Carrie Halliday
EF5
This makes me incredibly angry! I hope that the injuries are very minor...am I allowed to ask what tour company?
Glad to hear your family is safe, Shannon...keep us informed!
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5/10/10 DISC: OK/TX/KS
- Thread starter Tim Vasquez
- Start date
This makes me incredibly angry! I hope that the injuries are very minor...am I allowed to ask what tour company?
Glad to hear your family is safe, Shannon...keep us informed!
Mike Peregrine
EF5
Glad you're ok, Tim, Shannon & family. What a crazy day.
Paul Knightley
EF5
Echoing the thoughts above - I was watching this from 4000 miles away and yet the live coverage on the web + the radar from GRL3 had me very nervous for all you guys out there, and of course the general populous of OKC etc. Tim/Shannon - glad you guys are OK but I guess your local area will never quite be the same again.
John Hudson
EF4
I don't intend to sound indifferent, and I sincerely hope that there are no serious injuries to the tour group, but I have to say that I'm completely blown away that something like this hasn't happened sooner, and that there hasn't been a death yet.
For Tim and all of his neighbors, I'll be praying for a quick recovery and continued strength for all involved in the tornado strike.
John Hudson
VE4 JTH
D. Hayes
My prayers to all those down in Oklahoma. I had friends in Mustang that was only a few miles away from the twisters.
I got to my computer just as this was kicking up. I counted 6 possible tornadoes on the ground across OK as Norman was being hit. Do we have any ideal how many verified yet? All I'm gathering from TWC is regurgitated news and I was hoping to find the data here. The hardest part for me trying to nowcast was where these storms was going in relation to the radar sites.
I got to my computer just as this was kicking up. I counted 6 possible tornadoes on the ground across OK as Norman was being hit. Do we have any ideal how many verified yet? All I'm gathering from TWC is regurgitated news and I was hoping to find the data here. The hardest part for me trying to nowcast was where these storms was going in relation to the radar sites.
Brandon Jenkins
EF3
I can confirm 3 seperate touchdowns just east of the OKC metro within a span of less than 30 minutes fwiw. I think there were 30+ reports and NWS in Norman has a preliminary map out with 10 seperate tracks from northern OK all the way to the Red River. It can be seen here:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=events-20100510
MatthewCarman
Shanon and Tim I am happy to hear your family is fine but I am sorry to hear your house recieved minor damage and your neighbors must be going through a hard time right now. I will be praying for them and for your family.
We were part of the convoy that got caught up on the Wakita tornado. There were several of us going down the highway smoothly and several chaser vehicles pulled out in front of all of us without stopping, squeezing themselves into moving traffic, causing the entire convoy to come to a stop.
Those of us that had to stop for these idiots were caught in the windfield of the multiple-vortex tornado. I, myself had windows blown out as well as damage to chase equipment and minor cuts due to glass and debri flying into the truck. The truck also recieved minor damage due to flying debri (i.e powerlines and trees).
I'm not sure who the people were that pulled out and/or caused traffic to come to a stop, but I hope that it doesn't happen again. This could've been a fatal situation for the several chasers that were caught.
Was anyone else caught in this convoy that received damage to their vehicles?
It's hard not to notice on Vern's video, the chasers flying around him trying to get ahead of him and closer to the already close tornado.
This is not what chasing is about.
Those of us that had to stop for these idiots were caught in the windfield of the multiple-vortex tornado. I, myself had windows blown out as well as damage to chase equipment and minor cuts due to glass and debri flying into the truck. The truck also recieved minor damage due to flying debri (i.e powerlines and trees).
I'm not sure who the people were that pulled out and/or caused traffic to come to a stop, but I hope that it doesn't happen again. This could've been a fatal situation for the several chasers that were caught.
Was anyone else caught in this convoy that received damage to their vehicles?
It's hard not to notice on Vern's video, the chasers flying around him trying to get ahead of him and closer to the already close tornado.
This is not what chasing is about.
Larry J. Kosch
EF2
Building Codes in OK??
In reviewing the storm damage footages, I could not help but to wonder about how the building codes in OK are set for tornado winds??
Most of the footages showed houses or buildings with either partial or complete removal of their roofs. There were a few outbuildings or garages that had their walls totally collasped. Dr. Greg Forbes estimated the winds speeds to be about EF-2 or EF-3 after reviewing some of the storm damage.
