• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Greensburg anecdote

Honestly - I'm reading slowly and nobody is winding anybody. I don't believe that the angle of the rotational updraft has any impact when it comes to large vs small diameter tornadoes.
 
Have to agree with Mr. Dale here...
I've seen this type of damage in hurricanes before, and this takes a LONG time to ramp up windspeed at any given location. Typical deciduous trees would de-leaf and lose many of their branches. And as the leaves/branches seperate, the remaining tree "skeleton" has much less wind resistance, and so it's able to withstand the more powerful winds and still stay upright. But if you hit the tree with the most powerful winds all at once, there's no time for leaves to shed, and the tree just snaps from the sudden force. This is just a theory of course, but it seems to make more logical sense to me than a tree getting ripped vertically out of the ground.

There's a section in Reed Timmer's May 4th up-close & personal tornado video that shows a tree getting smacked suddenly by the violent winds, and it just gets flattened instantly, whereas trees near it (not in the direct path) just get de-branched.
 
Well, in that case, point noted and well taken :), but the tree in Reed Timer's video, was flatten by a sharp and sudden downdraft, not by the tornado itself, as it was Jeff Miller that pointed it out first, on a previous thread :)

Willie (Happily standing corrected)
 
All: Here is a link to a video I did from the night the tornado Hit Greensburg, Ks. My storm chase team MESO aided in search and rescue, triage and general aid. Members present that night were Nancy Bose, Randy Denzer, me, Sam Furman, Chris Howell, Josh Jans, Brian McNoldy, and Shane Motley. I think you will find this compelling. Many of the people helping are MESO members. Thanks

View the video CLICK HERE
 
Allan, that is awesome and downright moving. Thank you for sharing it; it captures the spirit of this thread. Parts of your video had me choked up. I'm so glad you chronicled this intensely human drama. As amazing as it is that you and the MESO team survived being caught in that monster, what's no less impressive is that you turned around directly afterwards and headed back to Greensburg to help. God bless you and your team for that. You're The Stuff.
 
My wife's Aunt and Uncle live in Greensburg. They lost everything. They fortunaly were in the basement and came out unharmed. They were trapped for a few hours. We went up this past Sunday to see them. He is the Postmaster in Greensburg. All of there needs seem to be being met very well.
By the way, they said the Bill Gates foundation donated 30 million dollars to rebuild the school system. I thought that was impressive, and will probably be one of the most important reasons the town will be rebuilt..
 
Awesome :D, I'm glad that your aunt and uncle survived unharmed and it's even better news to hear, that there's $30M going to the education system in Greensburg, it just goes to show, that no force of nature can keep a good town down :)

Willie
 
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