Joshua Nall
EF4
I remember reading about that April 23 report.
This was taken on a local non severe storm day here in Southwest AR.
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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.
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Sincerely, Jeff D.
How to successfully intercept a tornado and how to determine tornado vs. no tornado.
- Thread starter Danny Neal
- Start date
I remember reading about that April 23 report.
This was taken on a local non severe storm day here in Southwest AR.
Jordan Hartley
Want to flip the coin and bring up a point that is fitting for this topic. 9/15/10 comes to mind on identifying a tornado that is difficult to confirm visibly. I intercepted the Wichita cell south of Derby ended up moving south and east of Mulvane. There I saw an area of scud that had vigerous tight rotation aloft but no condensation funnel extending to the ground as rain obscured most of that area for a short time. Over a period of a couple of minutes this area become clearly visible with a nice funnel extending out of the main base at an angle and was turning up a storm. Still there wasn't a full extension of the funnel to the ground so I didnt know what to think. Had I been alone out in the middle of nowhere I would have blown the call. I later confirmed that the tornado had been on the ground for some time from an eye witness. Now I can say that the rotation within the funnel was very tight and at one point the funnel extended over half way to the ground. So I could in a way visually confirm by rotation intensity and where the funnel was to ground based on that experience.
But I want to raise a question. If im several miles away with trees obscuring my view to the ground or rain for the matter, if I see something like what ive described do I go ahead and call it in as a tornado or as a rotating funnel extending halfway to the ground?
Heres a few pictures that might help. Want to thank Rebekah LaBar for these photos --- http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4492&d=1284616832 http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4493&d=1284616870
BTW whats up with tornadoes cork screwing into the rfd's around the Derby/Mulvane area? http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...&sa=X&ei=XhdLTa62NMKqlAfGgrkX&ved=0CBgQ9QEwAQ
But I want to raise a question. If im several miles away with trees obscuring my view to the ground or rain for the matter, if I see something like what ive described do I go ahead and call it in as a tornado or as a rotating funnel extending halfway to the ground?
Heres a few pictures that might help. Want to thank Rebekah LaBar for these photos --- http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4492&d=1284616832 http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4493&d=1284616870
BTW whats up with tornadoes cork screwing into the rfd's around the Derby/Mulvane area? http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...&sa=X&ei=XhdLTa62NMKqlAfGgrkX&ved=0CBgQ9QEwAQ
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Skip Talbot
EF5
The short answer is that you cannot confirm a tornado without a view of the ground. Always report what you see, not what you think you see. Report a funnel extending more than half way to the ground, and add a note that you have obstructions in your view and cannot confirm if its a tornado.
There are times of course when its more than obvious you have a tornado and your view is obstructed, such as a thick stovepipe that extends below the treeline from your view. For my chase logs/personal use, I generally count a tornado if the condensation funnel is 3/4's down. Chasers vary on this of course. Some use 2/3's and some use 1/3 down, lol.
Jordan Hartley
Well a 3/4 ratio would have fit at one point if you factor in the true height of the tornado
More like 2/3 in the mentioned case. And I actually had a situation 5/05/07 south of Great Bend, KS where I had a stove pipe on the ground obscured be a near hedge row and spotted it through my side mirror looking behind me. Had I not caught it with my eye I would have driven 400 miles in a loop for nothing.
Skip Talbot
EF5
Was it this tornado (same day, sw of Great Bend)?
Here's a couple examples of 3/4's condensation or more than 3/4's. I didn't report these, even though they were confirmed by other chasers/spotters, and would not have without more evidence than these photos:
Both did fully condense at some point during their lifespan. Looking at just these pictures though, I can't technically confirm a tornado.
Jordan Hartley
Yep thats the one Skip. I camped on that E/W hwy somewhere near where you took that photo about 2-3 mi east of your location for a good 30 min waiting on that cell come up from Larned. My lack of radar and experience got the best of me there. The RFD came through and I mistook that for the storm becoming outflow dominate when in fact it was cycling. I left camp and bailed east while that tornado turned away. Caught it in the mirror and saw it for a couple of minutes before it dissipated.
