Which side of tornado to stay?

[Uday Verma]

Which side of tornado to stay?Plus other queries inside posts

Hi

Sorry if it is repetitive.I didn't want to make heading too long so am writing all my doubts below.If this has already been discussed please direct me to the thread. Thanks

I had really close encounter with june17 2009 aurora tornado(according to me).I was heading to east on highway 34 from Phillips,Ne towards Aurora,Ne.

Now what it happened was like other I was also heading east and at one point.I rolled down the windows on my right side in the fields and suddenly there was dirt in the face and huge spin on the ground on right(south).
I just ran(drove) away from there and only stopped when I felt I was quite far away from it.
Now when I opened the door ,there was such a strong wind gust from back that it broke the drive side door hinge,It bent the door near the hinge and I guess that is the only reason door stayed intact.

So what directions do wind go when there is tornado?(If I am not wrong I saw it spinning anticlockwise? so why were winds from my back and not from my south/southeast?

Now whenever tornado got closer it brought rain.Is it because I was north east of tornado and should have been south west?Why should we be on south west? Will it always be rain free?

How far you should be from tornado where you don't get sucked?
Or is there any direction where you will always be safe?

Thanks for replying.

 

[Dustin Wilcox]

Were you "chasing" or just using the highway for normal commuting? If you were chasing, I'd say you were somewhat "in over your head" by judging what you know from your post above. Your questions are very legit and important, enough so and basic enough that each one should be "common sense" for someone venturing out on a chase. I hope its the case that you were just a commuter caught in the storm, if you were chasing, I guess it's good you're asking the right questions, but I'd suggest you spend quite a lot more time learning about supercell behavior before venturing out again, or at least go with someone who knows what they are doing. Almost every scenario is different, though the overall scheme the same. A tornado is a super deep focused low pressure center, thus the cyclonic nature of the winds surrounding a tornado environment. Every tornado presents different opportunities for intercept/viewing, more often than not being West or SW of a tornado will yield a poor view as the backside is normally littered with rain and hail (not the case Wed) viewing the Tornado from the SE is more often than not ideal, here you'll normally experience gusty SE winds, though the close it gets to S of the tornado the higher the likely hood you'll pick up a W or N component, E and NE of the tornado you'll have E and NE winds, unless you get far enough displaced and end up in the Downdrafts. Learning and understanding the winds around a supercell is one of the most important "musts".

 

[Damon Scott Hynes]

As I mention in my webpage that I'm just finishing within the hour, this storm was very unusual in that it was moving W-E essentially on top of an W-E road. Once the storm got going, I felt fairly comfortable being 100 yards to the north of it. I was very aware of the wind speed and direction, because that would have been my first indication of anything changing with the storm environment.

Most storms move SW-NE, so you have to play the roads along with the storm motion. This storm was LP, and that's rare in my recent experiences, too. Any other time, with usual storm speed and vector and precip, being any distance north of the storm is suicide, IMO. Agree with Dustin 169%, being SE is my preference, and on Wednesday this would have provided great photos as well.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

Most storms move SW-NE, so you have to play the roads along with the storm motion. This storm was LP, and that's rare in my recent experiences, too.

Not to get off topic, but the storm was far from LP. It was very much a classic supercell with a very large and heavy area of precipitation. However, the precip core was well separated from the mesocyclone, as seen in this radar image, allowing very good visibility of the tornado and storm structure from east, west, and south...

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/gid/...rora_88D/Aurora_Radar_BigandSmall/Aurora1.png

 

[Damon Scott Hynes]

Not to get off topic, but the storm was far from LP. It was very much a classic supercell with a very large and heavy area of precipitation. However, the precip core was well separated from the mesocyclone, as seen in this radar image, allowing very good visibility of the tornado and storm structure from east, west, and south...

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/gid/...rora_88D/Aurora_Radar_BigandSmall/Aurora1.png

I'll defer to your experience in a femtosecond . I squat corrected. Been so long since I've seen anything but an HP aquarium. I got ten drops of rain and no hail before I intercepted! Last time that happened was 05/22/2004.

 

[Steve Worthington]

If your new go here
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ind/INDSpotter/player.html

 

[Uday Verma]

Thanks Steve for link,I will reserve my further doubts until I go through this link.

I was indeed chasing.Normally I go out with pros with this time since it was close to lincoln and nobody else was comin so went on my own with my friend.
I was in middle of so many other vehicle,somewhere on highway 34 like many other chasers heading east( came from west ,made u turn and headed east).
I have some knowledge but definitely not much.I would have tried to be on south east but I guess the best road was 34 only only going straight.
So I guess since there is churning effect so winds will be from all directions and broken door hinges is quite likely.
Since I didn't know where this tornado was heading so I kept way ahead later on to northeast of it.I kept eyes on vehicles coming from back.

I saw many videos of people who have shot from close distance.So what wind speeds normally people consider safe?(so that they don't get blown away),how do they gauge the safe distance(experience).
I kept at safe distance later on for reason that I didn't know how strong the winds may become.

 

[Steve Worthington]

it`s a pretty good video Lots of good Info!
Hope it helps you out.

 

[Mark Sefried]

Once the storm got going, I felt fairly comfortable being 100 yards to the north of it.

It usually is not a good idea to be north of a tornado! Granted it was heading due east. I say this because it is not uncommon for a tornado to turn more to the north when it starts to occlude.

 

[Damon Scott Hynes]

It usually is not a good idea to be north of a tornado! Granted it was heading due east. I say this because it is not uncommon for a tornado to turn more to the north when it starts to occlude.

Agreed, in the preponderance of instances. You're right, due east but also the storm speed. If it had crossed 34 while I was beside it, I had two options because of the 15MPH storm speed, head back west or blast east. As it turned out, I blasted east but for a different reason--I didn't want to get debris-ed once it hit Aurora, I was willing to give up video opportunities to stay safe.

On any other day, I would have parked between 80 and 34 along Spur 41B and gotten great shots from the southeast.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Also, north of the tornado/meso is where huge hail is usually falling. Not a good place to be at all.

 

[Greg Stumpf]

The best side of the tornado to stay?

The outside.

 

[Andrew Ryan]

The best side of the tornado to stay?

The outside.

I was waiting for someone to say that! I was kinda of confused as to what the OP meant.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

The best side of the tornado to stay?

The outside.

Any moment now Ronan or Byron is going to jump in here and correct you...