Living in Tornado Alley

lm6y · 03-01-2012, 06:52 PM

Here we go again. Gotta love spring in tornado alley. Wednesday morning a tornado hit the SE part of a town about 30 miles East of me. That part of Harrisburg Illinois simply doesn't exist any more. WSILTV | After the Storm

I noticed the other day that we had a member from Cobden Illinois which is SW of me. There was some damage there as well, so I hope that Pelicanite weathered the storm without any damage.

Now they are forecasting a VERY active system moving in tomorrow afternoon that could rival what we had Wednesday morning.

Hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. I don't know which is worse. Ever get the idea Mother Nature is trying to shake the fleas from her back?

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

I feel for you man, but you are on the edge of Tornado alley.... In OK its not a storm season if you don't see a wall cloud over your house at least once....

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

OKC is in the middle of tornado alley. We have great warnings and even a F5 only hits a narrow path. Hurricanes can wipe out a entire region but here is lots of warnings. Earthquakes just surprise everyone. I sure don't have to worry about tsunamis.

lin7310948 · 03-02-2012, 01:20 AM

i lived in clinton ok for 10 years once upon a time. our plant was hit by a tornado that did considerable damage to the clinton area. it just dropped down and hit the southwest corner. did not do much damage to the facility. everytime we had a storm i was worried about tornadoes...clinton tornados was the local high school!

IROC · IROC's Garage

I lived for 21 years in North Alabama. I earned some tornado stripes myself... Not fun. One does become a weather expert whether they like it or not, though. Max gate-to-gate Doppler signatures, hook echoes, Vertically Integrated Liquid readings, bow echoes, Tornado Vortex Signatures, you name it. We knew all the buzz words...

onewhippedpuppy · 03-02-2012, 03:52 AM

I've never been surprised by severe weather. I watch the news weather regularly so I know what to expect, have watch/warning notifications sent to my wife and I via text, and check the radar on my iPhone if it starts getting nasty. Despite having lived in KS my entire life I've never seen a tornado on the ground.

Rot 911 · 03-02-2012, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I've never been surprised by severe weather. I watch the news weather regularly so I know what to expect, have watch/warning notifications sent to my wife and I via text, and check the radar on my iPhone if it starts getting nasty.

Same here. Been a rough few days though.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

One of the neatest apps I have for my iPhone is called Weather Radio. It will alert me if there is a official warning. It also has color radar and can show the entire country or zoom into my location. It is great when I am on vacation. When I was in Savannah big thunderstorm came through and I could tell from the radar where the big cells were and just where I was and avoid any possible hail.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by lin7310948

i lived in clinton ok for 10 years once upon a time. our plant was hit by a tornado that did considerable damage to the clinton area. it just dropped down and hit the southwest corner. did not do much damage to the facility. everytime we had a storm i was worried about tornadoes...clinton tornados was the local high school!

No freaking way! I live in Arapaho. Where did you work?

vash · vash's Garage

i dont know how you guys do it.

i would be underground.

IROC · IROC's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by IROC

I lived for 21 years in North Alabama. I earned some tornado stripes myself... Not fun. One does become a weather expert whether they like it or not, though. Max gate-to-gate Doppler signatures, hook echoes, Vertically Integrated Liquid readings, bow echoes, Tornado Vortex Signatures, you name it. We knew all the buzz words...

I hate to quote myself, but tornadoes in Madison and Limestone Counties in North Alabama right now. Just texted my son who still lives there...

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Quote:

i dont know how you guys do it.

i would be underground.

We stand on the back porch with a camera! When the wind gets too much, you run like hell to the shelter.

lm6y · 03-02-2012, 01:43 PM

To add insult to injury, The Westboro Baptist Church are on their way to picket at the funerals. Westboro Baptist Church Blogs | Ultimatum Time: Obey or Perish! This will not be pretty. Too many people are still too raw for this to end well.

onewhippedpuppy · 03-02-2012, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lm6y

To add insult to injury, The Westboro Baptist Church are on their way to picket at the funerals. Westboro Baptist Church Blogs | Ultimatum Time: Obey or Perish! This will not be pretty. Too many people are still too raw for this to end well.

I sincerely hope they do some serious damage to those evil dirtbags and that there are no witnesses.

lin7310948 · 03-02-2012, 03:57 PM

sidney, the plant was south of 140 and was a collins-aikman plant that was built in 1973. we closed the plant in the nineties i believe and it was later sold to a company that makes dog food. i was there from 73-82 and the tornado was in probably 1980 or 1981. still have friends in the area. i remember arapaho well..county seat i believe.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Yes, Doane is now in that plant. That was a few years before my time though.... I think the storm you are talking about was in '80? We have a picture from around then, of a twister on track to hit my parents house, then my grandparents.

flatbutt · 03-02-2012, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lm6y

To add insult to injury, The Westboro Baptist Church are on their way to picket at the funerals. Westboro Baptist Church Blogs | Ultimatum Time: Obey or Perish! This will not be pretty. Too many people are still too raw for this to end well.

so they gave up on soldiers and switched to civilians?

willtel · 06:05 PM

We have several on the ground now in north GA. My house is on the west side of the city and most times the heat of the city center pushes storms just north of us. Other than that freak one that hit downtown a few years ago. I couldn't go into the office for a week because of all the falling glass from the the skyscrapers.

All of my family are ok and they seem to be weakening but more are coming later tonight. The house were my 930 is stored was just barley missed about an hour ago.

onewhippedpuppy · 03-02-2012, 06:41 PM

Just curious, do many houses in the South have basements?

willtel · 03-02-2012, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Just curious, do many houses in the South have basements?

I would put a guess at about 60%, more drive under garages than full basements. My house and my sister's place are on slabs.

I usually keep an eye on the TV on a night like this. We have really good coverage and they have saved lives in the past. They have gotten really good at tracking the funnels and warning people in the paths in the last few years. If the conditions are right and I hear hail I take cover, if the hail is falling usually something nasty is close.

One hit my middle school when i was in seventh grade. It blew dumpsters and buses around in the parking lot and twisted a set of aluminum bleachers into a spiral. None of the buildings really got damaged.