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3/28/10 DISC: NC, SC, FL

Jason Harris

EF5
Joined
Jan 7, 2008
Messages
537
Location
Bryan, TX
Just briefly wanted to mention that SPC has one FL tornado report amid the NC ones. I was right around this area but didn't have a chance to see any structure with the blowing rain. I'll update if NWS or any local news outlets pick up decisive evidence for a tornado:
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POSSIBLE TORNADO ON CYPRESS BEND CIRCLE OFF JOHN RODES BLVD. TREE BRANCHES BROKE SEVERAL WINDOWS OF A RESIDENCE. (MLB)
 
Was there a "Tornado Emergency" declared this afternoon with the Highpoint, NC storm? I saw a mention on facebook of this, and was looking to confirm.
 
I considered chasing this event but figured it was a bit far south and I haven't yet prepared my chase equipment or activated my Verizon and WxWorx accounts. Should have!

The video is starting to come in of the tornado from that long-lived supercell in North Carolina. I found these links from the NBC station out of Charlotte.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na5Y6bBnwb8

According to the weather chat on the station's website, the tornado was filmed near Belmont crossing I-85 near exit 25 though a later correction listed the location as Rowan Co near Spencer, NC off of I-85

And here is some video from the tornado near High Point, NC.
http://www.myfox8.com/wghp-tornadoes-100328,0,7571743.story


Bill Hark
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That first video is incredibly disturbing to me. There are maybe 3 or 4 cars/trucks probably sitting under that underpass. There are probably 30 or 40 cars now stuck in the close to direct path of a large tornado. Thank goodness the storm passed away from them. I don't know what I would do personally in that situation, but it makes me wish I had a big plow on the front of my vehicle!
 
I'm pretty sure some people further back behind the guy shooting the video were scared, as they watch the tornado coming closer to them, traffic isn't moving because people have stopped their vehicles under the bridge further ahead of them.
 
James Langford said:
That first video is incredibly disturbing to me. There are maybe 3 or 4 cars/trucks probably sitting under that underpass. There are probably 30 or 40 cars now stuck in the close to direct path of a large tornado. Thank goodness the storm passed away from them. I don't know what I would do personally in that situation, but it makes me wish I had a big plow on the front of my vehicle!
Click to expand...

That's a logical first assumption, but notice that the video was shot from the southbound lane and the tornado, traveling in a north-northeasterly direction, is moving off into the distance tangentially. That means it very likely crossed the highway at a steep angle beyond the bridge, and if that's the case, then the motorists who were parked under the bridge probably stopped there in order to avoid driving directly into the funnel. They must have been crapping their pants.
 
EF-O tornado confirmed for Melbourne area:

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100329/BREAKINGNEWS/100329001/1086/Officials+say+small+twister+hit+Brevard+on+Sunday

Eau Gallie Blvd. by the way was where I hit the most intense blowing rain when I was trying to get ahead of the storm again.
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damage was minor. Downed trees and damage to the roof of an old trailer were reported in the area of Interstate 95 and Eau Gallie Boulevard.

“It was small and weak,” said Bart Hagmeyer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne.

“You can trace the path from west of Interstate 95 to Sarno Road as it skipped along. The storm was moving pretty fast and was showing strong rotation but most of that energy apparently stayed aloft.”

It was also the second F-0 tornado to hit Brevard County this year, officials say.
Click to expand...
 
Bob Hartig said:
That's a logical first assumption, but notice that the video was shot from the southbound lane and the tornado, traveling in a north-northeasterly direction, is moving off into the distance tangentially. That means it very likely crossed the highway at a steep angle beyond the bridge, and if that's the case, then the motorists who were parked under the bridge probably stopped there in order to avoid driving directly into the funnel. They must have been crapping their pants.
Click to expand...

Ahh, that's a good point Bob. Thanks for the clarification! I just automatically assumed there were folks hiding from hail under the pass, as I've experience that many times myself.
 
