2011-04-25 MISC: TX/AR/MO

[Jeremy Den Hartog]

By now everyone for the most part has probably heard about the Vilonia, Arkansas tornado that occurred last night. Of course at this point we don't know the rating of the tornado though its pretty obvious it was very strong (enough to scour blacktop reportedly). Sadly, the death toll as of this morning has reached 4 people in Vilonia. I've seen a report suggesting that the damage path for this tornado was approximately 3 miles wide (yep you read right) and 15 miles long. Of course this report is unconfirmed at this point until an official survey is done. Below is the link where I found that info:

http://arkansasmatters.com/news-fulltext/?nxd_id=416507

Here are a couple videos:

Below is the base velocity radar couplet of the tornado:
Watch video >

And this is a video of the tornado itself (from Everett Ellis):
Watch video >

 

[Kevin Statler]

This tornado definitely was violent,and I believe the last time a violent tornado hit Arkansas was 2008.

 

[Jeff Duda]

http://vimeo.com/22869537[/video]

Ya know, I don't see an actual tornado in that video. I hate to be the one being so skeptical, but I would like to make sure everyone on this forum can tell the difference between a tornado and a non-tornado. The feature in question looks to me like a ground-hugging wall cloud. The tornado is likely underneath the base of the wall cloud, but it isn't directly visible on the video. I have no doubts that there was indeed a tornado under this and that it was large and strong, but that video does not show it. The terrain is too hilly and there are too many trees to say without a doubt that is a tornado.

 

[Ben Toms]

Ya know, I don't see an actual tornado in that video. I hate to be the one being so skeptical, but I would like to make sure everyone on this forum can tell the difference between a tornado and a non-tornado. The feature in question looks to me like a ground-hugging wall cloud. The tornado is likely underneath the base of the wall cloud, but it isn't directly visible on the video. I have no doubts that there was indeed a tornado under this and that it was large and strong, but that video does not show it. The terrain is too hilly and there are too many trees to say without a doubt that is a tornado.

Yes, that may not be the exact tornado, but it appears that that is the storm that put down the violent tornado. It looks like it was a more HP storm mode as well, and that appears to be the inflow notch so it could be assumed that's where the tornado is. Nonetheless, impressive radar signature. This is only my second season of paying attention to severe weather from a more serious standpoint, but that is definitely some of the best radar presentation I have ever seen. My thoughts go out to all those affected in Vilonia.

 

[joel ewing]

I read the article just now, and it said that "storm spotters estimated the funnel was at least a "half mile wide". Obviously, there are some discrepancies. You guys all know how it is after a big wx. event, whether it's a flood or a tornado or big hail. Everything seems to get bumped up in size and intensity. Funny how that is....but I guess it's human nature. It'll be interesting to see how this actually pans out. Thanks for the head's up, Jeremy.

 

[Kevin Statler]

This kind of surprised me..

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
230 PM CDT TUE APR 26 2011

..TORNADO FROM THE EVENING OF APRIL 25TH CONFIRMED IN VILONIA

PRELIMINARY REPORT...TORNADO DAMAGE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED IN VILONIA
ARKANSAS. AS OF THIS HOUR...THE DAMAGE THAT HAS BEEN SEEN SO FAR HAS
BEEN RATED AT AN EF2 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE. THE SURVEY CREW
OF JOHN ROBINSON...WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST...AND RENEE
FAIR...METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE...HAS SAID THE SURVEY WILL CONTINUE
IN THE AREA AND THE RATING MAY BE UPGRADED IN THE FUTURE.

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

This kind of surprised me..

I think most of the "hype" if you will comes from the blacktop reports. Well... given half the state is flooding, I can't help but wonder if some flooding and blacktop removal was misinterpreted as tornado damage by the media in the heat of the moment?

 

[Jeremy Den Hartog]

Ya know, I don't see an actual tornado in that video. I hate to be the one being so skeptical, but I would like to make sure everyone on this forum can tell the difference between a tornado and a non-tornado. The feature in question looks to me like a ground-hugging wall cloud. The tornado is likely underneath the base of the wall cloud, but it isn't directly visible on the video. I have no doubts that there was indeed a tornado under this and that it was large and strong, but that video does not show it. The terrain is too hilly and there are too many trees to say without a doubt that is a tornado.

Your right, sorry should have clarified further...the tornadic part of the storm...not necessarily the tornado itself...thanks for clarifying. It appears thats the meso/wall cloud area of the storm with the view of the tornado itself being blocked by the hill...

 

[John Robinson]

Not exactly a timely reply but...

A lot of the initial hype was due to two things: One, a certain city official, described the town as gone (or words to that effect) very early on. The media picked up on this immediately. In fact, when we did the survey, we found that some eastern parts of town were pretty much untouched. Also, a lot of the early reports were grossly overstated, i.e., Valero gas station destroyed (it was open the next day) and Harp's grocery store destroyed (it had damage to the facade). Second, I think Reed Timmer must have heard the quote from the city official early on and Reed Tweeted something to the effect that he thought it could be an EF5 and he also mentioned the pavement scouring. Many, many people, including some in the media, picked up on Reed's Tweet and took it to mean he had observed the damage himself. However, anyone reading Reed's Tweet carefully would have noticed words like "there" rather than "here" in reference to Vilonia, meaning he was not actually there and had not seen the damage himself. Again, it seems that most people did not pick up on that subtlety. As a result, we got a lot of unkind comments when the rating was EF2, i.e., we didn't know what we were doing, we were in a conspiracy with the insurance companies (!), and some of the usual anti-government comments. Also, while we did not know about the blacktop comment until after the fact and were thus not specifically looking for it, in every case I can remember in recent years, it was indeed water and not a tornado that had scoured away the road.