2/28/2012 -- LARGE TORNADO reported in Kansas - Missouri

Originally posted by Manhater
reply to post by MrWendal

 

No, honestly. I am not.

Really it is one of my favorite weather topics. I became very interested in tornadoes when I moved to Kansas at age 16. It always amazed me how a whole town would run and hide from them, but only maybe a very small section (couple blocks) would see any type of damage or any touchdown of the tornado.

By the time I was 20 I would chase the storms in a Buick with a CB radio that had a weather thingee on it. I even got to chase many during a huge outbreak in the 90's which became a rather famous outbreak for the sheer number of touchdowns and the large size areas that were effected stretching from the Texas Oklahoma panhandle all the way to Missouri. I watched from a distance as South East Andover Kansas got flattened.

Here is a video of the numerous storms. The 4 min mark is actually McConnel Air Force Base in Wichita Kansas. Andover is just to the East of Wichita.




Tornadoes are tough to describe to people who have never been in them. I can recall one time where a trailer park got leveled by a tornado. I had no idea there was any severe weather. This trailer park was less than 2 miles from my house.

That gives you an idea of how they just kind of pop up. Imagine 2 miles from your home that a tornado is leveling a 2 block radius, yet at your home, no wind, no rain, not a cloud in the sky. It is tough to grasp that concept until you been there.

I can tell you people who live in these areas get annoyed by those who panic. It is not really even the tornado you worry about... it's the hail, but after such a storm you can always find a great deal at the car dealership. You can get a $50,000 for like $12,000 cause it might have a couple small hail dings in it.

Originally posted by Flavian
reply to post by MrWendal

 

What actually happens if you are in a shelter and a tornado passes over you? I understand tornadoes but have absolutely no experience of them..........the thought totally terrifies me if I am honest. Hurricanes are bad but basically just stormy weather. Tornadoes on the other hand reach ridiculous speeds.

A force 5 strips road surfaces so surely it would have no problem reducing a shelter to shreds?

Best wishes to anyone caught up in this. Very glad we do not get serious ones in the UK.

edit on 29-2-2012 by Flavian because: (no reason given)

Well it depends on what type of place you live in and what you use as shelter. Ideally you want to get into a basement of a home and get under the stairs or be under a very sturdy table that can handle the weight of debris and protect you. If no basement is available, it is suggested you go to the most interior room of the home. Like a closet.

Also, you can jump in a bathtub and throw a mattress over the top of yourself. In the outbreak that I posted about above, there was one that touched down in between Arkansas City Kansas and Winfield Kansas. This was a legit F-5 tornado that had about a mile wide base and had pulled the asphalt up off the highway that runs between the two towns. There was a farm home just off this highway that got hit. The man who lived in that home had jumped in his bathtub. The tornado leveled his home and carried him about a 100 feet and actually dropped him (and his bathtub) right next to the propane tank.

Statistically speaking, your chances of surviving a tornado are very high, but you have to do the right things.

Edit to add: This will give you a good idea of what it can be like. This footage was shot during the same outbreak I posted about in 1991. In this footage the reporters got caught by a tornado. They take shelter under a highway overpass and the tornado passes right over top of them.

reply to post by MrWendal



Those were some big tornado shots, that one with the dad and the kids screaming at him, he could of at least tried to drive away, rather than telling them, you can't out run it, there's no where to go, and poor kids are balling out terrified. Aww, least ease their minds a little bit,

Originally posted by Manhater
reply to post by MrWendal

 

Those were some big tornado shots, that one with the dad and the kids screaming at him, he could of at least tried to drive away, rather than telling them, you can't out run it, there's no where to go, and poor kids are balling out terrified. Aww, least ease their minds a little bit,

No... if you can see the tornado one of the worst things you can do is get in your car.

You have to account for debris. You have to account for the direction it is traveling. You may think you can outrun a tornado with a car, but the chances are not in your favor. The best thing you can do is hunker down. The video I posted above should show the reporters trying to outrun it before they finally pulled over and took cover.

reply to post by MrWendal


Question. So, is a crawlspace safe to hide in case of a tornado, or will I get crushed to death from all the debris?

reply to post by Manhater


By crawl space do you mean like an attic? Or something up high?

reply to post by MrWendal


Brilliant, thank you for the information. I would like to say it has put my mind at rest a bit should i ever be caught up in a tornado. If im honest though, i think the first time at least i would still run round in small circles, flapping my hands and gibbering!

It is kind of unbelievable how someone could survive a force 5 in a bathtub! Crazy stuff.

reply to post by MrWendal


No, below the the house. That's all I got.

Originally posted by Flavian
reply to post by MrWendal

 

Brilliant, thank you for the information. I would like to say it has put my mind at rest a bit should i ever be caught up in a tornado. If im honest though, i think the first time at least i would still run round in small circles, flapping my hands and gibbering!

It is kind of unbelievable how someone could survive a force 5 in a bathtub! Crazy stuff.

Tornadoes are really an amazing beast.

Even in the F-5's I have seen, for instance in the Andover tornado the biggest damage was the trailer park. Literally it looked like a war zone. I still think I have pictures of the damage in a box some place, but everything was leveled and the trees were torn apart. Literally the bark was shredded off the trees and the tops were gone, but at the very top of the tree you would see the big steel mobile home frame twisted up like a pretzel around what was left of the top of the tree.... and yet right across the street another home would be completely intact. Maybe a broken window. It defies all logic.

