Tornadoes and You :)

The same tornado filmed from a different perspective that day--

 

i have video of that 2013(?) november tornado in illinois ,crossing I39. we were on the way back from indiana in our conversion van. that one was so big we thought the tornado was the storm cell,and the tornado was inside it. as we watched we saw the whole thing was spinning.

 

It would depend on your location in relation to the current Wx situation and your available hours and which direction you were needing to go. Every situation is different and requires different responses.

 

The other thing is hail. If you're in a tornado watch area, your risks for getting run over by a hail shaft are considerable. Being pummeled with large hail is not fun either, especially if it's high-speed winds driven larger hail.

 

It's a judgement call.

I'm based out of tornado central (OKC). I have my phone on a magnetic mount on the dash. If there is any activity I keep the MyRadar app going and will reroute as necessary to get around the danger, or stop short and wait for the storm cell to blow through.

@STexan uses a different app than MyRadar, preferred by storm chasers. But it seems more complicated. MyRadar has been invaluable many times for me.

 

One thing I noticed is how the flag to the right is mostly just hanging there. One would think that it would be flapping around crazily being that close to a tornado.

 

Somewhere, probably on the eastern part of the meso system, there is an inflow jet (notch) where the winds likely exceed 70 mph. Occasionally ther can be a rear inflow jet in play. But elsewhere ground winds may be minimal around a classic supercell with tornado potential, or even if producing a tornado.

 

Interesting stuff. Thanks!

 

The 2013 El Reno tornado was impressive in a number of ways. The entire northeastern quadrant practically was an inflow feed to the monster. Ground [inflow] winds easily exceeded 90 mph 1-3 miles from the actual tornado across a very wide area. It also had an unusually low base. One of the "widest" tornadoes ever documented.

Taken from due east of tornado location a little after it's peak intensity and about the time the chasers lost their lives


That thing had motorists "fleeing" east in the west bound lanes of I-40. Which in reality was putting them more in line with it's potential path. Many people act irrationally when crap hits the fan and they're caught with their ### hanging out. So you gotta be careful and keep your head on a swivel.