Bob Hartig said:
That's a logical first assumption, but notice that the video was shot from the southbound lane and the tornado, traveling in a north-northeasterly direction, is moving off into the distance tangentially. That means it very likely crossed the highway at a steep angle beyond the bridge, and if that's the case, then the motorists who were parked under the bridge probably stopped there in order to avoid driving directly into the funnel. They must have been crapping their pants.
Click to expand...

Are you sure it was the southbound lane? The videographer was on the right side of the road, and the tornado was moving right to left and away from that bridge. That would make the tornado's motion to the NW. I believe, actually, that the highway is oriented (roughly) east-west, and that the tornado was moving to the northeast and that it missed the bridge to the south and east.
 
Gabe Garfield said:
Are you sure it was the southbound lane?...I believe, actually, that the highway is oriented (roughly) east-west, and that the tornado was moving to the northeast...
Click to expand...

The brief info blurb on the YouTube video says, "Tornado outside of Spencer, NC and High Point on 85 South bound." But knowing that east/west/north/south can be pretty general terms for roads that take all kinds of angles in getting where they're going to, I checked Street Atlas, and you're kind of, sort of right. The highway in that area is actually slanted roughly southwest-northeast, with directional adjustments depending on exactly where the video was shot.

This explains why the tornado, traveling northeast, appears to just about parallel the highway. However, you can see that it continues to edge off incrementally to the east. I suspect, based on its slightly more eastward component relative to the road, that it probably did cross the highway beyond the bridge, but I wasn't there, so all I can do is speculate.

If it did cross, then it had to have been at an angle so gradual that it was on the pavement for a good ways; if not, then I'm guessing it traveled next to the road closely enough to make a lot of motorists pause for an underwear change.

And as long as I'm speculating--if the tornado had followed just a slightly more northerly angle, it could have resulted in one of those nightmare scenarios with a large funnel moving straight down the interstate gobbling up cars like Pac-Man.
 
Here's the storm survey by NWS on the Melbourne EF0, yep Eau Gallie 95 exit is where I got off (partly cuz visibility was so bad at that point). I did notice some branches down at the time. Not sure there was a good way of viewing this small tornado amid all that moisture:
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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
1051 AM EDT MON MAR 29 2010

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DAMAGE SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED THIS MORNING
IN MELBOURNE. A 150 TO 200 YARD WIDE DISCONTINUOUS DAMAGE SWATH WAS
APPARENT FROM SOUTHWEST OF THE INTERSTATE 95 AND EAU GALLIE
INTERSECTION TO SOUTHWEST OF THE AURORA ROAD AND WICKHAM ROAD
INTERSECTION. ALONG THE SWATH...NUMEROUS TREE BRANCHES WERE DOWNED...
ONE LARGE TREE WAS TOPPLED...FENCES WERE BLOWN OVER...AND TWO HOMES
SUSTAINED MINOR DAMAGE (ONE PERMANENT HOME AND ONE MOBILE HOME).

THE TOTAL LENGTH OF THE DAMAGE SWATH WAS ABOUT 2.4 MILES LONG. WIND
SPEEDS ALONG THE SWATH WERE ESTIMATED AT 45 TO 60 MPH. THE
CHARACTER OF THE SURVEYED DAMAGE AND CORRELATION WITH A
PERSISTENT ROTATIONAL CIRCULATION ON DOPPLER RADAR ARE CONSISTENT
WITH A WEAK EF0 TORNADO.

DETERMINATION: WEAK EF0 TORNADO
MAXIMUM ESTIMATED WINDS: 60 MPH
PATH LENGTH: 2.4 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 150-200 YARDS
TIME OF OCCURRENCE: 600 PM TO 604 PM...MAR 28 2010



HAGEMEYER/SPRATT
 
Melbourne NWS actually used my picture of the tornadic cell in their updated report:

http://test.crh.noaa.gov/mlb/?n=tor_032810

Also, in an email, the Melbourne Met mentioned this:

--
The echo of interest most closely resembled a meso-low wrapping up on the north edge with the stronger/tighter circulation developing on the northern end of the bow. This circulation was long-lived (tracked back to at least 5pm over Osceola County) and therefore would be classified as a supercell. Since both circulations were rotating cyclonically, they are not book-end vorticies.
Click to expand...
 
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