Tornadoes
- Thread starter i am herdman
- Start date
Of course. It's just now getting ready to be time for the Plains to start rockin'.
MS and AL usually lead every year.
MS and AL usually lead every year.
Nice to finally see Indiana lead Michigan by something, other than meth heads, herion addicts, tractors, fat chicks, and live PD appearances.
I don't think there are many tractors in Detroit, but it's got the rest covered. Except for Live PD....because for the camera guys it would be like covering Syria.
All my life I’ve heard that WV’s mountains prevent it from getting a lot of tornadoes. This thread made me google it. Nope...
http://stormhighway.com/wvstorms.php
Do WV mountains stop tornadoes and severe weather?
Not in the least bit! West Virginia's tornado incidents are few due to our climate, not because of our mountains. Tornado and/or severe thunderstorm formation is a product of large-scale weather forces that can happen anywhere the conditions are right, and is largely independent of topography.
The climate in the northeastern USA (not only in WV) makes it a rare event for all of the meteorological 'ingredients' needed to form tornadoes to come together. But when those ingredients DO come together, nothing on the ground will stop a tornado from forming - not even West Virginia's highest mountains.
During the 'Super Outbreak' in April of 1974, those 'ingredients' came together in a big way - resulting in an incredible 148 tornadoes touching down in 13 states during a 16-hour time frame. West Virginia was included in the disaster, with several large twisters slicing their way northeast through McDowell, Wyoming, Raleigh, Summers, Fayette, and Greenbrier counties. These tornadoes traversed some of the most rugged terrain in the state, with two of them even crossing the New River Gorge. The map below shows the path of the tornadoes in West Virginia during the 1974 Super Outbreak. The damage paths are denoted by red lines, with the F-scale (intensity) number indicated beside each path:
Source: NOAA Public Affairs
During a more recent outbreak in the northeastern USA on the afternoon of June 2, 1998, 9 tornadoes touched down in West Virginia, including four in the Kanawha Valley area (including one in Charleston and one in Cabin Creek).
It could be said that the mountains indirectly limit our tornado numbers by helping to maintain our climate. But the weather will sometimes deviate from the typical climate, allowing the right ingredients to come together. When this happens, supercells will develop and the mountains will do nothing to deter any tornadic circulation.
http://stormhighway.com/wvstorms.php
Do WV mountains stop tornadoes and severe weather?
Not in the least bit! West Virginia's tornado incidents are few due to our climate, not because of our mountains. Tornado and/or severe thunderstorm formation is a product of large-scale weather forces that can happen anywhere the conditions are right, and is largely independent of topography.
The climate in the northeastern USA (not only in WV) makes it a rare event for all of the meteorological 'ingredients' needed to form tornadoes to come together. But when those ingredients DO come together, nothing on the ground will stop a tornado from forming - not even West Virginia's highest mountains.
During the 'Super Outbreak' in April of 1974, those 'ingredients' came together in a big way - resulting in an incredible 148 tornadoes touching down in 13 states during a 16-hour time frame. West Virginia was included in the disaster, with several large twisters slicing their way northeast through McDowell, Wyoming, Raleigh, Summers, Fayette, and Greenbrier counties. These tornadoes traversed some of the most rugged terrain in the state, with two of them even crossing the New River Gorge. The map below shows the path of the tornadoes in West Virginia during the 1974 Super Outbreak. The damage paths are denoted by red lines, with the F-scale (intensity) number indicated beside each path:
Source: NOAA Public Affairs
During a more recent outbreak in the northeastern USA on the afternoon of June 2, 1998, 9 tornadoes touched down in West Virginia, including four in the Kanawha Valley area (including one in Charleston and one in Cabin Creek).
It could be said that the mountains indirectly limit our tornado numbers by helping to maintain our climate. But the weather will sometimes deviate from the typical climate, allowing the right ingredients to come together. When this happens, supercells will develop and the mountains will do nothing to deter any tornadic circulation.
had a very small tornado 20 miles from my house the other day. twisted bunch of pine trees off, dropping one on a passing SUV.
A calming thought as you are swept away by a flash flood...
That's nothing (and that's saying something). The 1944 Shinnston Tornado was a real killer. E-4 intensity, it traveled from Wyatt well into Randolph County, killing 103.
https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/398
I do believe there is some truth to the terrain affecting tornadogenesis by disrupting inflow into the updraft and probably surface focusing from RFD. But once a certain threshold is hit, nothing is stopping that. If you have ever stood in a strong inflow or been hit by RFD, you know what I mean.
Negative. There was actually a tornado that went thru the outskirts of keyser probly a decade or so ago. Dropped a coach in their lap by the name of Sean biser. They been on a tear ever since.
One thing I noticed when I moved out of WV was the severity of thunderstorms. WV thunderstorms for the most part stay pretty mild. Not so, in other places.
