Has anyone here ever seen or been in a tornado?

[CutestPaddedFemboy]

Several, the worst being EF2...and there were loads of them in Kentucky, from whence I moved recently. Unless you have good software & access to weather data beyond average access, it's difficult to chase twisters.

Best things I do:

1. Gauge storm intensity well. Don't assume a weak funnel will stay that way. It can ramp up in a heartbeat. There is usually lightning present in tornadoes, too! And so, that brings us to:
2. Distance & angle. Try to keep in the western half-circle of a tornado. And keep distance, about a mile or more. That way, if you have to reposition because a funnel shifts, you have time to assess & move with far less danger & fear. And since we're talking distance...
3. Use your zoom feature. That alone will keep you safe enough, and the farther within limit, the better. And if none of this works and you're caught in a bad spot with no time to run...
4. Find the lowest spot in your immediate terrain, lay flat, face-down and cover your head. Any low spot, even a mucky ditch. Forget your car as shelter. Get down, get flat as you can. Ride it out, keep your head down from speeding debris. You'll know when it's all over.

Tornadoes never go west and rarely go due north or south, but I had one exception: in June 2010, I chased an EF0 near Marysville, WA, got ahead of it, parked, got out to intercept it. Its course was 357 degrees...fading west of true north. Extremely rare direction. Even though it was EF0, I walked into the funnel...and got knocked over a time or two. It'll do it. Plus the field debris it was churning up could put out an eye, a misjudgment due to my rookie mistake. Within a moment or two, the funnel passed by. Then...a 15-second shower of dime-sized hail..."hook-hail". It hurt!

3 miles to the WNW, the intersection of 4th & State in Marysville was inundated by extreme rain, heavier than Marysville had ever experienced. The intersection & adjacent parking lots were deluged by up to 18 inches of water. Never happened before, hasn't happened since.

Then Kentucky. Oy, Kentucky. In the 19 months I was there, too many stories to tell. And the storms there were fierce enough. Kentucky gets more tornadoes than any state in the US...they're rarely above EF1 or even EF2. But regardless, they can damage, hurt & kill. So use good judgment, use a good zoom, plan an escape route...and be careful! Good luck!

thx. I do disagree with the part that says "tornadoes never go west". they do. I have seen damage paths that go from east to west many times. the Greensburg EF5 and the Jarrell F5 are both tornadoes that moved westerly

 

[BobbiSueEllen]

thx. I do disagree with the part that says "tornadoes never go west". they do. I have seen damage paths that go from east to west many times. the Greensburg EF5 and the Jarrell F5 are both tornadoes that moved westerly

I did find documentation of the tornado and its path. The primary direction of travel started as northeast, developed into north-northeast as it achieved it greatest strength, began losing intensity after passing through Greensburg; the path then tightly curled north, NW, west, SW, south & SE as it rapidly "roped out" (died).

 

[BobbiSueEllen]

The Jarrell F5 tornado you mentioned traveled south with a direction called "slight south-southwest". Just as the tornado I encountered had a slight north-northwest direction. This proves all 3 tornadoes had a westerly component of travel...but never mostly or purely west. So pure west is the safest vantage point of all.

 

[jamiejamie]

I have experienced several hurricanes and a tornado. I can say tornado was by far the worst experience for me cuz it was sudden and wasn’t prepared for it. I was at a friend’s lake house for waterskiing. After skiing all morning, we went back to the house for lunch. As we were eating, my back was toward the view of the lake and everybody’s eyes lit up like something was bad and I looked behind me- a wall of water came crashing on the back of the house and we all ran to the inner bathroom and got in the bathtub. I think there were 6 of us. The house was shaking for about 30’l seconds and when it stopped. We came out and saw the skylight inner glass panel we’re gone but the outer glass was still there. I think due to the negative pressure- the tornado lifted up the outer glass panel and sucked out the inner glass and then the outer glass panel went back down. Few houses down- giant cypress trees fell into the houses and a powerboat. It was a bizarre experience and wouldn’t want to experience it again. I’d take hurricanes over tornadoes.

 

[CutestPaddedFemboy]

Ok let’s so up the question. Has anyone here been through or lived in a town or city that was hit by a severe tornado?

 

[snugglyowl]

Yuppers. EF4 in March 2012, tore through southern Indiana near Louisville, KY. I'm not from that area, we were just out visiting there... obviously did not get back on 65 that day because of the weather, haha. It was no joke though, I believe around 60 people died as a result of a trailer park being destroyed in that one.

Here's a Wikipedia article about that whole outbreak around the south/appalachia/midwest:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_outbreak_of_March_2–3,_2012

 

[pampers4U]

I’ve seen 1 small tornado and a few water spouts while out in the ocean.
I’m fascinated with them and one of my bucket list things is to do a guided tornado chase in the plains one day, I would love to go on the hunt and see the Mother Nature unleash her power onto some farm fields

 

[CutestPaddedFemboy]

I’ve seen 1 small tornado and a few water spouts while out in the ocean.
I’m fascinated with them and one of my bucket list things is to do a guided tornado chase in the plains one day, I would love to go on the hunt and see the Mother Nature unleash her power onto some farm fields

Well if you ever want the opportunity I might be able to take you in a few years

 

[BengieG]

chassed for many years.. seen many...

