The "Lost Tornadoes" - tornadoes you've seen that never ended up in Storm Data

[Dan Robinson]

I thought this might be an interesting thread. I'm sure it's happened to all of us at least once, if not, it will. You see/report a tornado, and it never ends up in Storm Data for one reason or another. I've always been curious of a tornado would ever be added to the database years later if enough evidence was presented - does anyone know?

Here are a couple of mine. I'll include all relevant data for each one.

July 1, 2013, St. Francisville/Sand Barrens, Illinois (Lawrence County)


Image at 22:25z

Video clip: Video Link
Radar (baseref and velocity) with more video grabs: http://stormhighway.com/july12013/july12013event1.jpg
Tornado start time: Zulu 22:24:11 (5:24:11 PM CDT)
Tornado end time: Zulu 22:26:00 (5:26:00 PM CDT)
Tornado duration: 1 minute 49 seconds
Viewing location Lat/Lon: 38.5904483000000 -87.740931700000
Estimated rating: EF-0, no structures impacted
Notes: Supercell/hook oriented with inflow to the north. Tornado nearly stationary approximately .5 to .75 miles south-southwest of the intersection of Sand Barrens Lane (150N) and East Harmony Road (900E).

June 7, 2014, Highland, Illinois (Madison County)



Video clip: Video Link
Viewing location: Bluemound Road from Rose Road to Ellis Road, 2 to 4 miles southwest of Highland, Illinois.
Estimated rating: EF-0, no structures impacted
Notes: Low-topped supercell with funnel 1/3 of the way to the ground, intermittent condensation vortices and dirt whirls spinning up on the ground. I missed capturing the ground vortices on video due to prioritizing calling the tornado in to the NWS. This raises the question - for these weaker tornadoes, is it better to capture it on video for "proof" to ensure it has a better chance of being recorded in Storm Data? As with the St. Francisville tornado, I know video evidence won't necessarily guarantee its recording.

 

[Chelsea Roach]

I have had this happen in my area as well.I always wondered about this.
Thanks for sharing!

 

[Shane Adams]

I don't have the time or energy to list mine. That's why I stopped caring about accurate reporting and record keeping.

I'll submit a report. If it's not believed, scoffed at, or "has to be proven" then screw it. There are tornadoes on my vidcams that have been reported by phone, email, and in-person while watching said video, that have never appeared in the data.

I don't care anymore.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I know the initial decision is made at the NWS WFO level, but can those be overridden via the NOAA higher-ups? Not that the higher-ups would be any better at knowing what constitutes a valid tornado....

 

[rdale]

No, the local office is in charge of any "official" tornado reports.

 

[Dan Robinson]

You know, we could start our own database of these events right here on ST. That might be quite the interesting feature, and coming from here, might get some attention.

 

[rdale]

I suppose it wouldn't hurt... But there are SO MANY problems with the tornado database that a dozen "missing" tornadoes won't change, I'm not sure it's worth your investment.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I think there may be quite a few in the low end of the scale, possibly enough to impact regional climate data. An EF0 in a field might be inconsequential to the layman or insurance underwriter, but for tornado climatology, it's relevant information. "X setup produced tornadoes vs produced no tornadoes" seems like it would be helpful data.

I think there are probably enough of these well-documented instances to build a resource that could eventually become a sound reference for both research and to challenge/supplement Storm Data.

 

[rdale]

Ehh, EF0s are thrown out of any tornado climatology studies. If it happened more than 10-20 years ago, 0's were just as likely to be straight line winds. So 0's aren't used (and some studies don't use 1's either.)

 

[Jason Foster]

My ONLY tornado find in 2006 was a far off SW Colorado tornado that Amos Maglicco, Scott Currens and I think one other person saw. I don't remember exactly. I know I've got a horrible picture of it someplace. It was a good ways off, and in the part where there is damn near nothing so even if it made the database officially can guarantee it would be rated EF0, hahaha. I only like it because of the week and half of chasing (went home early in 2006 cause it sucked) at least I can say I didn't let my kidney failure stop me from chasing. Not many can say they saw tornadoes while on dialysis (I know of one other that can though).