Jason Persoff
EF3
I've been a bit sleepless from trying, trying hard, to get my first rainband tornado. But several observations need to be made:
- The funnel clouds I've seen have been "disconnected" from upper level winds...These appear to be mid-level rotational events without connection to the upper level clouds as I'm used to from the Mid-West.
Storm motion is ridiculously fast. Given the high vegetation in NE FL, line-of-sight may only be a mile or two, even when hanging out over by marshes (which offer the most unincumbered view of the onshore flow). Still, I get a glimpse of low-level clouds for 10-15 seconds before they've screamed from being first visible to disappearing over the opposite horizon.
All of the rotation on radar appears to be only on the lowest scans, confirming a lot about what these look like visually (but again, no tornadoes I've seen).
Last evening was the most intense imbedded cell I've ever seen. At 0200 there were flashes of lightning every 2-3 seconds and 2 big powerflashes with the unmistakable roar of a tornado nearby. The house was shaking and the trees were whipping. We must have been very close to the tornado as steady 30-45 mph winds from the east were abated briefly by westerly, then southerly winds. That said, there were no radar findings to suggest this low-level event. But the intense lightning is very unusual in these TS events--usually they're visually devoid of lightning.
By far today has been predictably the worse as we're in the 3:00-6:00 quadrant of Fay. I'll keep trying to get my first tornado, but this has proven to be much more difficult than anything I chase on the Plains
