Tornados in the USA :(

[Rob Z]

MG, the story I can remember from the time my aunt and uncle lost their house...they heard via the radio about the tornado warning, ran into the basement, heard a lot of wind, then came upstairs, thinking all was well. As they came out of the basement my aunt said "Oh, at least we didn't lose power--all the light are on still" It wasn't that the lights were still on....the house was gone and the sky was bright already. They were in the basement and a 2000+ plus sqaure foot house was ripped off the floor above them, without a sound. Yikes!

 

[user123]

MG, the story I can remember from the time my aunt and uncle lost their house...they heard via the radio about the tornado warning, ran into the basement, heard a lot of wind, then came upstairs, thinking all was well. As they came out of the basement my aunt said "Oh, at least we didn't lose power--all the light are on still" It wasn't that the lights were still on....the house was gone and the sky was bright already. They were in the basement and a 2000+ plus sqaure foot house was ripped off the floor above them, without a sound. Yikes!

Gosh... we are so lucky here! Especially as many houses here don't have basements... :yikes:

 

[Rob Z]

Gisela, it's funny the stuff that I can start to remember about that tornado. It ripped all the barb wire off of my uncle's fenceposts in the cow pasture, but left the fence posts in the ground. My job one day (as a 10 or 11 year old, I don't recall exactly) was to take a folding rule and go and mark off all the locations for the new wire. That might have been my first job in construction.:lol:

 

[Rob Z]

Check out this series of pictures from Alabama. Picture two shows how an entire block was wiped out, and houses only a short distance away were untouched. Picture six shows a similar thing--entire buildings destroyed, and right across the street at the mall the signs in the parking lot are still standing.

I can tell you from personal experience that the sky turns a sickening shade of green when tornados are nearby.


Aerial Photos of Tornado Devastation in South - FoxNews.com

 

[jay]

scary stuff there Rob weird the path it chooses

 

[user123]

God... I am totally uneducated as to what causes such a pointed and precise swirl of a storm, what keeps it turning round like that?? I saw a mini one once in Germany, we were in an open air swimming pool, and all of a sudden this relatively small, almost cute little finger of a tornado arrived seemingly out of nowhere and sent all the towels that were laid on the grass up circling though the air and then they dropped again, all over the road, it was just so bizarre!

 

[Rob Z]

Gisela, there is a lot to read about tornados and why they occur. It is explained with simple physics and basic weather/atmospheric science. Here is a link that gives some of the basics. I didn't know this until I just read this article, but the US has the dubious disctinction of having the majoirty of the tornados observed world-wide.

These things are fascinating, as long as I can watch them from a safe distance and when no one is hurt.

What causes tornadoes?

Also, you might find it interesting to read how tornados are classified (using the Fujita scale). An "F5" tornado is the most powerful. I think some of those in Alabama were F5's. Take a look at the wind speeds for an F5. :yikes:

Fujita scale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Stewart]

An awesome picture of the recent tornado's. It was posted by Ian poulter on twitter, though he didn't take it. I wouldn't have wanted to be the person that did, as it looks terrifying.......

 

[user123]

:yikes: neither would I... it does look kind of beautiful, too, doesn't it, all nice and quiet on a photo...

 

[Rob Z]

It really does look like something from Hollywood Special Effects, doesn't it? Note the flag on the flagpole is fairly unaffected, so the winds aren't strong there at all, and the tornado is close.

The one I mentioned that missed us by a short distance in 1979----we heard nothing, and the lights blinked a few times, and that was it. I recently looked up in the local weather service records and learned that tornado was an F3 (mid-size). I've somewhat forgotten about tornados because they aren't as common here on the east coast. I do vividly remember as a kid, living in the midwest, being terrified hearing the warning sirens going off during a tornado warning.