Funnel Cloud Question

[Mike Krzywonski]

Suppose there is a funnel cloud which precedes a tornado. Just prior to the tornado touching down, would the funnel contain atmospheric winds similar in strength to those on the surface produced by the tornado at the point of touchdown?

Illustration: Would a high-rise building experience tornadic winds by being impacted by a funnel cloud before the tornado ever made landfall?

 

[Stephen Levine]

Yes, it could happen..
In June 2001, we were on a storm in Harper Co. Kansas, sitting under an enormous wall cloud.

Listening to radio reports out of Wichita, we heard that winds were clocked at 100 MPH, 500' above the ground!

This circulation never made it to the ground; winds gusted no more than what I would estimate to be 40 mph, and we were right under the wall cloud.

I took a picture of the hole in the middle in the cloud, with clouds rotating around the hole or eye.

You may see a recently posted picture of this as an archive on my blog site www.joyfulstormhunting.com

 

[Bobby Prentice]

In June 2001, we were on a storm in Harper Co. Kansas, sitting under an enormous wall cloud.

Listening to radio reports out of Wichita, we heard that winds were clocked at 100 MPH, 500' above the ground!

This report sounds very dubious. How were these winds measured? The only possible way to get an anemometer 500 feet above the ground would be on a tall tower and I doubt there are any in Harper County, KS. A Doppler radar beam from Wichita (or the KVNX WSR-88D for that matter) would be too wide and too far above the ground to measure the rotational winds in a funnel cloud at 500 feet AGL over Harper County, KS.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Well there are points above 500' AGL near Wichita...
http://skyvector.com/#44-19-2-6783-3012

 

[rdale]

With wind measuring equipment?

 

[Scott Weberpal]

Possibly a DOW measurement?

 

[Scott Weberpal]

Illustration: Would a high-rise building experience tornadic winds by being impacted by a funnel cloud before the tornado ever made landfall?

99.9% chance that if a funnel cloud is close enough to the ground to affect a high rise building, it's already a tornado with a ground circulation.