Topic: Tornado fury.

[Mike]

Just found this amazing footage of the Kansas tornado from this year from CNN via Reed.  I have never seen such awesome footage of the speed of the tornado as it tracks.  I don't say that just because I know him, but I have never seen actually 'how fast' the funnel spins once on the ground.  It's amazing to see the power of these things as they carve through anything in their way.  From watching this video it hammers home the danger of these storms that people have to live with. You can read all you like about tornadoes but footage as you will see is just unbelievable.    No wonder our Aussie chasers who visit there go nuts......



Mike

here's the link

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/weather/2007/05/05/intv.ok.tornado.ellis.co.chase.net&wm=11

[Jimmy Deguara]

Mile,

Yes that is remarkably close and very impressive footage. The tornado itself also was a grinder narrow tall tornado but very strong. You could see an outer layering on the tornado at one point which is quite impressive as well.

I believe this is the storm that produced the tornado most likely as we were still approaching it. At the time these pictures were taken, the warnings were for a tornado likely on the ground.



Of course we then had to race up northwards to intercept the Greensburg storm/tornado whatever we could of course. There is a reasonable distance between where this Ellis County tornado occurred and Greensburg but I guess.

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara

[Michael Bath]

Wow - impressive footage aright !   It appears the winds are not strong right where the chasers are - can't see any wind impact on the shrubs. Is this unusual that close to a tornado ? 

[Jimmy Deguara]

Michael,

I recall Chuck Doswell during a discussion on inflow into supercells that it varies significantly. Of course it could differ in different environments as well but the supercell itself enhances inflow. You may note that towards the end of the footage wind picks up dramatically and I think changes direction. I guess being so close, the chasers (Reed and Joel) were near the surface based mesocyclone. Being northeast of the tornado, they would probably experiencing the RFD. Reed may have a little more to say about this.

I also get the impression that the tornadic storm developed in extreme CAPE (>4000)with lots of upmotion - vortex stretching. Lapse rates in the area were also extreme and in the region and likely superadiabatic from memory (something we lack in Australia within zones of moist air and low bases). The storms initiated along the dryline. An upper trough would have been approaching this region by this point. Perhaps further clarification by Reed or Joel can correct me otherwise:) I would not mind seeing some of the available data for this day.

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara

[Mike]

Hi guys.

Found some info on that day re soundings and the like.  Jimmy, is this what you wanted to view re data?

Mike

 

[Jimmy Deguara]

Hi Mike,

Yes a large region of 4000+ CAPE existed and was capped off - like a lid on a pot. Any boundary or triple point or dryline activity could set things off. And with an upper trough short wave as well as an associated jet ejecting into the plains, it was inevitable and a potent situation. The only thing though was this storm just simply dominated and had no competition. What a beast it was!

Regards,

Jimmy Deguara

[Mike]

Stumbled on this site looking for seismic detection areas for earthquakes and found that tornadoes actually create seismic readings when they touch ground!  Here's the link on the site - totally caught me by surprise!

http://eai.home.mindspring.com/EAIsdt.html

Mike

[Mike]

http://tornadovideos.net have a YouTube video for view of the Manitoba EF4 tornado literally obliterating everything in Elie and the amount of debris in the air is just scarey.  Now I can see why records get imbedded into tree trunks.  Great footage.
Edit: Direct link here thanks (Mike do you know what date it was 23rd June 2007?):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEUXr6FMtWk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBI9gXWHAko&mode=related&search=

Mike