Record Breaking Tornados in Alabama

Glad you are OK, we must have been posting at the same time... Alabama looks bad. I have to cut up a tree tomorrow.. but we are ok too... praise God for sure.
 
Julien

Yeah, sounds dangerous.  Stay safe you guys!

it's good that you are OK!!!!

one day we'll all look back on this and laugh

Holy crap they are showing footage of the tornados now 

WOW!

ya .... glad you're ok!!  

We're not immune to tornados here on the West Coast, but we don't get anything close to the monsters that others do.  That said, they still inspire that feeling of helpless terror - especially since very few houses down in Southern California have basements!

I used to live in Irvine California (part of Orange County - 80 miles south of Los Angeles) and we had a couple of small tornados that formed and followed the water aquaduct (they need flat areas).  I have pictures of one funnel forming right over my apartment complex (made the front page of the Orange County Register) and was in my apartment when one went down the street.  I was standing near my sliding glass door, which had vertical blinds, playing darts when, suddenly, I hear that trademark "train coming" sound and wind hit the door so violently that it pushed between the closed doors(!) and pushed the blinds up almost horizontal!  At first I thought I had only imagined the event, but found out the next day that a tornado had ripped down the street tearing out trees and ripping a 2-ton air conditioner unit off a roof and tossing it about 1/2 a mile into a parked car.

Years later, I now live in the Pacific Northwest near the Portland Metro Area (which covers Portland Oregon and Vancouver Washington) when another small one goes up a freeway for a bit wiping out some signs and damaging houses.  Here's a picture I took one day up here.  It's this type of weather that seems most ominous to me that a tornado might form: http://www.nwdreamer.com/Pics/storms/stormclouds1.jpg

I can't imagine what it feels like to be around the bigger ones, especially when they come in multiples!  Hope everyone stays safe (and, after that, can avoid the damage these suckers can cause)!

the news report I heard just a few minutes ago said there were 128 confirmed dead in AL.

my heart and prayers go out to thier families.

I'm very glad that you and your family only have to deal with broken trees, Philip.  and even if there is damage to your house - it's just stuff.  Life's the important part!

I got my BSEE at U of Ala.  That is sort of home to me.  I am glad for the people here that they are ok.  1-mile wide tornado - reminds me of the Wichita Falls one in Texas in 80 or whenever it was.  

 
Wichita Falls - 1979





Tuscaloosa 2011. 

OBB
I am in Houston.  I am so far away from that stuff.  My brother lives in Birmingham and the storms went south of him, but took out TVA power to the region.  I have friends in South Carolina where the storms went just north of them.  

Thanks tho

craig b here are some recommendations.

Think of something 2 miles wide. Then cut it in half.  

Think of something that is 10 yards long.  Then imagine 175 more of them.

Think if driving 240 miles an hour.  THen how far would you have gone in 15 sec?  

But yeah, a Mile Wide tornado - that is hard.

The only one I ever saw up close was one dancing across a country road where I was driving once.  Pretty small, but it was about 1/2 mile in front of me.  If it had been a mile wide, I would have been on the edge of it.  

And, today's award for Best Applied Mathematics goes to Space_Cowboy!

Now 20% - 40% less filling!

So glad you're OK. Had one 5 miles from here in east Texas the same day. I should have taken pictures of the sky that day. SCARY for quite a while!

craigb


He forgot to add it's also how far one of Bapu's Am chords travel in about 4.7 seconds.

From the fingers to ears of the multitude (I hope).