In an utopian world…
Tornadoes only follow these gospels
- Tornadoes shall follow to a trailer park as if it was attracted to it.
- Tornadoes shall never touch the mountains, cities, rivers, or lakes for the they are to remain pure sanctuaries free of whirlwinds.
- Tornadoes shall be able to be seen and heard by the people.
- Tornadoes shall only move from the southwest to the northeast.
- Tornadoes shall be born only in spring and within the Tornado Alley for it is their home range.
Yet, the reality is the opposite…
The illusions of utopian fiction are shattered by the reality that tornadoes never follow these beliefs.
- Trailer parks are so useless as tornado baits because tornadoes does not really get attracted to the trailer parks at all. The twisters just go in whatever direction they go in no matter if there’s a trailer park or not in their paths. There are plenty of jokes related to tornadoes in trailer parks in popular media, and the trailer homes are sometimes called tornado baits or tornado magnets. The origins of the slangs, jokes and myths are related to frequency of tornadoes in and prevalence of trailer parks in portions of this country. Also, trailers are far easier for a weak tornadoes to destroy than wood-frame homes.
- This is false especially in Tennessee. Tennessee is home to mountains, lakes, rivers, cities and tornadoes. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was struck by a massive EF-4 tornado that also crossed Lake Chilhowee. Last February Montgomery County was struck by two separate tornadoes.
- Not all tornadoes can be seen or heard from a distance. In most cases, people don’t usually hear an approaching tornado until it’s so close to people. Also, some tornadoes, especially those in the South, are hidden in rain or just form after dark. Some in drier places are not able to present themselves as funnels due to lack of moisture.
- Not all tornadoes travel that way. Some take on an really interesting paths, such as Bennington, KS EF-4 on May 28, 2013 for example. The behemoth tornado moved very slowly (2 mph maximum) for about an hour, and its path resembles a mirror image of Greek letter alpha. Fortunately, the violent tornado stayed in an open farmland so there wasn’t any human casualties.
- The obvious one since I have discussed Dixie Alley last Monday. Other than the fact that all 50 U.S. states and other countries around the world were struck by tornadoes, there’s no further explanation.
Final Statements
Sources:
Myths:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/05/130521-tornado-myths-facts-storms-science-nation/
http://mentalfloss.com/article/502747/10-myths-about-tornadoes-debunked
Bennington, KS EF-4 tornado:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/05/30/how-a-violent-tornado-stood-still-bennington-kansas/?utm_term=.0e8b69398713
Great Smoky Mountains EF-4 tornado from NWS report
I’m a trained NWS spotter, and this blog is meant to be informative about weather-related topics with light humor and commentaries.
Reminder: There is a WKRN Weather Roadshow and Spotting Class this Wednesday at the University Center Ballroom from 6 to 8P.M.. There are also online spotting classes as listed in NWS Nashville Skywarn website.
https://www.weather.gov/ohx/skywarn
