Tornado warning!

[MelissaWV]

Eat local Everyplace is its own breadbasket to some extent. We'll just never be supplying you with our inferior-sized but okay-tasting summer sweet corn!

 

[acptulsa]

No matter how busy I am, how can I resist checking to see what you say next?

Meh. Keep your Chinese Cobettes. Though I'd prefer not to settle for California orange juice if I had my druthers. But, hey, smile--the cloud has a silver lining. If you don't have a drought every once in a while, how could you keep the 'gators from taking over? Sometimes I think they've already taken over Tallahassee. Though things seem to be improving slightly lately. I remember when Big Brother was in the White House and you had Little Brother in the state house...

 

[Cowlesy]

First of the season. And that can only mean one thing to the Breadbasket of the World.

RAIN!

Great news. The last thing the world needs is for the breadbasket to be a dust bowl this year.

 

[acptulsa]

Ah, yes, you were one of the people expressing an interest in our drought in the other thread. Thought y'all might like to hear the news. Actually, another dust bowl is unlikely since farmers have learned to rotate crops. But that doesn't mean crops can't fail.

Texas, including the Panhandle, is still dry as a bone and keeping the volunteer fire fighters very busy. But, for the moment, all is well north of the Red River *knocks on wood*.

 

[pacelli]

A few people have died so far just a few miles away from my location in eastern north carolina. Houses are destroyed and a vehicle is overturned in Farmville. Lost power and everything else for a few hours, was huddled in bathtub w/ emergency supplies and radio, watching the storm rip the hell out of trees outside.

 

[acptulsa]

Hope you still have your shingles. When I was younger, I'd have said, what, you didn't wait for the 'freight train sound' or until you felt the barometric pressure suddenly drop? Just wanted a 'family togetherness night'? But I don't like the death tolls I hear of in states where numerous tornadoes are a recent development. So, I no longer advise the seeming lack of caution that those of us who are more experienced so cavalierly display. Family togetherness is good.

Taking good care of your neighbors? You don't want FEMA showing up!

 

[raiha]

A few people have died so far just a few miles away from my location in eastern north carolina. Houses are destroyed and a vehicle is overturned in Farmville. Lost power and everything else for a few hours, was huddled in bathtub w/ emergency supplies and radio, watching the storm rip the hell out of trees outside.

That must have been scary. Glad your house has made it and evidently you have power back unless you have a generator. I've been wondering who we have here from North Carolina.

 

[acptulsa]

East Texas is getting rain. Took more tornado warnings to get some, but there it is. The Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, where the Dust Bowl began, are still hurting. But it's getting a little closer.

 

[acptulsa]

We did have tornadoes on the ground, but it wasn't as strong a system as last time. MI and AL could see it reorganize, though.

 

[DeadheadForPaul]

Man...I wish I hadn't moved west into Dixie Alley. Not used to all these tornado warnings

NOAA radio is going nuts

 

[acptulsa]

Man...I wish I hadn't moved west into Dixie Alley. Not used to all these tornado warnings

NOAA radio is going nuts

Worry about the hurricanes. They're like a whole army come to town. A tornado is like a guy with a knife. If you're not directly in his path, you're fine.

 

[acptulsa]

They sound tornado warnings because they spin up quickly. It results in a lot of false alarms, but without them there would be no warning at all. So, when they sound, be aware--do not fail to be aware, this is indeed serious business--but take Douglas Adams' advice and DON'T PANIC.

With experience, you can learn what to watch for. Tornadoes almost always come from the south/west/southwest. No guarantees. If you see one east of you, you can almost certainly afford to stop and marvel, but watch over your shoulder as well, because they travel in groups, and as one fades another is liable to be spinning up nearby. And don't assume the worse the storm the better the odds. Tornadoes come out of hook-shaped formations at the trailing edge of storms and generally at the south end of supercells. So, there's very likely to be a lull before they come, and often the tornado strikes where the rain has been weakest. And, yes, straight line winds can be as destructive, so just because you don't see rotation doesn't mean you need to be wandering around a junkyard full of loose steel.

There's pretty much always a pressure drop--noticeable--and a loud noise ahead of a tornado strike. But no guarantees. So, if you have no experience with such storms, you are better off safe than sorry.

What is safe? A small room. I once heard a bunch of yankees discussing how slick it would be to spend storms in your car in the garage, because then you have two roofs over your head. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The garage is the biggest room in the house, and if and when fat ceiling beams snap they will fall into the garage. The roof of your car will not stop 4x4s from giving you the headache of your life. Avoid windows if you can, but mainly find a small room which is not on an outside wall with west or south facing. North or east facing outside walls are far safer. The bathtub may or may not provide extra protection if it's cast iron. But the main thing is, if the room is less than eight feet wide you're unlikely to wind up wearing ceiling support beams and rafters.

If you're in a car and you encounter one, if and only if you see it coming from a mile or more away you can run south and get out of its way. Otherwise, find a ditch or stop in a store and tell everyone there to join you in the cooler. If you're not from tornado country it may sound strange to you to be invited by a store manager to hide out in their walk-in cooler, but here this is standard operating procedure. Don't hesitate to do it.

Can't think of anything else off the top of my head. Except figure out which way is south, which way is west, how to cover the window in your hideout room of choice quickly and effectively enough to at least slow broken glass down, and let everyone in on the plan. You really don't need supplies much; it'll be over in minutes. Just a solid place to put the first aid kit, mainly.

Now these are rules of thumb, and tornadoes do not obey rules. But though a little knowledge might be a dangerous thing, a lot of panic is far worse. So, if you've never thought it through, take a moment. And, hopefully, we'll stop exporting these things the way we've been doing the last decade or so...

 

[acptulsa]

Oh, and about driving south if and only if you have room to do it--by 'turn south' I mean turn so the tornado is visible out of the passenger side of the car (assuming you don't have British right hand drive, of course) and keep going that direction until it's in the rear view mirror and moving across, not toward you.

But when in doubt, find a real structure (not a trailer or 'manufactured' building) or get under the level of the ground. You can't get closer to invulnerability than being in a basement or ditch. Might get wet, but you won't fly.

 

[acptulsa]

Here comes another one.

Not so strong this time. It'll be through St. Louis before midnight, I think.

 

[acptulsa]

Well before midnight, and it's getting stronger. Tennessee and Mississippi, you can expect two things: Strong storms overnight, and me abbreviating your long ass state names from now on.

 

[acptulsa]

Keeps spinning up. We're getting tornadoes on the ground out of it.

Edit: Spun up east of the Panhandles and barely reached as far south as Dallas (if at all). It isn't doing much to help those who need rain the most. Sorry, Texas.

 

[easycougar]

Well before midnight, and it's getting stronger. Tennessee and Mississippi, you can expect two things: Strong storms overnight, and me abbreviating your long ass state names from now on.

We're going to get some crazy rains by the time this is over on Monday night

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/wxstory.php?site=sgf

 

[acptulsa]

Hail, this time. No tornadoes, though. At least it isn't totally ignoring Texas. Good news.

You Arkies need to get the cars in the garage.

 

[acptulsa]

Flood warning!

The drought is over east of I-35. The stretch between the front range of the Rockies and I-35 is still hurting. But for now, at least, much of the Breadbasket is swimming in it.

 

[acptulsa]

A hundred and how many dead?! We don't lose a third of that to a mile-wide F5 supertwister! And they're reporting on CBS that a convenience store manager locked the door?! Does he just want people to die?

Please, please spread the advice above or another good source of tornado safety tips! This carnage is completely unnecessary. Completely unnecessary.