Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, Blizzards, Derecho's and other storms thread. - Share your storm experiences here.

[Cheesegirl78]

I do miss the Midwest storms.

Here, all we have to worry about now are the floods, and an occasional earthquake. Not in any fire danger, but we get the smoke from it. We did have a brief hailstorm a few weeks ago, but it was BB sized stuff and only lasted a few minutes.

 

[Pissmaster]

I can piss towards the wind and not get wet.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

Well well my friends it was only just a week ago on a Friday night we had the Dixie valley tornado and tonight we get a whole slew of of them across the midwest. This year is already shaping up to be a very active storm season. We shall see what next week will bring.

 

[Gravemind]

Well well my friends it was only just a week ago on a Friday night we had the Dixie valley tornado and tonight we get a whole slew of of them across the midwest. This year is already shaping up to be a very active storm season. We shall see what next week will bring.

It certainly has been. Before today, we were apparently running 100 tornadoes over the average (which is usually 200) for the year leading up to April.

 

[Meat Target]

A nasty-yet-kino twister from Iowa this past week.

 

[Gravemind]

We just had a nasty thunderstorm out here an hour or two ago, knocked out the power for an hour or two, although I think it was from lightning striking a power line/transformer than anything wind-related. One side of town had a really mean-looking hail core pass over it. Probably the first time I've seen that bright pink, heavy intensity reflectivity on a Doppler radar in several years, longer than I can even remember.

 

[W00K #17]

The tornado situation a few days ago was wild and fucked to hell. Had one go right over me while I was driving thank fuck it didn't touch ground till it passed, and a different one rekt a stretch of city blocks minutes before I was gonna drive down that road.

 

[Gravemind]

Tomorrow night/early Wednesday morning is shaping up to be another major event.




I don't believe I've ever heard a case where a cold front behaves more like a dryline – especially considering that whenever a cold front catches up to an ongoing complex of storms, the oncoming colder air tends to undercut the instability of the storms. Usually leads more to a linear setup, which is considerably less favorable for tornadic activity.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

Tomorrow night/early Wednesday morning is shaping up to be another major event.

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I don't believe I've ever heard a case where a cold front behaves more like a dryline – especially considering that whenever a cold front catches up to an ongoing complex of storms, the oncoming colder air tends to undercut the instability of the storms. Usually leads more to a linear setup, which is considerably less favorable for tornadic activity.

We can't even get a week break from the tornadoes on March 31st. There ought to be some storm chasers streaming this stuff Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

[W00K #17]

Tomorrow night/early Wednesday morning is shaping up to be another major event.

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I don't believe I've ever heard a case where a cold front behaves more like a dryline – especially considering that whenever a cold front catches up to an ongoing complex of storms, the oncoming colder air tends to undercut the instability of the storms. Usually leads more to a linear setup, which is considerably less favorable for tornadic activity.

Fuck, I'm right in the middle of one of the red sections.

 

[Gravemind]

We can't even get a week break from the tornadoes on March 31st. There ought to be some storm chasers streaming this stuff Tuesday and Wednesday.

Maybe a couple of crazy bastards might be, but generally, most professional chasers probably won't go for it since they don't expect the storms to start firing until 1-3 am CST Wednesday (if I'm remembering my time conversions correctly).

Night chasing is an incredibly bad idea due to low/no visibility. It's why a lot of chasers tend to pack up shop after dark and find someplace to stay/go home if they're local.

Fuck, I'm right in the middle of one of the red sections.

One important thing to note is that the level of risk area is just a likelihood of ANY severe happening within that particular area, and actual specific storm chances MAY be lower (the SPC usually provides similar infographics breaking down specific Tornado, Wind, and Hail probabilities). Even in 5/5 High risks, not everybody sees severe storms (and it can be argued that some of the most destructive storms on days like that have actually dropped in lower risk areas).

Bottom line: Just stay weather aware. If a Watch goes out, tune in to either your local news station, a trusted web source, or even check your local National Weather Service's office social media for more information about possible warnings (every NWS office across the nation has their own respective social media pages on Twitter and Facebook for explicitly this purpose). Keep a track on any potential storms as they fire up. If you have a NOAA weather radio, make sure that thing is functional and good to go. If a Warning goes out, enact your safety plan. Simple as that.

