Tornado Season

Discussions not related to Honda Preludes

Moderators: RedRacer, Moderators

Locked
User avatar
RedRacer
Moderator
Posts: 532
Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:38 pm
Prelude Model: 1995 Si w/mods
Location: Alabama

Tornado Season

Post by RedRacer »

Well, it's here. That time of year down here in the south when Mother Nature shows her ass AND her power.

We had our first threat this past week. Warm, moist air from the gulf coming north, a cold front moving in from the west and just enough instability in the air over central Alabama to create the perfect recipe not just for severe storms and tornadoes, but the recipe for what they call "Long Track Tornadoes"..... these tornadoes come out of super-cell thunderstorms. They're a very scary threat....they tend to be very wide (as in miles) and they stay on the ground for miles at a time.

The worst one we've ever had here was about ten years ago. It was around 2 miles wide and was on the ground for over 22 miles. Think about it.

And it was classified as a very rare F5 tornado. The worst you can get. Top wind speed of 318 miles an hour. If you are in the path of that monster, you're probably not going to survive unless you are in an actual tornado shelter. No regular home or structure can withstand that. And that storm was measured on the the old scale. The new EF scale increases the winds to greater than 322 miles an hour. Again, think about it.

So, when the sirens went off the other day, TV broadcasts were interrupted and reports started coming in that the storm was approaching, I went out to look. It was IMMENSE. Like nothing I'd ever seen before. Just one HUGE thunderstorm cloud for miles. Fortunately, it never got really bad. Still don't know why. We were VERY lucky. But this was just the first one of the season, and the season runs until June. Looking forward to it........... not. :(

These are the pictures I took following the storm cloud from the house and out of the neighborhood, down to the shopping area about a mile away where you could REALLY see it without all the trees blocking the view. Took them with my brother's iPhone. The Samsung was out of juice.
drive.jpg
street.jpg
street1.jpg
This one I had to alter because I had set the res too high to get the whole visual...looks like crap.  Sorry.
This one I had to alter because I had set the res too high to get the whole visual...looks like crap. Sorry.
pinnacle2.jpg

Advertisement

PreludeDriver.com
 

User avatar
spiffyguido
Moderator
Posts: 2196
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2005 2:55 am
Prelude Model: 1991 SE-SR
Location: Alberta, Canada
Contact:

Re: Tornado Season

Post by spiffyguido »

Wow.

Great pictures. Stay safe! And try not to have anything fall on your car this year. If I were there I don't think I'd be sleeping too easy. Having a tornado roll through town, particularly at night would be outright terrifying.

kytarheel71
Prelude Guide
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2008 8:10 pm

Re: Tornado Season

Post by kytarheel71 »

where bouts in Alabama are u?

User avatar
RedRacer
Moderator
Posts: 532
Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:38 pm
Prelude Model: 1995 Si w/mods
Location: Alabama

Re: Tornado Season

Post by RedRacer »

Southern suburbs of Birmingham.

And we're gearing up for another round of severe weather for tomorrow as well.

I've got to get the Prelude in the storage facility today as a matter of fact. Both garages are storing the Titan and the G35. I put the Prelude in a public storage space I rent down the road, for this very reason, to avoid hail damage. I keep the Wrangler out/drive in the bad weather. It's beat to hell already.

User avatar
RedRacer
Moderator
Posts: 532
Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:38 pm
Prelude Model: 1995 Si w/mods
Location: Alabama

Re: Tornado Season

Post by RedRacer »

spiffyguido wrote:Wow.

Great pictures. Stay safe! And try not to have anything fall on your car this year. If I were there I don't think I'd be sleeping too easy. Having a tornado roll through town, particularly at night would be outright terrifying.
I've started storing/garaging the Prelude at a warehouse storage space during bad weather (to avoid tree and hail damage) and when I know I won't be driving it for long periods.

No, there's nothing scarier than a tornado at night. You can't see them. That's scary. Anytime they put us under warnings at night, I don't sleep until the warning's expire and the line has passed through the area. People here die because of that. And the thing is, THEY KNOW BETTER. Stupid people.

I found some stats on the big tornado that hit us in 98.

Confirmed Deaths - 33

Injured - 256

Houses Destroyed - 1,117

Houses >50% damaged - 521

Houses <50% damaged - 467

Incredible.......

I think I sent you links to that imagery and video at one time, didn't I Spiffy?

User avatar
RedRacer
Moderator
Posts: 532
Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:38 pm
Prelude Model: 1995 Si w/mods
Location: Alabama

Re: Tornado Season

Post by RedRacer »

Looking back at those pictures I remember thinking that storm cloud, the way it looked as if it were actually rolling in, and extending as wide as it did, it reminded me of the way the sky/clouds/atmosphere reacted in the movie "Independence Day" when the spaceships were coming into position over the major cities of the world....... Creepy.



Locked