warnings on the radio.

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 16 May 13 - 02:17 PM

Tornadoes are one of the reasons I left the northern Midwest for New England. New England does, indeed, get tornadoes, but with nowhere the regularity or devastation of "Tornado Alley".

I've seen (in Wisconsin) trees with all the bark blown off, but the leaves intact. My cousins had a great cow dog blown in by a tornado, unhurt. In the news, I've seen one half of a house untouched and the other half...just gone. One side of the street will be devastated and the other untouched, a cement silo reduced to powder, but the powder not blown away.

A tornado was heading straight across a field towards my aunt and uncle's house. The family was in the cellar. They waited, waited, waited...went up to look. The twister had jumped the house and barn and was heading away from them in the field on the other side.

You can prepare for a hurricane or a colossal snow or rain storm. A tornado is just so damned fickle. I also saw the result of 4 tornadoes meeting.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 May 13 - 02:21 PM

The storms were widespread over the region, they pass over in long bands of activity, but the supercells were generally to the west and then they passed to the south. Hood and Johnson Counties were hard hit; I'm next door in Tarrant County and got the edges of storms with lots of rain and some straight-line winds. The light show was spectacular - while the storm was grinding up Cleburn (20 miles south) I could see the upper part of the "anvil" cloud that powers the tornadoes - there were lightning flashes every second, it was almost a continual light out there as it passed by.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram story from this morning's paper.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 May 13 - 02:47 PM

I am relieved to hear you are safe and okay, SRS. Thanks,Bob, for posting.

luvyakat

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: Ebbie
Date: 16 May 13 - 03:51 PM

Brrrrrr

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 16 May 13 - 11:34 PM

Whew! I'm glad you are okay, SRS. What a disaster. Those photos clearly show how destructive these tornadoes were.

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 May 13 - 01:45 AM

Fort Worth was hit by a bad supercell in the mid-1990s, did millions of dollars in damage from the grapefruit-sized hail that pelted about a 5-mile wide band across town. I was on the city of Fort Worth Park Board at the time - the reports that came in said in the parks alone we sustained $13 million in damage.

They come through, you prepare for the worst, but about all you can do is keep your fingers crossed and get in a sheltered part of the house.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: gnu
Date: 17 May 13 - 06:11 AM

The pics show the power and the horror involved.

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 17 May 13 - 11:14 AM

They certainly do. Glad I live in England.

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 17 May 13 - 04:53 PM

Tornadoes have occurred in England, though they have not been as violent as SOME in America.

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 17 May 13 - 06:51 PM

Current forecast is for "severe thunderstorms" over a very large area on Sunday. The affected area extends from north Texas, through Oklahoma and Kansas the slightly to east-northeast up into Iowa, Indiana and Michigan.

The greatest danger with this forecast is probably hail and "gusty" winds, although isolated strong winds (generally considered something > 60 mph?) could occur. The possibility of scattered torandos is always included, but at present only smaller ones in "low population areas" are actually in the forecast.

Hail "up to grapefruit size" was mentioned as possible for a few isolated areas, but such predictions seldom pan out.

The likelihood of more significant tornados may increase as the system moves to the east (or northeast) on Monday, but at present nothing in the predictions is being taken as a "major event."

The forecast probably popped up as a news item just due to the large area covered by the expected conditions, rather than the severity anticipated, although we won't plan a picnic this weekend.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 May 13 - 12:16 PM

Somebody said above that 'there's not much you can do.' That's true, if you're speaking of the moment of time just before a tornado strikes. But ahead of time, there are things we can do.

1. First of all, live in the strongest house you can afford. Or else get a shelter. It is a damn shame that state and local officials allow buildings which are flimsier than they need to be.

I have a friend who inspected buildings after the F5 tornado hit Joplin, MO. He said that even in an F5, a well-built building survived better than a flimsy one.

Someone inspected a development which was destroyed in the 1995 tornado in Moore OK. The nails which held the sill to the foundation had been driven in only 1/2 inch. There's no excuse for that.

I hear that brand-new homes here are being built with one area double-studded to provide shelter. Sounds good.

2. Know where the strongest part of your house is. Have a plan.

3. It is not true that you should go to the SW corner.

4. Keep kids close to home when there's a tornado watch on. They should not be out on their bikes or at the mall.

5. Get an NOAA weather radio. (Why does an ordinary radio cost $9.50 on amazon while weather radios start at $25?)

6. If in a car, do not go under an underpass. It is likely to make winds stronger than ever.

7. Advice now is to stay in your car, not to get out and lie in a ditch. Sounds good to me.

8. If the weather service is issuing warnings, pay attention to your environment. Turn off the TV and stereo. Look outside, observe the sky, feel the air.
=======
We are pals with a storm-chasing team. We've been told that the tornados in Texas came as a complete surprise. I guess the computer models and websites and satellites have a ways to go.

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 May 13 - 03:55 PM

I've been looking at some websites, and I take that back about the tornados being a surprise. The NWS was definitely worried about the possibility.

The chaser that said that must have been referring to his own community.

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: gnu
Date: 18 May 13 - 04:42 PM

If you can take shelter between the main beams of an overpass above the embankments, I believe it may be safer than in a car. I always thought it would be a good idea to include "handholds" in such as part of the initial design in areas subject to violent wind storms.

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 13 - 05:02 PM

The people in Grandbury were warned by the Sheriff's office to seek cover. They apparently have a phone dialer system in place, like what you find on a lot of college campuses. Eight is a high death toll, but it could have been much worse. There were sirens going off across the area, I even heard some here at one point. It's difficult to hear the sirens over a storm, but when they test them on Wednesday afternoons they are very loud.

