Warning: Tornado Alley Videos Ahead!
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Tornado Safety Tips
Be aware during a Tornado and it may save your life!
If a tornado "watch" is issued for your area, it means that a tornado is "possible."If a tornado "warning" is issued, it means that a tornado has actually been spotted, or is strongly indicated on radar, and it is time to go to a safe shelter immediately.
Be alert to what is happening outside as well. Here are some of the things that people describe when they tell about a tornado experience:
* A sickly greenish or greenish black color to the sky.
* If there is a watch or warning posted, then the fall of hail should be considered as a real danger sign. Hail can be common in some areas, however, and usually has no tornadic activity along with it.
* A strange quiet that occurs within or shortly after the thunderstorm.
* Clouds moving by very fast, especially in a rotating pattern or converging toward one area of the sky.
* A sound a little like a waterfall or rushing air at first, but turning into a roar as it comes closer. The sound of a tornado has been likened to that of both railroad trains and jets.
* Debris dropping from the sky.
* An obvious "funnel-shaped" cloud that is rotating, or debris such as branches or leaves being pulled upwards, even if no funnel cloud is visible.
If you see a tornado and it is not moving to the right or to the left relative to trees or power poles in the distance, it may be moving towards you! Remember that although tornadoes usually move from southwest to northeast, they also move towards the east, the southeast, the north, and even northwest.
Encourage your family members to plan for their own safety in many different locations. It is important to make decisions about the safest places well BEFORE you ever have to go to them.
Fujita Pearson Tornado Scale
The Fujita Pearson scale measures the winds and damage of tornadoes
F-0
40-72 mph, chimney damage, tree branches broken, broken windows
F-1
73-112 mph, mobile homes pushed off foundation or overturned,broken tree
F-2
113-157 mph, considerable damage, mobile homes demolished, trees uprooted
F-3
158-205 mph, roofs and walls torn down, trains overturned, cars thrown
F-4
207-260 mph, well-constructed walls leveled
F-5
261-318 mph, homes lifted off foundation and carried considerable distances, autos thrown as far as 100 meters
Tornado Myths and Facts
Popular myths and the facts about Tornadoes!
Tornado Myths:MYTH: Areas near rivers, lakes, and mountains are safe from tornadoes.
FACT: No place is safe from tornadoes. In the late 1980's, a tornado swept through Yellowstone National Park leaving a path of destruction up and down a 10,000 ft. mountain.
MYTH: The low pressure with a tornado causes buildings to "explode" as the tornado passes overhead.
FACT: Violent winds and debris slamming into buildings cause most structural damage.
MYTH: Windows should be opened before a tornado approaches to equalize pressure and minimize damage.
FACT: Opening windows allows damaging winds to enter the structure. Leave the windows alone; instead, immediately go to a safe place.
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Worst tornado ever on video!
This F5 Tornado struck Oklahoma City on May 3, 1999
The Story of a Killer Tornado
Storm Warning: by Nancy Mathis
On May 3, 1999, a series of 71 tornadoes blasted Oklahoma. The biggest of them all spanned a mile-making it the largest in recorded history-and delivered ground-level winds of over 300 mph. In her exhaustively researched book, journalist Mathis brings the Tornado Alley calamity to life. A native Sooner who spent many hours crouching in fear in her grandmother's root cellar, Mathis has a visceral connection to the region and its heavy weather that she supplements with the expert use of interviews and historical research.
Storm Warning: The Story of a Killer Tornado
Amazon Price: $12.60 (as of 07/14/2009)
Customer Review
Just finished reading Nancy Mathis's Storm Warning in one sitting. Having grown up in Oklahoma and spent more than two decades as an airline pilot, I thought I knew a thing or two about hook echos, Doppler radar and microbursts. Mathis nails these down--making the science interesting and easy to understand.
Tornado Damage and Destruction
F5 Tornado that ripped thru Oklahoma on May 3rd 1999
The 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak was a severe weather event that lasted from May 3 until May 6, 1999 and brought violent storms to Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and Tennessee. This article concentrates on the events on May 3, when 66 tornadoes broke out in Oklahoma and Kansas. The most significant tornado first touched down southwest of Chickasha, Oklahoma, and became an F5 before dissipating over Midwest City, Oklahoma. The tornado tore through Bridge Creek, Oklahoma and Moore, Oklahoma, causing $1.1 billion in damage. Forty-eight people perished during the outbreak. This tornado event ranks in severity with the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965. With a total of 66 tornadoes, it was the most prolific tornado outbreak in Oklahoma history, although not the deadliest.An F5 tornado from Moore, Oklahoma tornado on May 3rd, 1999, wrapped a large four-wheel drive pickup around a utility pole, stripping most of the truck's sheet metal. Several other automobiles were strewn through the surrounding fields.