 

[PlushPup]

I've experienced a few close calls where I live, although probably the worst I've ever seen was the 2021 December Mayfield tornado, remember being in a hospitals basement and hearing about the live news as it was tearing through a few towns. Luckily didn't touch mine but scared the shit out of everyone.

 

[BobbiSueEllen]

I've experienced a few close calls where I live, although probably the worst I've ever seen was the 2021 December Mayfield tornado, remember being in a hospitals basement and hearing about the live news as it was tearing through a few towns. Luckily didn't touch mine but scared the shit out of everyone.

I had just moved into the Fort Knox area around that time, heard all about it on the news as the storm outside got worse after nightfall. Extreme lightning, wind, rain. The same storm system that you got hit us that evening...December 11. There were two Tornado Warnings and my TV & phone both began screaming as the town sirens went off; I went outside of the single-wide, didn't want to be inside if the worst came to happen, was waiting for that "freight-train" sound. It never happened...and I got very little sleep that night. It was my first--and worst--major tornadic storm.

 

[mistykitty]

If watching Storm Chasers counts then yes if not then no

 

[PlushPup]

I had just moved into the Fort Knox area around that time, heard all about it on the news as the storm outside got worse after nightfall. Extreme lightning, wind, rain. The same storm system that you got hit us that evening...December 11. There were two Tornado Warnings and my TV & phone both began screaming as the town sirens went off; I went outside of the single-wide, didn't want to be inside if the worst came to happen, was waiting for that "freight-train" sound. It never happened...and I got very little sleep that night. It was my first--and worst--major tornadic storm.

God yeah, likewise, barely slept in the slightest once the storm settled. Glad yall got spared from the major brunt of the storm. Some of the stories I heard the next day were absolutely horrendous, definitely also my first and worst major hit.

 

[BobbiSueEllen]

God yeah, likewise, barely slept in the slightest once the storm settled. Glad yall got spared from the major brunt of the storm. Some of the stories I heard the next day were absolutely horrendous, definitely also my first and worst major hit.

I talked to a lot of people in Brandenburg who remember the '74 tornado which all but utterly destroyed their town: an EF-4 which hit Meade County, hit B-Burg, hopped the Ohio River and hit Indiana. My former neighbors lost kin to it. Very bad.

 

[MiddleJacob]

I grew up and have lived much of my life in tornado alley. I've seen two and been close enough to one that I was quite scared. Afterward, a found a piece of straw that had been driven into a tree, which was quite something to see.

Storm chasers are a special breed ... not that you can't do it, but the activity certainly carries a significant risk.

Straw driven into a tree. That's the old saying.

Would you believe that I heard this backward when I was a kiddo. I heard it as a tree through, like, a plastic straw!

Needless to say I've been terrified of tornadoes my whole life. Interestingly, in my adult life, I've developed a fascination for them!

We had a tornado warning in my state a few weeks ago. Not near me at all, but we still had good helicity in the region. I was at work so I went on the roof and got some video.

That night, I had the obligatory tornado dream.

 

[Tigercub59]

We were once traveling back from Texas and one of our stops was Kansas City. We were surrounded by 4 of them with our hotel in the middle. We had just crossed over an overpass and one of the tornadoes hit the overpass and tore it up as we found out after we got to our hotel room.

 

[Cottontail]

I've never seen one, but it's been close. I was driving through Utah on I-15 south of Provo--it would've been the spring of 1996--during a tornado warning. It was all I could do to drive straight, and tumbleweeds were shooting across the road like cannonballs and exploding against the driver's side of my car. I was terrified. I wasn't sure whether it was safer to keep going or to pull over, so I kept driving and eventually the winds began to die down. That's not something I want to experience again! Later, in 2005 or 2006, I was visiting family in rural southwest Missouri when a tornado rolled through. Thankfully it kept its distance, although the streets were littered with roof shingles and other debris the next morning.

 

[MiddleJacob]

Last chase I was on was just wind and rain. I almost got hit by a construction sign that went blowing in front of all lanes right in front of me on a two lane road. There was a car in the left lane and a cop behind him. I was in the right lane. He was slowing way down and I thought I'd be curtious and speed up in the right lane so the cop could go around him.

Right then, I found out why this guy was slowing down. I was blinded by him, but when I sped up, I saw the orange traffic sign barrelling accross the road right in front of us.

Someone was watching out for me on that day.

 

[RJDodger]

Ok let’s so up the question. Has anyone here been through or lived in a town or city that was hit by a severe tornado?

I was in Civil Air Patrol as a kid and went for storm cleanup multiple times after tornadoes and severe storms. Never dealt with anything more serious than downed trees and some scattered debris, but still interesting to see firsthand.

Minneapolis still has a visible Tornado Scar from when it was hit 12 years ago

 

[MiddleJacob]

I was in Civil Air Patrol as a kid and went for storm cleanup multiple times after tornadoes and severe storms. Never dealt with anything more serious than downed trees and some scattered debris, but still interesting to see firsthand.

Minneapolis still has a visible Tornado Scar from when it was hit 12 years ago View attachment 122071

Geez. I found this picture. It was from a 2009 EF1 or maybe EF2 twister. This is looking Southwest. I-94 is in the bottom left of the shot.

Pretty extensive scar for an EF2.

I'd wonder what the most recent damage scar from Kentucky looks like compared to this.