Originally posted by Manhater
reply to post by MrWendal

 

No, below the the house. That's all I got.

I would not recommend it. If this crawl space had a very strong top to it, then maybe. In a worst case scenario you would want to account for the weight of your home on your head. If it was me... I wouldn't take the chance in a small crawl space. I would look to the most interior room of the house. As much space between you and the outside walls of the home. Away from any type of window. The last thing you want is something to fly through the wall or through the window and kill you. Usually the most interior room is a small closet. The bath tub method is also a safe bet... but you want those old porcelain bath tubs.... they are very heavy and offer protection. You dont want to use a light weight fiber glass type of tub. Anything can pierce it and they are light weight.

The force of the winds are something you MUST always keep in mind. ALWAYS! Literally it can turn a 2 x 4 piece of wood into a missile. I can not tell you how many times, even to this very day, you can go to areas and see a piece of wood, a small piece of scrap metal, just about anything embedded into the trees in the Midwest. It is a very odd visual to see a 2 x 4 sticking through a tree like it was a sword.

I can recall a story my Grandmother told me when I first moved to Kansas. I have no idea if it is true or not, I may have to look it up cause I should be able to verify it. I want to say it was in the 1920's or 1930's but the town was Udall Kansas. This is a VERY small town. They have 1 stop sign and 1 street light and maybe a population of 150 people. Very very small farming community. According to her story it was a large tornado and on the front page of the paper after the tornado they had a picture of a chicken that was shoved into a glass milk bottle by the tornado.

I found a picture for you that describes what I am talking about. It is a picture of straw that was thrown with such force it is now sticking out of a tree like it was a pencil.

Geesh, with that scenario I think I'll be safer in the fridge.

reply to post by Manhater


I had to laugh when I read your comment, but it is possible Just be sure you can get back out

I just remembered I actually have a couple pics on my facebook of a storm I was chasing in 2002 on the outskirts of Wichita Kansas. I was gonna try to post them but they are coming out really small and I dont want to waste an hour trying to resize it... maybe tomorrow.

Ahh here ya go. This is a perfect example of the danger of a night time tornado.

This storm chaser, as you can see is following the storm around sunset. It is not long before the sun is down, the storm has moved in, and it is pitch black. You can only hope to catch a glimpse of the tornado when the lightning strikes.



Night time tornadoes are very very dangerous. All the years I spent in Kansas, not once did I ever attempt a chase after the sun went down. I usually called it and headed home by 6pm at the latest. Even the most amazing picture was not worth the risk.

And here is a video I am posting strictly for educational purposes. This is a perfect example of how NOT to chase storms.

You want to stay at a distance. You have to remember that typically funnels occur on the South east side of the storm cell, and if your looking for the best picture you want to get behind it, to the SW side of the storm cell is the perfect spot. You can be to the North or South and even in front of it at a distance, but the perfect spotting area is usually dictated by the landscape.

What you dont want to do is what this guy does. He drives into the storm and is filming from underneath. Literally pointing his camera up and looking at the rotation, towards the end you can see a funnel begin to form, directly above him. Absolutely dumb, risky, and not worth it. Once you see the rotation, it may not even form into a tornado, but if it does it can be a matter of seconds before it touches down. When it does, you sure dont want to be under it.

reply to post by MrWendal


Why would someone do that

Storms look cool and all but it isn't worth becoming paralyzed, brain damaged, or dead.

This is only my opinion and I have no facts to base this on....I believe that of our enemies may be attacking us with weather modification weapons as a warning to stay out of syria and iran. Doubt that we will listen to that warning.

Dear ATS Society.

Disregarding the poster above me considering weather manipulation I would love to point out that Intellicast is showing multiple tornadoes on the ground. Enable the "Storm Tracking" and "Alerts" overlays to see the developing situation. I could only wish Russia would have tornadoes in February, but alas we have to wait till May-September for anything severe. The tornado seems to be near Layman, Kentucky. Try not to peek outside if you're in the area, but seek proper shelter please? Only crazy Russians are allowed to laugh at an oncoming tornado.

While I was writing it the storm-system moved East and towards the towns of Mayflower and Benedict. The terrain seems rough and forested. There would be little warning. But I can't see any major cities, just dots of small, peculiarly-named settlements.


On another note, Backley seems to be a rather large settlement/city. I do hope they avoid the possible tornado coming their way. Sitting an ocean away in Russia and predicting a tornado path is sure hard doings. Well at any rate let us hope there would be no more casualties.


And another addition, this system I am following is large! There's a nice and multi-centered cell along with some other cells going for Harrisburg in the East, while a narrow band of cells are all the way over near Shreveport, almost eight states away! I would give a lot to see this up close (from a safe distance.)

reply to post by RumET

Well at any rate let us hope there would be no more casualties.

Welllllll, same system to move through same area Friday. So They say.

Weather modification technology is a fact. There are hundreds of websites that are legitimate and give information on haarp and scalar. These tornadoes could be natural, but the technology exist and Im not posting any links because if you care to know you can research it easily. If you claim to ignore a poster by telling the community your ignoring them, your not ignoring them.