Rex Trulove
Since many people have never seen a tornado, especially a powerful one, I thought I’d share this clip. This was shot by a crew of storm chasers working for a TV station and it was filmed in May of this year, in Kansas.
Of special interest, notice how the funnel of the tornado was causing a lot of damage before the bottom of the funnel even touched the ground. This is an example of how observable winds can cause effects that are quite a ways away from the observable and measurable wind.
This was a strong tornado, but it wasn’t an especially ‘big’ one. Initially looking at it, it doesn’t seem all that powerful, either, but what happens next shows that it was a lot stronger than it first appeared.
The newest weather radar actually looks both at the height of the clouds, but also the movement of the winds.
Once swirling begins they start tracking!
Yes. They identify the supercells and quite often (thankfully) the supercells don’t actually produce a funnel, but they do notice the rotation of the clouds. That gives storm chasers a heads-up in regard to where to go (I wouldn’t want that job, incidentally) and it allows the weather service to issue alerts in advance of most tornados. Every so often, a tornado still forms that surprises the weather service because it happens where it wasn’t expected.
They are getting better at identifying the cells, though. No doubt, that is saving a lot of lives.
I am one of those people that likes to know what is going on around me.
I have a seismograph in my basement.
I have a weather station on my back deck.
That way I never have to wonder. I just go check! Plus as an avid boater, knowing when and where weather is, kinda important.
You can be on the bay, clear as a bell and suddenly, a storm whips up, the window explodes and you are in heavy water!
I don’t blame you in the slightest. You are in an area prone to sudden violent storms. Most of the gear wouldn’t do me a lot of good, though. Although Montana holds records for rapid weather changes, those aren’t usually having to do with storms, With us, it is most often temperature fluctuations and all I need to do is look at the jet stream to know when those are likely to happen.
We tend to get the weather that the jet stream forgot!
It is really not a good thing to experience this.
No, it certainly isn’t. Unfortunately, it does happen.
It was bad or strong always damaging.
It is important to preserve human lives.
Yes, it is. Under the fury of a tornado, though, that isn’t always easy to do. A lot of times, there isn’t even any warning.
Scary stuff. That was a good video; and there’s no way I’d get that close!!!
I feel the same way. Through the course of the video, I kept thinking, “They are trying to get closer? You’ve got to be kidding me!”