Tornadoes hitting Illinois and Missouri

DavidMn · #1 03-12-2006, 05:17 PM

Seems like this happens this time EVERY year.

I saw where a car got picked up and thrown 70 feet in southern Missouri and 2 people dies. Hoep everyone in that part of the country stays aware of the weather.

Patti · #2 03-12-2006, 06:47 PM

I live in Missouri, near Kansas City and there have been tornadoes and damage all around me. I have gotten a total of 10 drops of rain and one clap of thunder. My mom, who lives 35 minutes north of me, has had two tornado warnings and several thunderstorms pass by. Weird.

WildInTheWind · #3 03-12-2006, 07:45 PM

We haven't had a problem in St. Louis, but all around us has. I don't think it is likely that St. Louis city would have a tornadoe, I don't think it could happen in our atmosphere.

Lee · #4 03-12-2006, 08:36 PM

My brother lives in Columbia, MO. According to my dad, my brother got hail damage, damaged an awning & his truck. His truck has dents on the hood from the hail. We aren't originally from MO, but my brother likes it out there though I can't imagine why. He keeps telling my parents that they should come & live out there.

He really is nuts!

Lee

David · #5 03-12-2006, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WildInTheWind

I don't think it is likely that St. Louis city would have a tornadoe, I don't think it could happen in our atmosphere.

St. Louis has had tornadoes. I myself "enjoyed" a tornado in downtown St. Louis in July 1981. My family & I were in a butcher shop when the sky turned green & started roiling. We moved away from the glass windows & doors & the store owners pulled the blinds down over the glass. We huddled underneath the counters. The tornado touched down a mile or so away, tore up a freeway sign & this & that, & moved on to another area. It was exciting!

Tornadoes can occur anywhere, meteorologically speaking, although they are far more prevalent in certain parts of the country. But it's old superstition that tornadoes can't form in big cities or over certain other geographical or man-made features. The only thing different about the weather within big city limits from surrounding areas is that the temperature might be a few degrees warmer owing to the radiation that is captured in concrete, pavement & other structures, & surface winds might have slightly different direction & velocity among man-made structures. But these differences are trifling when you're talking about the macro-weather elements (such as air-mass collision & jet stream shear) that form supercell thunderstorms & tornadoes.

Here's an interesting FAQ from the NOAA site:

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/

All of you out there in the path of these latest storms, stay safe!

DavidMn · #6 03-13-2006, 10:49 AM

I remember the only time I ever actually saw one was driving between Amarillo and Lubbock Texas in the late spring of 1996. I had to take cover under a highway overpass because the hail was bigger than golfballs.

I saw the tornado about 10 miles away. It turned out to eb an F-4.

David · #7 03-13-2006, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMn

I had to take cover under a highway overpass because the hail was bigger than golfballs.

Highway overpass: A good place to be in a hailstorm, but a bad place to be in a tornado.

Dark Angel · #8 03-13-2006, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WildInTheWind

We haven't had a problem in St. Louis, but all around us has. I don't think it is likely that St. Louis city would have a tornadoe, I don't think it could happen in our atmosphere.

How was it last night? I know there were warnings everywhere. One was spotted near the Edwardsville & Holiday Shores area here in Illinois about 4 A.M. this morning...(about 6-10 miles from me). I didn't find out about it till this morning, and was yelling at my husband asking why he didn't wake me.

I ended up waking up at about 4:20 to go check the weather, and it was over.

WildInTheWind · #9 03-13-2006, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Angel

How was it last night? I know there were warnings everywhere. One was spotted near the Edwardsville & Holiday Shores area here in Illinois about 4 A.M. this morning...(about 6-10 miles from me). I didn't find out about it till this morning, and was yelling at my husband asking why he didn't wake me.

I ended up waking up at about 4:20 to go check the weather, and it was over.

It wasn't bad here. Just thunderstorms, but I didn't even hear them. I didn't even see any trees knocked down or anything (which we usually get when there are bad storms). I guess I'm lucky, because I know not too far from here got hit pretty hard. The Imo's in Springfield, IL was one of the only restaurants with power today around there, but that isn't exactly next door.