[Other] Tornado jacking stuff up around here...

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drawn_inward

drawn_inward

stienman said:
Interesting points:
- the tornado watch turned into a tornado warning 20 minutes prior to the tornado forming
- the tornado alert (ie, there's one on the ground) was given five minutes _after_ the tornado hit the ground (which is about what I experienced when a tornado hit Michigan last year. I heard the reports from the weather spotters about 5 minutes before they hit the TV and radio stations.)
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If there is a tornado warning for your area, it's a good idea to head for cover unless you know it's not heading for you. The sirens went off a number of times during those 2 days, but the tornado wasn't "near" us or heading towards us.

Our emergency weather radio (which I think broadcasts from NOAA) gives us the fastest updates. There's an app for it too. Generally though, most folks here know when severe weather season is, and keep an eye on it. I usually have an Intellicast tab up, and have the radio alert set up if there are storms brewing near us. I use the local news for coverage and to catch something I might be missing.

Thats why some people go outside to see where it's headed because a bathtub or a closet won't cut it sometimes. It's better to jump in a car and move perpendicular (usually SE/NW) to the tornado. I won't hide in a bathtub if I can help it. :thumbsup:
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
What?!? I hate to say it, man, but hopping in your car and driving is a really, really bad idea. EF5 tornadoes are pretty rare and in 99.9% of the instances you'd be better off staying put or getting in that tub. I know you're desensitized to tornadoes as am I, but your last post is possibly dangerous.
 
strawman

strawman

If

1. you can see the tornado clearly
2. know its path well enough to know it's going to hit your house
3. it's still 5 miles away

Then getting in your car and driving to a safer area outside its path might be a better choice than staying put.

Unfortunately when a tornado is 5 miles away then #1 and #2 are very unlikely. If the tornado is any closer then any place you can safely drive to in the 5-10 minutes you have before it reaches you is within the possible paths it has left before it gets to your area. Keep in mind that the storm is often ahead of the tornado, so you're going to be dealing with heavy winds, rain, hail, and debris the tornado is throwing ahead of it. You won't be able to go more than a few miles in the short time you have until the tornado reaches you. And you should always prefer to weather a tornado in a building than in a car.

Unless you are a storm chaser and know significantly more about tornados and forecasting storm movement than the average TV weatherperson, it's pretty foolhardy to try to outrun a tornado unless you have no other option.
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

No worries. I'm not crazy enough to try to out-run a tornado, but if an EF4 or 5 is headed my way, and I can get way then I am not sticking around without going below ground. You've seen the bare foundations right?
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
drawn_inward said:
No worries. I'm not crazy enough to try to out-run a tornado, but if an EF4 or 5 is headed my way, and I can get way then I am not sticking around without going below ground. You've seen the bare foundations right?
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Yeah, but you never know what type of tornado it is until it hits. You saw how fast it went from nothing to an EF5, right? Add in that most tornadoes even during the day are rain-wrapped or damned hard to see, and you have a recipe for disaster if you try and outrun it. Having good shelters is the answer, not hopping in the car and hoping nobody else has the same idea in front of you.
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

Dave said:
Having good shelters is the answer, not hopping in the car and hoping nobody else has the same idea in front of you.
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Absolutely agree. Running is NOT my severe weather plan. It's my "move or die" plan. If my wife and I buy a house here (we're likely to move out of state early next year), it will include a safe room or below ground cellar. Our nearest shelter at home is 1 mile from our apt. Our workplace has a basement. We have proper plans. Getting in the car is more a fight or flight kind of thing.
 
Espy

Espy

My dad once out ran an F5 in texas. It was moving really slow and he was already heading away from it when it formed. Just kept on driving.
 
doomdragon6

doomdragon6

Staff member
redthirtyone said:
The Greensburg tornado was just creepy big (wiped out the whole town) & the video of that Tuscaloosa tornado a couple of years ago are just flat out scary.
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That literally went right beside where I lived. A block over and it would've been my apartment complex levelled. All my friends seriously thought I was dead 'til phones came back up. GF kind of has PTSD now and tornadoes absolutely terrify her and send her into panic attacks if you even talk about them.
 
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