Some Links To The Rolling Fork, MS Tornado-Life & Death

April 16, 2023April 16, 2023 / chr1 / Leave a comment

R.I.P.

Some tragedies happen because of a lack of knowledge, and a lack of knowledge distribution when it is matters most.

There were people sitting in homes and businesses in Rolling Fork MS, who knew it was storming, and knew they should probably keep an eye on the weather, and knew how to stay safe in most situations.

But they didn’t know there was an EF-4 or EF-5 monster bearing-down. They didn’t know they might have had minutes to live. These wind-speeds can sweep walls from foundations.

If these poor folks even knew what the storm-chaser driving-by knew, when he knew it, this could have made the difference.

It’s terrifying to think there could have been someone in that vehicle, hovering a few hundred feet in the air, being swept around this beast.

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Accurate prediction[s] save lives.

Some of the experience of storm-chasers, and collected knowledge from that experience, already exists but needs to be channeled through complex and more predictive modeling to establish the science within these monsters.

This is where the new frontiers should be pushed.

R.I.P. StormChasers-Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras & Carl Young

June 3, 2013June 5, 2013 / chr1 / 3 Comments

NBC video here.

National Geographic had what would be a final interview with Tim Samaras.

Some final tweets. Weatherspace has more here, with information about the El Reno tornado.

Addition: The El Reno tornado was a record 2 1/2 miles wide. Video here. It’s easy to see when a few miles wide tornado spins off multiple vortices, hits in the evening, and is rain-wrapped, that even veteran chasers can underestimate it. It’s like the supercell is dragging its belly on the ground.

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As a blogger and writer and weather-interested layman:

I suspect everyone’s been moved by the beauty of nature, and felt wonder, fear, and awe at its power and mystery. Some people keep going back and try to figure out how it works as well. There’s an element of thrill-seeking to the hunt, and adrenalin, no doubt. It’s extremely risky chasing down tornadoes time and again, putting yourself so dangerously close, but the goal is to know more, and to stay as safe as possible under the circumstances.

There’s been a lot of data gathered and science done that has drastically improved forecasting, preparation and warning time, and our understanding of tornadoes. That’s no doubt saved many lives. Storm-chasers also bear witness to the death and destruction in the wake of tornadoes, so to everyone who’s suffered, my condolences.

It might be helpful to the Samaras family to visit his site as he has a DVD for sale.

Here’s Tim Samaras discussing his work in 2004. R.I.P.

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And Tim Samaras at work:

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From The Weather Channel: 3D Image Of The Tuscaloosa Tornado April 27th, 2011…Tornadoes! Some Links…The Greensburg Tornado on Doppler Radar…Tornadoes In Major Cities: Atlanta…From NOAA: Tornado Safety Guide…From CBS St. Louis: ‘UPDATED: Video of the Joplin Twister’

From Weather Underground: Moore/Oklahoma City Tornado May 20th, 2013

May 20, 2013May 22, 2013 / chr1 / 1 Comment

Update here.

A revised 24 deaths. Video taken by local man and posted on Facebook. Before and after photo.

Uncut video.

WMCTV in Memphis has video footage of the tornado from a helicopter.

Stu Ostro has a high-res color image of the storms.

KFOR TV in Oklahoma City livestream here. CNN has good coverage. If you want to help, the local chapter of the American Red Cross here. Shelters open. More on tornado safety here.

Thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families.

A mile wide, EF5, the track here, moved just south of Oklahoma City, through Moore, devastating some neighborhoods.

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The scope of the damage, or debris zone, is three times greater than the May 3rd, 1999 tornado. Here’s a video of that tornado.

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Via Youtube: March 2nd, 2012 Henryville, Indiana tornado

March 4, 2012March 18, 2012 / chr1 / Leave a comment

A view of the tornado from the south. More with Greg Forbes, at the Weather Channel. More from Jeff Masters at Weather Underground on the outbreak. Via the IndyStar, some more video and eyewitness reports. Via the Tucson Citizen:

‘In Henryville, an EF-4 tornado — the second-highest on the Fujita scale that measures tornadic force — brought 175-mph winds and stayed on the ground for more than 50 miles’

As always, thoughts and prayers with those lost, their families and loved ones, and the communities affected.

Addition: Link sent in by a reader. Surveillance camera footage from the Henryville Junior/Senior High School.