Oklahoma City F5 Tornado
May 3rd 1999 brought an F5 Tornado to Oklahoma City
May 3, 1999 started sunny, warm, and humid across the affected region. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma initially issued a "slight risk" for severe weather for most of the state of Oklahoma early that morning. By late morning the latest observations and forecasts began to indicate an increasing likelihood of widespread severe weather, and the SPC upgraded sections of the southern plains to "moderate risk." By 3 p.m. it had become evident that a widespread severe weather event was imminent. Parts of Oklahoma and Kansas were then further upgraded to "high risk". When a "high risk" is issued, this usually indicates the potential for a significant severe weather event, including damaging tornadoes. The SPC issued a tornado watch by mid-afternoon as conditions gathered together for what would be a historic tornado outbreak. By the afternoon the CAPE values reached nearly 6,000 J/kg over the region. Large supercell thunderstorms developed and in the late afternoon through the mid-evening hours of that Monday, tornadoes began to break out across the state.The tornado outbreak of May 3, 1999, brought near total devastation to this Oklahoma City neighborhood.
What causes a Tornado to form?
Tornadoes often form during severe thunderstorms.... why?
What causes tornadoes?Thunderstorms develop in warm, moist air in advance of eastward-moving cold fronts. These thunderstorms often produce large hail, strong winds, and tornadoes. Tornadoes in the winter and early spring are often associated with strong, frontal systems that form in the Central States and move east. Occasionally, large outbreaks of tornadoes occur with this type of weather pattern. Several states may be affected by numerous severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
During the spring in the Central Plains, thunderstorms frequently develop along a "dryline," which separates very warm, moist air to the east from hot, dry air to the west. Tornado-producing thunderstorms may form as the dryline moves east during the afternoon hours.
Along the front range of the Rocky Mountains, in the Texas panhandle, and in the southern High Plains, thunderstorms frequently form as air near the ground flows "upslope" toward higher terrain. If other favorable conditions exist, these thunderstorms can produce tornadoes.
Tornadoes occasionally accompany tropical storms and hurricanes that move over land. Tornadoes are most common to the right and ahead of the path of the storm center as it comes onshore.
Blog Posts about Tornadoes
Recent blogs about Tornadoes and storms
- Dreams About Tornadoes And The Tornadoes Seem To Be Following Me ...
- It's absurd that a tornado would bother to follow me, i know. But i can't control my dreams, ok? So, what does this intelligent tornado represent? BTW, it.
- Jon Davies Severe Weather Notes: New papers about nighttime ...
- Significant Nighttime Tornadoes in the Plains Associated with Relatively Stable Low-Level Conditions By: Anthony Fischer and Jonathan M. Davies There's some interesting things we found with nighttime tornado environments, including much ...
- Worcester Tornadoes Fall to the Sussex Skyhawks 9-5 - Can-Am ...
- MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com-AUGUSTA, NJ--- Another promising start to a ballgame was derailed by a SkyHawk rally. The Tornadoes lost 9-5 on Sunday from a sun-drenched Skylands Park, once again dropping them into the CanAm ...
- Quiet year for Tornadoes
- WDTN TV Channel 2 is Dayton, Ohio's leader for News, Weather, Sports and Traffic.
High-quality art print of a Tornado
Framed Tornado Art Print
Title: Tornado in Monument Valley
Artist: Peter Rauter
Type: Framed Art Print
Frame:
Onyx (1 3/8")
Protective Layer: Clear Plexiglass
Finished Size: 35 x 25 in
Item #: 916997
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Have you ever seen a tornado?
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Storm Chaser T-shirts and Gifts
Gifts just for tornado chasers
Adventures in Tornado Alley
Take a photographic journey right into the center of many violent storms.
This book has been rated 7 times and has gotten 5 stars from each person rating it!
Get it today, you will love it!
Adventures in Tornado Alley: The Storm Chasers
Amazon Price: $19.77 (as of 07/14/2009)
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Book full of beautiful photographs of violent storms and tornadoes!
This book has a 5 star rating by 7 out of 7 people!
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Storm Chaser -
A Photographer's Journey Images of tornadoes and storms
Storm Chaser: A Photographer's Journey
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A photographic journey of storms! See the storms and their aftermath threw the lens of a camera!
5 star book for weather lovers!
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What is a Storm Chaser
Storm Chasers are fearless of tornadoes!
Storm chasing is broadly defined as the pursuit of any severe weather condition, regardless of motive, which can be curiosity, adventure, scientific exploration or for news / media coverage.
