Guy gets way too close to Illinois Tornado

[Paul Knightley]

I think one reason he is (thankfully) OK is because he is on the 'north' side of the tornado. The tornado was moving pretty quickly, and so the relative wind velocity on this side of its circulation was quite a bit lower than on the south side. We've seen the footage from the south side of the semi being overturned well outside of the 'main' tornado. Inflow jets/RFD/whatever would have been stronger on this side.

 

[Joshua T. Clark]

The overpass saved his life. Two reasons: 1) It acted as a wind break. 2) What if the overpass wasnt there? Would he have stopped 20 feet further?

Overpass saved his life? Really? May, 3rd 1999 showed the deadly nature of overpasses and tornados.

 

[Michael Snyder]

The overpass saved his life. Two reasons: 1) It acted as a wind break. 2) What if the overpass wasnt there? Would he have stopped 20 feet further?

Studies show this to be untrue, overpasses can act to enhance wind speed, not reduce it.

 

[Joshua T. Clark]

Studies show this to be untrue, overpasses can act to enhance wind speed, not reduce it.

Something called Bernoulli's principle comes to mind.

 

[rdale]

Overpass saved his life? Really? May, 3rd 1999 showed the deadly nature of overpasses and tornados.

Totally different case... In that event people left their homes to get up under the girders.

 

[Joshua T. Clark]

Totally different case... In that event people left their homes to get up under the girders.

Different case but similar circumstances, Tornadoes and overpasses. If the tornado was a few more meters closer to this guy, he would have been a goner.

 

[Kevin Rimcoski]

^
The winds going under the overpass get funneled and actually speed up

 

[Justin Wilcox]

Look I am familiar with what everyone keeps repeating. But this isnt the same and its obvious. If the right side of that overpass wasnt there he would have caught debris, more than likely right? I get that people like to repeat the "its been proven" thing over and over, but this case is obviously different. You can clearly see where debris is being blocked. The "overpasses = bad" rule doesnt apply to a nearby tornado such as this one...

 

[Jason Boggs]

I just don't understand why an adult wouldn't know what to do in that situation? If you know it's coming toward you, wouldn't common sense tell you to get out of the way instead of just sitting there? He stated that he would back up, but he sure didn't do too good of a job at that.

 

[Joshua T. Clark]

Look I am familiar with what everyone keeps repeating. But this isnt the same and its obvious. If the right side of that overpass wasnt there he would have caught debris, more than likely right? I get that people like to repeat the "its been proven" thing over and over, but this case is obviously different. You can clearly see where debris is being blocked. The "overpasses = bad" rule doesnt apply to a nearby tornado such as this one...

The overpass "rule" most definitely applies here! Pay attention to the final few moments of the video, he and his vehicle are in the tornado as the vehicle was obviously being buffeted by tornado-force winds. Tornadic-force winds are not just confined to the visible funnel. As I said, a few meters closer, and his vehicle would have been pulled in.


Sent from beyond the vaporsphere.

 

[rdale]

A few meters closer and he wouldn't have been under the overpass, so that rule wouldn't apply The point is - don't go under the girders. On a tornado that large, such a wide overpass is not going to accelerate the winds by any appreciable amount. If it was a tight squeeze two lane road, maybe that's more of a case.

 

[Justin Wilcox]

The overpass "rule" most definitely applies here! Pay attention to the final few moments of the video, he and his vehicle are in the tornado as the vehicle was obviously being buffeted by tornado-force winds. Tornadic-force winds are not just confined to the visible funnel. As I said, a few meters closer, and his vehicle would have been pulled in

I didnt say anything about a visible funnel. I am talking about debris, not just wind. You can see pieces of debris flying in front of him, but barely any of the larger debris hits his truck. And if that overpass hadnt been there, then what? His truck would have been more exposed. Those tornado-force wings would have been full-on.

 

[Elaine Spencer]

The "overpass rule" is meant to discourage people from physically getting out of their cars and hunkering down under the bridge deck like the news crew in the infamous Kansas Turnpike video did. That is what leads to people getting killed when they are blown or sucked out from underneath the bridge deck.

That is NOT what this guy did -- he stayed in his car (which in his case, was probably a better option than getting out and exposing himself to all that flying debris) and simply parked it briefly beneath the overpass. Now, we still don't encourage people to park under overpasses during tornadoes because that has the potential to block traffic and possibly prevent people from getting to safety. However, in this particular case, there did not appear to be much traffic on the road and it's very unlikely that he blocked anyone's way. (And even if he did, he would have done them a favor by preventing them from driving into the tornado.) So, no harm, no foul -- this time.

 

[Jared Farrer]

Incredible video! Whoever filmed it did a decent job staying calm and keeping the camera rolling! LOL.

 

[Howard Robinson]

Sam seems eerily calm. Does this fellow fully appreciate what a big tornado can do to a car and its inhabitants?

That said, I greatly appreciate the complete lack of screaming, swearing, and other selfish drama.

(edit)
After thinking about this unusual video a bit more, I can't decide if Sam is the luckiest, dumbest fool on the planet, or the greatest Zen Master in the history of storm chasing.

You got my vote for Zen Master. He was too freakishly calm.