I think in FLA or any of the Gulf Coast states, they requires that all roofs have reinforcements in the strusses and beams to keep the roofs from flying off when a CAT-3 or CAT-4 hurricane makes landfall.
I think the state emergency management in OK should take a closer look at the state building codes regarding roof reinforcements.
In reviewing the storm damage footages, I could not help but to wonder about how the building codes in OK are set for tornado winds??
Most of the footages showed houses or buildings with either partial or complete removal of their roofs. There were a few outbuildings or garages that had their walls totally collasped. Dr. Greg Forbes estimated the winds speeds to be about EF-2 or EF-3 after reviewing some of the storm damage.
I think in FLA or any of the Gulf Coast states, they requires that all roofs have reinforcements in the strusses and beams to keep the roofs from flying off when a CAT-3 or CAT-4 hurricane makes landfall.
I think the state emergency management in OK should take a closer look at the state building codes regarding roof reinforcements.
The storms yesterday were absolutely amazing. The Medford/Wakita storm passed just about directly over KVNX and that resulted in some amazing images. I've compiled a few in the following link:http://www.meteor.iastate.edu/~jdduda/chasing/2010/KVNX_10_May_2010_hr.pdf.
One more interesting image:http://www.meteor.iastate.edu/~jdduda/chasing/2010/KVNX_051010_2102_BR.png
This part of the storm was within 25 nmi of the site at the time, so I am hesitant to be so sure, but doesn't that donut hole look suspicious? It almost seems as if the radar site was resolving the tornado, which I'm guessing was in its wedge phase at the time.
One more interesting image:http://www.meteor.iastate.edu/~jdduda/chasing/2010/KVNX_051010_2102_BR.png
This part of the storm was within 25 nmi of the site at the time, so I am hesitant to be so sure, but doesn't that donut hole look suspicious? It almost seems as if the radar site was resolving the tornado, which I'm guessing was in its wedge phase at the time.
MatthewCarman
Brandon you make it sound like there was a long line of cars moving to get out of the path of the tornado. It sounds like people were going to get hit if that was the case. These people were not smart for jumping in front of you but people don't always stop and think when they are worried of being injured or killed from a tornado. I do agree what they did was a mistake.
I would rather stay back and watch from a distance instead of risking my life but I was not there and I don't know what your situation was. I would think people would want to stay away from convergances but then sometimes the only way to see the tornado it to join the group.
I am happy to hear you and your friends/group made it out alive. I hope nobody was seriously injured.
Ps. As the convergances get bigger every year the stories of tornadoes hitting chaser convergances will probably increase over the years. It seems like everyone wants to see a tornado nowadays.
I would rather stay back and watch from a distance instead of risking my life but I was not there and I don't know what your situation was. I would think people would want to stay away from convergances but then sometimes the only way to see the tornado it to join the group.
I am happy to hear you and your friends/group made it out alive. I hope nobody was seriously injured.
Ps. As the convergances get bigger every year the stories of tornadoes hitting chaser convergances will probably increase over the years. It seems like everyone wants to see a tornado nowadays.
James Aydelott
EF1
Just heard a report that the damage near Bray, OK was the result of an anti-cyclonic tornado...
John Keyes
Enthusiast
While WFO Norman has not posted anything yet...the Tulsa office has issued some prelim damage assessments. The one that caught my eye was the tornado that moved into Osage Co (most likely the same one crossing the river near Red Rock) was 1.4 mi wide with an additional 1.2 mi of damage along the path due to the RFD.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=tsa&storyid=52278&source=0
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=tsa&storyid=52278&source=0
Jason Harris
EF5
Also interesting that with a 1.4 mi wide tornado only " EF-1 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE" for the damage recorded. One wonders if it was capable of greater damage but didn't impact structures at its maximum strength, or is this just an example of how a tornado can be incredibly wide but not "strong"?
Chris Nuttall
EF5
The latter often applies. Big tornado does not always equal strong/violent. Conversely, small tornado does not always equal weak. A tornado could have a rather broad and weak circulation. Some multiple vortex tornadoes come to mind as being "wind and weak." Smaller tornadoes can often have much stronger winds. It's the classic "figure skater" example where the skater spins faster after pulling their arms in towards their body. IIRC, the 1995 Pampa tornado was not horribly wide, but it was still classified as a high-end F4.
It could be a little bit of both, but in this case I'll go with the latter. The survey from Tulsa does mention "significant damage" to two homes.