A person who chases storms is known as a storm chaser, or simply a chaser. While witnessing a tornado is the single biggest objective for most chasers, many chase thunderstorms and delight in seeing cumulonimbus structure, watching a barrage of hail and lightning, and seeing what skyscapes unfold. There are also a smaller number of storm chasers who chase hurricanes.
Atkins, Arkansas Feb 5th 2008 Tornado
Watch a video of the tornado that ripped thru Atkins Arkansas
Tri State Tornado -
The Story of the worst tornado disaster in United States History!
The Tri-State Tornado: The Story of America's Greatest Tornado Disaster
Amazon Price: $12.55 (as of 07/14/2009)
Used Price: $8.68
The Tri-State Tornado reconstructs the tragedy, using vivid eyewitness accounts of fourteen survivors who lived along the tornado's path from the Missouri Ozarks to southwestern Indiana. The clarity with which they recall that day in their lives over sixty years earlier will give readers the unsettling feeling that the tornado struck days, not decades, ago.
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Beautiful photo of tornado and lightning
1974 Xenia, Ohio F5 Tornado
Watch this tornado wreck havoc in this youtube video!
Watch tornadoes in these tornado videos
Links to information about tornadoes
More Tornado Information, myths, and facts
- BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | How a tornado is formed
- A guide with graphics explaining how a tornado is formed.
- Severe Weather Alerts, Watches and Warnings - weather.com
- The Weather Channel provides detailed information on all severe weather alerts, including watches and warnings, for every state.
- Tornadoes....Nature's Most Violent Storms
- Pictures of tornadoes and waterspouts, how they forum, myths, and safety tips.
- FEMA: Tornado
- Tornado safety tips from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
- The Tornado Project Online!
- The Tornado Project is a small company that researches, compiles and makes tornado information available to tornado and severe weather enthusiasts, ...
- The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC)
- Questions and the answers about tornadoes.
- Tornadoes
- A tornado is a violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. The most violent tornadoes are capable of tremendous destruction ...
- NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Tornadoes
- Tornadoes. Information on tornadoes and other severe weather may now be found at the NOAAWatch
Tornado Myths and Facts comments
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Wysiwigs wrote...
We live in hurricane "country", but tornadoes happen here too. They are more frightening to me than hurricanes due to their unpredictability. Very good information and an excellent lens!
Posted July 07, 2009
cameron clark wrote
I saw A F0,F1,F2,F3,F4 AND F5 Before.
Posted June 10, 2009
Baysbeauty wrote...
Awesome Lens! I found you over at The Selling Lounge and had to come over and get this out. I rated you 5 stars, favored you and rolled your lens.
The SellingLounge
www.sellinglounge.com
Posted June 07, 2009
copperpenny22 wrote...
We were out of town when a tornado came through our neighborhood in April. Power was out from downed trees and some roofs were damaged. A tree fell on our neighbor's car. Thankfully, there was no damage at our house.
This is a great lens. Rated it 5-star and lens rolled it.
Posted June 06, 2009
AbbasAbedi wrote...
I lived in Oklahoma for a few years. Just a few months ago a huge tornado (F3) came withing 2-3 miles of my house. It was fun!. 5*
If you get a chance check out my Instant Stress Management lens.
Posted June 06, 2009
ArtByLinda wrote...
Great lens, tornadoes really frighten me. I am just happy to live in the west! Well done! Linda
Posted June 02, 2009
ShaunaSmith wrote...
Nice lens!!! Would you consider linking to my "severe weather safety training course" located at http://www.safetyskills.com/severe-weather-safety??
Posted June 01, 2009
loraseverson wrote...
Saw you on the Selling Lounge. Great lens with lots of useful information
Posted May 11, 2009
Zoey wrote
in reply to Nelia yea it is really cool but they can bring a lot of damage
Posted May 11, 2009
dustytoes wrote...
I've had nightmares about tornadoes my whole life...(probably from watching Dorothy swirl around in her house)...they are so scary. Thanks...I'll probably have nightmares tonight. But, it is a great lens.
Posted April 30, 2009
Nelia wrote...
Wow. Beautiful but incredibly deadly. Thanks for compiling this footage. Awe inspiring lens.
Posted April 26, 2009
Susan52 wrote...
Someone from our family had severe damage to her home recently in the Mena, Arkansas, tornado where three people were killed. The only good thing about a tornado is the outpouring of support from total strangers helping clean up in the aftermath. I lived in Ohio in 1974 and remember the Xenia tornado that you mention above very well. Very nice lens, well done!
Posted April 18, 2009
kiwisoutback wrote...
I love watching tornado videos.. they've always fascinated me. Great layout and design, Squid Angel blessed!
Posted April 08, 2009
becci 2010 wrote
i cant believe how tornadoes look like they do they are AWESOME!!!!!!!!
Posted March 25, 2009
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