 

[Meat Target]

Some more footage from Friday:

You generally do not want to be driving when a tornadic storm is in progress. You should only hit the road as a last resort, and even then, have a way to be mindful of the current weather to make sure you don't end up driving directly into the path of an ongoing tornado – this is usually the same sort of practice that chasers employ.

Afew more Old Wives Tales about tornadoes that should be deboonked here:

1. Opening your windows will NOT "reduce the pressure". Your house is not gonna be okay from a direct hit regardless.

2. If driving, do NOT take shelter under an overpass or in a culvert. You will just be in a wind tunnel.

3. The southwest corner of your shelter is not the safest place in your basement. Tornadoes can strike from any direction.

4. Though most common in the afternoon and evening hours, tornadoes cna happen at any time of day.

Tornadoes are also a perfect reason to have some kind of 3-day Go Bag.

 

[Gravemind]

Afew more Old Wives Tales about tornadoes that should be deboonked here:

1. Opening your windows will NOT "reduce the pressure". Your house is not gonna be okay from a direct hit regardless.

2. If driving, do NOT take shelter under an overpass or in a culvert. You will just be in a wind tunnel.

3. The southwest corner of your shelter is not the safest place in your basement. Tornadoes can strike from any direction.

4. Though most common in the afternoon and evening hours, tornadoes cna happen at any time of day.

Tornadoes are also a perfect reason to have some kind of 3-day Go Bag.

Absolutely correct.

1. In fact, IIRC, opening your windows just creates a "wind tunnel" sort of effect through your house which can end up causing even more damage than if you had left them closed.

4. That's one of the big reasons why the SPC seems to be particularly emphasizing the threat for today/tonight, as one of the higher potential/timings for tornadic development in the South appears to be after dark/during the wee hours of the morning. Nighttime generally tends to be less conducive to more intense severe weather due to the loss of daytime heating and reinforcement of the cap/cooling of the atmosphere, but this is not always the case. Mother Nature doesn't give a shit if you're trying to sleep because you have work at 4 in the morning, or if you're right in the middle of your morning commute – she'll throw a spinny fit of rage down your street if and whenever she damn well pleases.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

Looks like the biggest weather youtuber is streaming tonight's developments. Bunch of chasers are streaming too. Place your bets kiwis! How bad or how benign will this be?

 

[Gravemind]

Right when tonight was shaping up to be a bust.



If you live in these areas, stay safe, Kiwis.

Update: PDS Tornado Warning issued within that area.


Update #2: SPC noting a strong tornado underway from far southeast MO, crossing over into southwest IL.

It's producing a respectable debris ball on Correlation Coefficient.

 

[Agamemnon Busmalis]

2. If driving, do NOT take shelter under an overpass or in a culvert. You will just be in a wind tunnel.

For some more background on this one in particular, this myth originates from some footage in the early 90's where a camera crew took shelter under an overpass from a weak tornado (I believe it was F1 under the old scale).

However, this overpass had an unusual design with a concealed area within the structure the crew could take shelter in, which substantially blocked the wind and debris. Others have absolutely no protection like this, which means you get the wind tunnel effect. It can significantly enhance the strength of the tornado on a local basis.

This proved to be deadly during the Moore tornado in 1999.

 

[Kikkoman]

A storm chasing youtuber got hit by one (and didnt even capture it on video)

Second example in the past month, tornado reddit is big mad and arguing if its just more idiots having cameras or if everyone was always this stupid.

 

[Return of the Freaker]

A storm chasing youtuber got hit by one (and didnt even capture it on video)

Second example in the past month, tornado reddit is big mad and arguing if its just more idiots having cameras or if everyone was always this stupid.

Probably the second one. Apparently you had a spike in dumb/autist behavior when camcorders got more affordable and immediately after Twister came out.

 

[Agamemnon Busmalis]

A storm chasing youtuber got hit by one (and didnt even capture it on video)

Second example in the past month, tornado reddit is big mad and arguing if its just more idiots having cameras or if everyone was always this stupid.

Chasing a heavily rain-wrapped tornado in low-light conditions in a PRIUS? I'm glad he's okay but that's really not a good idea.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

A storm chasing youtuber got hit by one (and didnt even capture it on video)

Second example in the past month, tornado reddit is big mad and arguing if its just more idiots having cameras or if everyone was always this stupid.

Amateurs should get seat time with more experienced chasers. Due to how big the community has become I'm sure it won't be hard to connect with other experienced chasers.