Review Of The 2011 Super Tornado Outbreak
Over the last several days, severe weather has affected many people in the US. yesterday everyone was worried that a massive tornado outbreak was going to occur.
Schools in Oklahoma cancelled classes. Many evening activities were postponed in several states. Everyone waited and hoped that all would be okay. Then...
The tornadoes did not occur!
What happened? The ingredients were there in the Midwest similar to the 2011 Super Tornado Outbreak. Did the weather service cry wolf?
Not at all. A couple of things happened to change the dynamics of the day. (Well, actually two things happened and one thing did not happen).
The air was so moist that the storms that formed became heavy rain-makers as well as hail producers. Both things tend to cool and stabilize the air around these events. The other thing that happened was a huge complex of thunderstorms that formed over northern Kansas the night before and then marched across Kansas through Missouri and on into Illinois and Kentucky. This caused additional cloud cover and cooling in the areas that could have had major tornado producing storms later in the day. Cloud cover cuts down on surface heating from the sun.
The other thing that did not happen was a surface wind that usually occurs when the sun heats the ground and causes the warm air to rise. Too much cloud cover so the surface winds were light or non-existent.
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For those of you that do not know, I was a weather spotter for the weather service for 30 years. I have been on several tornado chases and I have helped with damage path analysis on a few occasions.
Now I live in SW Utah where the sun shines 300 days a year and the weather, (from a severe storm perspective), is quite boring. Yes, I miss the chase!
This is the time of the year when the peak of tornado season is beginning. The last two weeks of April and the first two weeks of May are the busiest. In 2011, the season was very active with over 700 tornadoes in the month of April alone.
From April 25 through April 28, 2011 a super outbreak of tornadoes occurred affecting people in over 16 states.
363tornadoes occurred during this super outbreak resulting in 348 people killed and thousands injured. 316 deaths occurred on April 27 alone. Learn more about this event below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Super_Outbreak
As you can see from the map, many of these tornadoes were on the ground for many miles and a few went across entire states.
The week before this outbreak, a tornado hit the St. Louis, Missouri airport and surrounding area causing a great deal of damage. With this super outbreak, it could not get any worse.
Then it did!
The deadliest since the 1940's and the most costly tornado ever occurred on May 22, 2011 in Joplin, Missouri. Over 160 people lost their lives that day and the tornado caused over 2.8 billion dollars in damage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Joplin_tornado
This tornado, for me, was very personal. I was weather spotting that day and I went to Joplin to help. I was there many times over the next few months. I also knew people who lost their lives and I knew the town quite well.
I wanted to share this information with you so that you can learn and be safe. Be safe my friends. Dave
Recent Comments
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Thank you for sharing this, Dave.
In Switzerland, tornados are a rarity.
But hurricane force gales can occur.
A gale force wind near 100 MPH is just as strong as a weak tornado so the damage can be similar. Dave.
I have not been in one, I am blessed. I do know they are very frightening. I was visiting Oklahoma many years ago. They were under a warning but fortunately it did not land.
When you have tornado watches everyday for 2-3 days, you feel as if they are gunning for you. It is an eery feeling. Dave.
wow that must have had exciting moments chasing storms, and here is me moaning cause we have snow today lol we are blessed not to have storms of that nature here
Once or twice I needed to make a decision as to whether I dove into a ditch or I continued to ride it out. That is too much excitement. Dave.
perhaps must be scary at the same time though as I have read those things can suddenly change direction.. hope you have a good weekend
Thanks for sharing, I have never been in one, but I have seen a number of Tornadoes on TV and I don't wish the experience on anyone.
My business was destroyed in the April 27, 2011, Tuscaloosa tornado...almost took out my house too!
I've taken the warning sirens seriously since!
Sorry to hear that. Glad your house was okay. In Joplin, many people lost their jobs and their homes. I talked to one family that lost loved ones, they lost their church and schools, and they lost their bank, and their job. Talk about a total wipeout. Dave.
Odd thing is, 12 days earlier an F3 hit my street. My house was pretty much OK but I lost a lot of trees and one of them took out my neighbor's house across the street. My house was lucky then too -- it was the only home in my cul-de-sac with no major damage!
Thanks Dave. Nobody knows what a tornado can do unless they see it up close and personal enough that the storm almost introduces itself to them. I've been there once in my life and hope never to be there again.
It is the most frightening experience I've ever had - even worse than Katrina.
I was visiting friends in Lake Charles, LA when she hit and we weathered the storm and the aftermath in reasonably good form. During that storm I felt extremely insignificant, but that was nothing to the tornado!!
If you have never seen a bus or truck picked up and tossed THROUGH a concrete wall, you've not seen anything. Oak trees stripped of their leaves AND bark; these things 'just don't happen', right? WRONG! The fear during Katrina was a walk in the park compared to the abject terror of that tornado to me. It was the only time in my life that I actually thought that I might not get back home to Canada. Katrina, and the immediate aftermath, lasted a few days before I was able to get out and go home. The tornado lasted about 6 minutes where I was, but the sheer enormity of the sound, sights and literal feeling of the storm lasted for many months before I could sleep when the weather turned - even here in Canada and, heaven forbid if we had a lightning storm. I was a nervous wreck for at least 6 months.
Thanks Dave for your words. I, for one, will never forget the tornado that introduced itself to me.
I have seen about 100 tornadoes but I have not been in one. I got chased a couple of times but I was able to get out of the way. In Joplin, I saw a metal chair from Pizza Hut embedded into a concrete wall with the legs not even bent! You are right, you see things that seem impossible but they happened. May you never have to go through it again. Thanks for your comments. Dave.
I'm pretty safe here in BC. We've had a couple of typhoons, 1 in 1963 and 1 about 8 years ago, but nothing major in the way of tornadoes. I remember a waterspout in the ocean near Seattle in all my 70+ years.
I really don't want to be in another one. It's like petting a cobra and avoiding getting bitten. No more cobras for me.
Thanks for this. Learned a couple of things here. This just go to show that Nature can be quite a Force to reckon with.
I will hope and pray that all goes well during the next couple of weeks.
Thanks for sharing your weather packed story. May it be lessened by the Lord Almighty. Be careful and be cautious there. Here in the Philippines, it is very hot and very painful if you walk in the open ground without coat, you will suffer high blood pressure or heat stroke.
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This is a fascinating post Dave. I live in the UK. In recent years we have experienced some weather extremes, such as record rainfalls and flooding in certain areas.
Generally though, extremes of weather like you have in the states, and they have in some other parts of the world, are unheard of here.
In the part of the UK where I live, in particular, we think the wind is getting up a bit if an empty drinks can blows down the road unaided !!
If a tree comes down, everything comes to a standstill, and it takes us a day to recover. Lol
Thanks Bryan. Here in the states even thunderstorm winds without a tornado can get up to 100 MPH. Dave.