It is SOP to go to the strongest point of the house. With the dogs on their leashes so they don't get loose if something happens to the house - no point in losing an animal or having it run into further harm's way. No glass or mirrors in the safe area, if your safe area takes a hit it still might save your life, but only if it isn't filled with something that can become sharp shards. I take the weather radio, the portable television, the phone, the laptop. I think many of us who were watching the local storms on Wednesday were doing a mix of looking outside, listening to the weather forecasters on local channels (some of them are VERY good) and sharing on facebook. There are some favorite local hero stories for the lives that our forecasters have saved.

After a storm passes, I check the yard for downed wires, downed tree limbs, broken fences, before the dogs go out. And before anyone else says it, no, don't approach downed wires.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 19 May 13 - 04:08 PM

A man who lives in a nearby village to ours comes from Texas. He's a weather man and often appears on local TV here. (His name's Chris Bell) He gave us a fabulous talk in our village hall about his storm-chasing activities. Apparently he goes back to Texas each year for the tornado 'season' and has taken films and photos, which he showed us. Terrifying! He was so interesting, the tea urn boiled and boiled, but we were so rapt we didn't think about tea for ages! There were some very moving photos of the dreadful damage caused by one extremely bad tornado where lives had been lost. I forget the name of the town, but someone here may know of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 19 May 13 - 04:11 PM

It was Granbury. (Just Googled it.)

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 May 13 - 05:34 PM

A part of the "massive storm cell" that the media have been saying may destroy the entire mideast part of the US has sort of begun passing out of our area.

There was a claim that a small "twister" passed directly over the National Weather Service Dopple Radar at the airport here (which makes Doppler sort of useless for a while) and they "evacuated the radar station" for a half hour or so.

Several small "rotation cells" were watched intensely, but so far no reports of damage.

We had some light hail, fairly heavy rain for a while (a little north of Wichita), but one of the most majestic thunder concerts in recent memory here. It was a truly glorious noise!!!!!

(Loved it immensely, but you have to get familiar with them to get to the point of really enjoying one. When Maw Nature talks to you like that, you automatically say "yes dear!".)

The system is large, and moving a little erratically, so we could get more of the same or something new and different in the next few hours, but it seems to be pretty much done with us here. Hopefully it won't intensify as it moves on east, but it's a very big system that people will want to watch for a few days.

Tornado season is only about to begin here, based on past years.

Stay tuned.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: Bill D
Date: 19 May 13 - 07:54 PM

Watching.... remembering several 'interesting' tornado watches in Wichita.

Stay safe...

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 May 13 - 08:10 PM

I'm having a lonesome Sunday, with just me and the National Weather Service. A hour ago they said a severe storm was going to strike east of here.   The storm (not the winds in it, but the storm itself) is moving 75 miles per hour!

A tornado was seen near Wichita airport today, but apparently it did no damage. That is the kind that the chasers want to see.

Sitting at my computer at home, I hear thunder. I believe we are going to get a thunderstorm which is over Lawrence, etc right now. A tornado watch is in effect, and I'm watching and listening.

John, thanks for mentioning the thunderconcert. We fail to talk about the beauty, the power and intriguing features of powerful storms.

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 20 May 13 - 01:22 AM

John in Kansas: "Tornado season is only about to begin here, based on past years. "....prophetic!!!

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 20 May 13 - 05:18 AM

I know one considers first the risk to human life and property, but watching Chris Bell's videos etc I was very worried about the poor cattle on the ranches. The landscape was flat and there was no shelter or safe place for the cows to go. They were careering round in sheer panic. Is there any method over there to bring them to safety?

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 20 May 13 - 11:06 AM

No. When a human sees a tornado coming, it's far more important to keep one's self and the family safe than to do anything about livestock. Pets are different. If pets can be coralled, they will be taken into shelter with the family.

Anyhow, how could people do anything with large animals which are careering round in sheer panic?

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 21 May 13 - 01:06 AM

A report later this afternoon (Monday) indicates a rather significant tornado a little SW of Oklahoma City, with large amounts of destruction and quite a few deaths/injuries.

It appears that the last time I looked they were still trying to decide what happened and what the harms were, since reports varied some.

This storm appears to have followed a little behind the "main cell" that was expected to present the most danger, although even that isn't yet very clearly indicated in the news.

Schoolhouse demolished, uncertain how many kids hurt, or even where many of them were when it hit. Possibly ~50 deaths "reasonably confirmed(?)." Lots of houses (and "trailer homes") pretty much gone.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: Penny S.
Date: 21 May 13 - 05:00 AM

When faced with the appalling destructiveness of something like the Moore tornado, mentioning that we get a lot over here is a bit petty. More than anywhere else in Europe, yes, able to damage a few roofs, yes, but basically Nature doing a bit of thumb twiddling. I would be surprised if the energy involved in the annual total approached a significant fraction of yesterday's disaster.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: gnu
Date: 21 May 13 - 06:11 AM

"9 miles wide"... oh dear.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/tune-in-now-live-updates-on-tornado-in-oklahoma-city/6530/

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: gnu
Date: 21 May 13 - 06:14 AM

Oops... just noticed the other thread. Not awake yet.

Subject: RE: BS: Texas twisters
From: Bettynh
Date: 21 May 13 - 12:55 PM

Eliza, this will break your heart. And maybe answer a few of your questions about animals. Our emergency management people have decided, since Hurricane Katrina, that allowing people to shelter with their pets is the only way to save lives - people won't abandon their pets, sometimes putting themselves in very serious danger. For wild animals and free-range cattle there's very little that can be done for such a random event.