Anyone here photograph Hurricane-Spawned Tornadoes?

[Saul Trabal]

Has anyone here photographed hurricane-spawned tornadoes? If not, is there a link where I can look at pics?

 

[Bridget Beddow]

tornadoes

I have yet to physically see one spawned from a hurricane, but they've touched down close to where I was located in Pamlico County. Now that I'm a home-owner in a typical hurricane area, I think driving around will be left for moments when I'm not more concerned about my house. But I will have my camera ready this year for whichever hurricane hits NC.

 

[Scott Freeman]

Correct me if i need to be corrected, but with the ceiling being less than 1000 feet with hurricane clouds, and also considering the trees and blowi ng wind/rain factor within hurricanes. It is going to be Very hard to see one, much less getting a photo...if i am correct..

 

[Bridget Beddow]

hurricanes.

The area I'm in would definitely be difficult to spot on oncoming tornado. Just the foliage in the area makes it difficult in itself, and the terrain makes viewing from a distance a little difficult also. Over the next year I'm going to travel to the various small towns and pick out spots on the highways for viewing because of that specific problem. Also considering where those outer bands hit from an approaching hurricane in our area, the highways really don't lend for immediate escape routes so the odds of actually being in a town in time for the outer bands and having a location with a good exit route would really reduce the chances of catching a hurricane spawned tornado, I think anyway. I doubt it's much to see, anyway, probably a very small scale tornado without much of a path to go on. But I'll still be on the lookout from my house.

 

[Charles Kuster]

Hurricane tornadoes

I think it would be very hard to even see a hurricane spawned tornado. I was very close to one last year. It was only about 2 miles away and we had a good view but there was too much rain and we could not see it.

 

[Bridget Beddow]

tornadoes

Last year's Isabel, I really didn't have a sight problem due to rain. The thunderstorm that passed through Jacksonville yesterday was worst than any hurricane I've been through as far as visibility. I just wish (during that time of year) that we had fewer trees and flatter plains.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

I was out visiting my bro in NC this past weekend ... a storm came up in Greensboro with a nice shelf for a bit and even a choppy wall cloud that lasted for around 10-15 minutes. We were fortunate enough to be in a place where we could get a nice view, but believe me - this is the exception to the rule in NC. The foliage is so thick there that there is no way I'd get caught chasing on the Piedmont. My brother does it occasionally, but more for damage shots. Hurricane-spawned tornadoes are fast and they are tricky because of the cloud motions ... so totally different than supercell-spawned tornadoes that I don't think most chasers have much interest in pursuing them. Best to let them go through and catch the damage after-the-fact. After being so used to the open spaces out here, I really don't see how people can chase in the east, though there are certainly some who do it!

 

[Bridget Beddow]

chasing tornadoes

The Greensboro area has fewer plains as opposed to where I am. That's why over the next year I'm going to focus on locations for stopping to chase.

 

[Scott Freeman]

After being so used to the open spaces out here, I really don't see how people can chase in the east, though there are certainly some who do it!

That is what makes it kind of hard to spot /chase in the upstate of the South Carolina. It is almost like you do not go out let them form and do that. You have to watch their avenue of approach, and if they are coming thru the areas of good visibility, then you go and do it. But if they are taking that path of poor visibilty, you just have to do the best that you can. Which usually means going to a school or a shopping centers parking lot, those areas gives you open space so you can see a distance. But lot of times that just isnt feasible. Its frustrating.

 

[Bridget Beddow]

Chasing

That's probably why I consider it such a challenge. On the other hand, too, where I'm located it seems like a storm rolls through like clockwork and sometimes at the same time of the afternoon. So in a way, it almost feels like I'm not chasing at all. It almost seems like no fun at all that maybe one hurricane a season is most likely to make landfall somewhere close by. But I'm not going to complain hehe

 

[Thomas Loades]

The contrast would be fairly bad in a hurricane anyway, though, wouldn’t it? And if the majority of hurricane spawned tornadoes are in the NW quadrant — the really bad quad, I think — it’d be pretty risky trying to chase them. Although you could try mini-swirls.[/i]

 

[Bridget Beddow]

hurricanes

The only place I could ever really see watching for hurricane spawned tornadoes is from one hitting Texas. But I don't know that area well enough to know if those outer bands survive in the plains areas that provide enough space for viewing.
I think Mike was right on the dot when he said that hurricane-spawned tornadoes would be at best difficult to spot ---they probably are sporatic with no clear path and you're at best putting yourself in danger - especially on the coastal areas here in NC - alot of old straight-away highways that would not give you a good exit path if you end up in the path of one of those tornadoes. As far as hurricane-related tornadoes, I'll just stand outside my house and watch for anything if I happen to get the outer bands next time around. The eye passed too far north of me the last time so I saw nothing of them during Isabel.

 

[Thomas Loades]

Re: hurricanes

The only place I could ever really see watching for hurricane spawned tornadoes is from one hitting Texas.

That’s true — it’s probably not a coincidence that most hurricanes seem to spawn only about 5 to 10 tornadoes, but in Texas it’s 50+ (82 from Gilbert, 1988; 115 from Beulah, 1967). I don’t know how chaseable they are, but I have seen one clear photo of a hurricane-spawned tornado (from hurricane Allen) from there; it’s in Significant Tornadoes.

 

[Bridget Beddow]

tornadic hurricanes

I have to say I'm a little thankful that NC does not have a tendency to see alot of tornadoes, but there is a little bar down the road from me that looks like it could withstand quite a force of wind - If we do get the outer bands, that's where I'm joining the hurricane party.

 

[Carrie Halliday]

The contrast would be fairly bad in a hurricane anyway, though, wouldn’t it? And if the majority of hurricane spawned tornadoes are in the NW quadrant — the really bad quad, I think — it’d be pretty risky trying to chase them. Although you could try mini-swirls.[/i]

I thought the worst part of a hurricane was the NE quadrant.