Tunica Tornado

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

Desoto, I think I remember you saying you knew some of the people affected by this tornado. Official survey is in. It was a high end EF-2 with 130mph winds. 1,200 yards wide and on the ground for over 22 miles.

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

Here is my live stream of me being on the storm. You can skip ahead to probably the 38 minute mark.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Desoto, I think I remember you saying you knew some of the people affected by this tornado. Official survey is in. It was a high end EF-2 with 130mph winds. 1,200 yards wide and on the ground for over 22 miles.

I felt like it would be a 2. From Pratt Rd (Arkabutla Dam Rd) to old highway 304 it’s quite impressive. Went just past several farm neighbors and friends of mine. Pretty scary. They all said their houses were shaking.

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

I felt like it would be a 2. From Pratt Rd (Arkabutla Dam Rd) to old highway 304 it’s quite impressive. Went just past several farm neighbors and friends of mine. Pretty scary. They all said their houses were shaking.

It missed being an EF-3 by 6mph.

 

[Bobby Ricigliano]

Here is my live stream of me being on the storm. You can skip ahead to probably the 38 minute mark.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Thanks for linking, HBP. A few questions this thread & video brought to mind if you have time to answer them:

1. 1200 yards wide…is that average? Large? Are there any identifiable factors that determine the width?

2. Could you explain the mechanics of a tornado forming? They seem to me start somewhat horizontal and shift vertical, but that could be a misconception.

3. What determines whether they touchdown or not? Just the topography?

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

Thanks for linking, HBP. A few questions this thread & video brought to mind if you have time to answer them:

1. 1200 yards wide…is that average? Large? Are there any identifiable factors that determine the width?

2. Could you explain the mechanics of a tornado forming? They seem to me start somewhat horizontal and shift vertical, but that could be a misconception.

3. What determines whether they touchdown or not? Just the topography?

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

I will try my best.
1. This was an above average tornado by all metrics...width, strength, and track length. I don't have the numbers in front of me so this may be off some but a typical tornado is going to be between an EF-0 to EF-1. It's going to be about 100-200 yards wide and on the ground less than five minutes. I compiled the actual numbers on a video series I did on our YouTube channel, but all that data is on my computer at work.
2. There's some debate on this but here is the generally held theory. To get a tornado you need to have speed and directional shear present. Speed shear being winds blowing at different speeds as you increase in altitude. Typically, they increase with height. Directional shear is wind blowing at different directions as you go up in altitude. Prime directional shear is surface winds out of the southeast and veering south, then southwest, and ending up northwest around 50,000ft. That created horizontally rotating columns of air. Within the supercell you have a strongly rotating updraft which is the air feeding in at the surface of the storm and then going up. When that rotating updraft interacts with one of the horizontally rotating columns of air it stretches it and starts to bend it in the vertical. As it does this, it stretches it and increases the speed. Once it stretches it enough to make contact with the ground it becomes a tornado.
3. If anybody could conclusively answer that they would be a rich person. People see the destruction tornadoes cause and assume they are the indestructible forces of nature, but in reality they are extremely fragile. They require the right ingredients, at the right time, in the right quantities to form. If just one parameter is just slightly off the storm will not produce a tornado. That's why a lot of the tornado warnings you see don't end up producing tornadoes. Everything looks like it is there for one to form, but one little something is just off. But you never know when that one little factor falls into line and it ends up dropping one so always best to take shelter when a warning issued.

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

To follow up I would recommend watching that video series. It's 5 videos with each one around 15 minutes in length. It covers a lot of severe weather topics.

 

[Treemydawg]

I know I was fully expecting to come out of the rodeo arena there in Tunica Friday evening and find my truck and horse trailer torn to pieces.

 

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I will try my best.
1. This was an above average tornado by all metrics...width, strength, and track length. I don't have the numbers in front of me so this may be off some but a typical tornado is going to be between an EF-0 to EF-1. It's going to be about 100-200 yards wide and on the ground less than five minutes. I compiled the actual numbers on a video series I did on our YouTube channel, but all that data is on my computer at work.
2. There's some debate on this but here is the generally held theory. To get a tornado you need to have speed and directional shear present. Speed shear being winds blowing at different speeds as you increase in altitude. Typically, they increase with height. Directional shear is wind blowing at different directions as you go up in altitude. Prime directional shear is surface winds out of the southeast and veering south, then southwest, and ending up northwest around 50,000ft. That created horizontally rotating columns of air. Within the supercell you have a strongly rotating updraft which is the air feeding in at the surface of the storm and then going up. When that rotating updraft interacts with one of the horizontally rotating columns of air it stretches it and starts to bend it in the vertical. As it does this, it stretches it and increases the speed. Once it stretches it enough to make contact with the ground it becomes a tornado.
3. If anybody could conclusively answer that they would be a rich person. People see the destruction tornadoes cause and assume they are the indestructible forces of nature, but in reality they are extremely fragile. They require the right ingredients, at the right time, in the right quantities to form. If just one parameter is just slightly off the storm will not produce a tornado. That's why a lot of the tornado warnings you see don't end up producing tornadoes. Everything looks like it is there for one to form, but one little something is just off. But you never know when that one little factor falls into line and it ends up dropping one so always best to take shelter when a warning issued.

Thank you, sir. Very helpful.

 

[MSUDAWGFAN]

I will try my best.
1. This was an above average tornado by all metrics...width, strength, and track length. I don't have the numbers in front of me so this may be off some but a typical tornado is going to be between an EF-0 to EF-1. It's going to be about 100-200 yards wide and on the ground less than five minutes. I compiled the actual numbers on a video series I did on our YouTube channel, but all that data is on my computer at work.
2. There's some debate on this but here is the generally held theory. To get a tornado you need to have speed and directional shear present. Speed shear being winds blowing at different speeds as you increase in altitude. Typically, they increase with height. Directional shear is wind blowing at different directions as you go up in altitude. Prime directional shear is surface winds out of the southeast and veering south, then southwest, and ending up northwest around 50,000ft. That created horizontally rotating columns of air. Within the supercell you have a strongly rotating updraft which is the air feeding in at the surface of the storm and then going up. When that rotating updraft interacts with one of the horizontally rotating columns of air it stretches it and starts to bend it in the vertical. As it does this, it stretches it and increases the speed. Once it stretches it enough to make contact with the ground it becomes a tornado.
3. If anybody could conclusively answer that they would be a rich person. People see the destruction tornadoes cause and assume they are the indestructible forces of nature, but in reality they are extremely fragile. They require the right ingredients, at the right time, in the right quantities to form. If just one parameter is just slightly off the storm will not produce a tornado. That's why a lot of the tornado warnings you see don't end up producing tornadoes. Everything looks like it is there for one to form, but one little something is just off. But you never know when that one little factor falls into line and it ends up dropping one so always best to take shelter when a warning issued.

You mentioned your YouTube channel - can you share it here so those of us that aren't subscribed can follow along. You don't know how helpful you have been in times like the last 2 weeks and who all you have reached. We are very thankful.

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

You mentioned your YouTube channel - can you share it here so those of us that aren't subscribed can follow along. You don't know how helpful you have been in times like the last 2 weeks and who all you have reached. We are very thankful.

Our YouTube channel is North MS Storm Chasers and Spotters. Our patreon site is NMSCAS. We use all money raised from our sponsors there to go towards more day to day chase activities like gas and food while chasing and software subscriptions, equipment, etc. The premiere level ($5/month) is where our chase live streams are available. We also have a Facebook and Twitter site, but I can't get to those at work to embed links.