~ 3 Tornado Warnings!!! ~ current weather!

[FDWxMan]

wasnt that an old Indian thing about the rivers coming together...seems like I read that once

Probably. That's where a lot got their starts.

Other widespread ones:

Open your windows before going to your basement! It will keep your house from exploding due to the pressure difference! Seriously, don't worry about it. The tornado will throw your car through your windows and open them for you.

If you're on the highway, hide under an overpass. I know there is famous footage of people doing this which is why it is so popular, but ever held your thumb over a garden hose to increase the flow pressure? Same thing happens with the winds under there, they get accelerated. People were blown out from under them and killed a few years ago attempting that.

 

[HOTDON]

Yes, the river thing is total fluff as well.

Fort Dodge, Algona, Iowa City, Muscatine have all had torndoes in the past 30 or so years, though unfortunately some people still believe the old legends that bends in rivers will protect them...Or two rivers coming together (raccoon and Des Moines) will naturally deflect them.

My house is one of many in our neighborhood that were rebuilt after that tornado in Dodge.

 

[simply1]

council bluffs got hit by a tornado back in the day as well.

Interesting list of downtowns hit

Downtown Tornadoes

 

[simply1]

Oklahoma City tornado too, some weather channel show on that.

 

[simply1]

Salt Lake City

 

[IcSyU]

Probably. That's where a lot got their starts.

Other widespread ones:

Open your windows before going to your basement! It will keep your house from exploding due to the pressure difference! Seriously, don't worry about it. The tornado will throw your car through your windows and open them for you.

If you're on the highway, hide under an overpass. I know there is famous footage of people doing this which is why it is so popular, but ever held your thumb over a garden hose to increase the flow pressure? Same thing happens with the winds under there, they get accelerated. People were blown out from under them and killed a few years ago attempting that.

This is why you run outside and watch. :yes:

 

[cstrunk]

It's statistics.

The area occupied by metro areas <<<<<<< the area occupied by rural areas. So it is somewhat rare for big city areas to be hit by a tornado, even less so for downtown areas, which are smaller still.

Violent tornadoes are rare. EF-5's only occur once every few years it seems. You might have a handful of EF-4's per year. Tornadoes are much more likely to be "weak" than they are to violent.

Thus, the chances of two already rare events occurring at the same time is very very small. This is why most people think that the downtown's of big cities can't be hit. Metro areas do occasionally get hit by tornadoes, but most of them are not violent. It's only a matter of time before a violent tornado rips through any given area.

There are studies out there concerning the "heat island" effect of a city on thunderstorms, but it's relationship to tornadogenesis is much unknown at this point. IMO, the atmosphere is so huge and complex that adding a "heat island" (which is added energy anyways) isn't going to do much if anything to affect a tornadic thunderstorm.

Myths: Open your windows before a tornado hits. (The flying debris will destroy your house, not a sudden drop in pressure.) Seek shelter under an overpass on the highway. (Dangerous, it is not good shelter from wind/debris, and creates a bottleneck situation on the highway which is even more dangerous.) Our town/city is protected by a small mountain/hill/valley or river/lake. (Tornadoes can go uphill, downhill, through valleys, over rivers/lakes. Again, the atmosphere is huge and most of these features will have little/no effect on a tornado.)