It would be just my luck, that on the day of the biggest weather story in my area of the year, I’d be out of town. I was in Sacramento on an unexpected trip to find an important and now hard to get electronic part (thanks to it being made in Japan, and now scarce due to earthquake and Tsunami related supply chain issues) when all this happened, and the best I could muster was cell phone reports to my radio station while driving and taking time out to get radar images on my cell phone. KCRA-TV had their copter up, and here is some footage of what looks to be an F1 tornado in Butte County, CA near Durham, just south of Chico.
Of course compared to what was going in in the Midwest Mississippi and Ohio valleys today, this was minor. To add to the craziness, on my way back I got word my home security system had been tripped by an internal motion sensor alarm and police were at my home.
We think it was a malfunction, possibly lightning related, but can’t be sure what actually tripped the alarm.
Glad this day is over.
” … home security system had been tripped by an internal motion sensor alarm and police were at my home.”
Better check for bugs, ’cause you are considered a denier and the AGW dirty tricks squad is probably out to get you.
Wade said: ““What do rednecks and tornadoes have in common? They are both attracted to trailer parks.”
In the animated movie, “Cars”, Mater said, “I’m happier than a tornado in a trailer park!” Larry The Cable Guy was the voice of Tow Mater.
It’s a child’s movie, but well worth the dvd rental.
Scottish Sceptic says:
May 26, 2011 at 3:24 am
[Reply] Sarcasm and irony in a single comment? A recipe for anglo-american confustification! RT-mod
As the British queen said recently: “we share a common language, just use it differently”
I’d get some battery backed wireless cameras for your house and have them go to a system that is not on the network and which is secured in your attic on its own UPS.
Welcome to the Midwest 😉
“Youse” is still in common usage in many places. Here in southern New Brunswick, every waitress will say “What would youse like?” (“Youse” is usually pronounced more like “yez”.) It seems to be a requirement of being hired for the job.
Ian M
One note about tornadoes and terrain. A tornado (even if not an EF4 or 5) can form anywhere. Tornadoes have touched down in Salt Lake City which is about the biggest city in a mountain valley. Several years ago a tornado touched down in Manitou Springs CO. Manitou is a really small tourist town west of Colorado Springs. On a side note, there was one which quite literally sent the British out of Washington DC in 1814. Near as I can tell, it is the only recorded tornado in DC proper.
In the right weather condition, nowhere is completely safe from a tornado.
Leif Svalgaard wrote “As the British queen said recently: “we share a common language, just use it differently”
or, as I’ve heard put another way, we are 2 countries divided by a common language.
Anthony:
Let me know if I can help with the part. I have connections with custom electronics companies in San Jose and Philippines. Just email me with a description and I will hunt for you.
Bob G
REPLY: I got it, thanks – Anthony
Tornado, land spout (vs water spout) or gustnado – know the difference!
http://www.slideshare.net/chowd/national-weather-service-storm-spotter-training
Slide #134 onward discusses land spouts.
.
In Kansas, I think we refer to those as dust devils.
@ur momisugly Scottish Sceptic says:
May 26, 2011 at 3:24 am
lol, yes, but so much is lost when a detailed explanation is used. Best to let them question and/or rant to preserve the sarcasm and ironic humor.
Now, if you could only mount the blades on the wind turbines in such a way that the entire turbine and gear box goes from vertical to horizontal and then drive the wind turbines in the opposite direction of the rotation of the tornado, you could totally avoid all these tornado disasters. Of course, this being CA they need the wind turbines to produce the electricity to drive the wind turbines and with them rotated back they will not generate electricity and will need to use it. Needless to say I am sure that Babs (call me Seniletor) Boxer will introduce some sort of legislation to this effect. If we could only save one red crested tree mouse, it would be worth it in her eyes, I am sure.
Semi-related: Cliff Mass has a graph showing what happened when a tornado hit a weather instrumentation setup at El Reno. Maybe the most interesting part is the curves for a few minutes before the hit. Corresponds to subjective sensations that tell you “Here she comes!”
http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2011/05/tornado-passage-at-weather-station.html
Good news is, this cold pool conveyor may start the shift north early next week. The ECWMF is hinting at a large Four Corners High. That would certainly provide a respite if not culmination of a Spring from Hell.
You know something is up when you have a tornado watch for Vermont.
http://www.wcax.com/weather
Perhaps Gaea is sending a message to Bill McKibben to stop lying about global warming and tornadoes.
One would well to leave sarcasm to the experts.
link to the youtube vid:
let’s try that one again:
[http://] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSN5ZogyO1M
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/us/25questions.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=all
Interesting, even the NYT admits that GW not increasing tornados.
Those little rope tornadoes are pretty from a distance of a few miles. I’ve seen exactly one of them in Texas in the past 18 years I lived here. But strangely enough the closest I’ve been to one was about a mile away in the 1970’s in southern California in the city of Irvine about 10 miles inland from the beach. I didn’t even know it was there as it was so rain wrapped I couldn’t see the curb or centerline of the road I was driving on. Later, hearing about it on the news, I went over for a look at where it touched down. It picked a small car up off the road and set it down unharmed on the sidewalk. Knocked over a dozen trees. Took out some fences around back yards. Stripped a lot of shingles off of roofs. And took the roof off a few less sturdy structures like carports.
RHS says:
May 26, 2011 at 8:15 am
“In the right weather condition, nowhere is completely safe from a tornado.”
True but hilly terrain tends to break up the inflow and make them less severe. The nastiest ones tend to flat terrain where they ain’t nothin’ but bobbwar and switch grass to block the inflow.
Cite please?
Something with Moller or Doswell listed as author or coauthor?
BTW,
a) Having looked at the overflight of the looong Huntsville tornado damage NE of town, up hill and down dale didn’t seem to hinder it’s progress:
b) the 7 story or so hospital in Joplin seemed to represent no obstacle and the tall buildings in Ft. Worth represented no obstacle(s) either.
2000 Fort Worth tornado (picture of downtown cowtown at link below):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Fort_Worth_tornado
“The tornado passed through the west side of Fort Worth at about 6:18 p.m. It tore a 4-mile (5-km) path through the city, blowing out windows and causing significant damage to many of the downtown high rise buildings. The tornado dissipated around 6:28 p.m., and at its worst, was approximately one-quarter mile wide (0.4 km).
The tornado was classified as a low end F3 on the Fujita scale. Two people were killed by the tornado and 80 were injured, with six seriously injured. The heavy rain and hail that followed damaged many interior areas of buildings which were exposed by the tornado’s winds.”
.
Speaking of Arkansas trailer homes, the redneck word of the day is: rectum. Usage: “I had two nice four-wheelers sitting outside the trailer until the tornado come through and rectum.”
As Paul Hogan would say, “that’s not a tornado, this (the one that leveled Phil Campbell, AL) is a tornado.”
“Oh, sorry, I forgot US spelling should I have written “Sark off”?”
No, Scottish Sceptic, honey – we spell it “sarcasm” (with a “c”) in the States. I think “Sark” is French. ;-p
[Please tell me I don’t have to explain that.]