The Parkersburg, IA, EF-5 Tornado of May 25, 2008: A Case Study
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- In-depth discussion of the Parkersburg, IA, EF5 tornado of May 25, 2008. We'll take a deep dive into the meteorology behind this event, including the unique and complex surface pattern, how gravity waves may have impacted the development of the Parkersburg supercell, how the wind profile modulated storm characteristics, and much more.
Thumbnail images from KWWL Storm Track 7 and the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
2:47 Meteorological discussion begins
5:12 Complex surface pattern
8:38 Discussion of gravity waves
14:16 Storm merger
15:09 Descending reflectivity core
17:18 Role of gravity waves in storm intensification
20:13 Tornado progression, supercell discreteness
21:53 Observed sounding analysis
24:10 RUC model proximity sounding analysis
29:07 Brief discussion of path irregularities
31:14 Wrap-up
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Resources:
NWS Des Moines poster on Parkersburg: www.weather.gov/media/dmx/Sig...
NWS Des Moines final damage survey and event timeline: www.weather.gov/media/dmx/Sig...
NWS Des Moines service assessment: www.weather.gov/media/dmx/Sig...
"The Parkersburg, IA Tornado: 25 May 2008" - Marshall et al. (2008): ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/...
"Gravity Waves: Those Important to Operational Weather Forecasting" - Schaub (2005): www.weather.gov/media/hun/res...
"The Synoptic Setting and Possible Energy Sources for Mesoscale Wave Disturbances" - Uccellini and Koch (1987): weather.ou.edu/~hblue/metr6413...
"The Interactions of Gravity Waves with Mesocyclones: Preliminary Observations and Theory" - Coleman and Knupp (2008): journals.ametsoc.org/view/jou...
"A Preliminary Survey of Rear-Flank Descending Reflectivity Cores in Supercell Storms" - Rasmussen et al. (2006): journals.ametsoc.org/view/jou...
US Tornadoes Case Archive: www.ustornadoes.com/case-arch... - Věda a technologie
I am a weather enthusiast (largely because of you) and this is one tornado I rarely hear people talk about! Thanks for another awesome case study! I know this one took a lot of work!
Thank you!
Yoooo
But honestly thought I Learn something new every video
I try to talk about it when I can; the cell that dropped this monster passed right over my area an hour or so later, twas an amazing light show. You are absolutely right though, even people from near where this happened don't remember it, I like to dub it "the quiet F5" for how little it is talked about, and how widely forgotten it seems to be.
As someone from Iowa, we are used to people forgetting it exists. Honestly, we are fine with it. Parkersburg has done an AMAZING job at not becoming a, "Tornado Town."
The amount of damage shouldn’t dictate the strength of a tornado, the science of the damage should!
I appreciate your mention of the spotty radar coverage in NE Iowa. I live near Parkersburg, in fact my parents actually saw the tornado as it crossed highway 218, one of my big grumbles and fears as a weather enthusiast is the lack of radar coverage. Eastern Iowa is served by 3 NWS offices/radars, KDMX (NWS Des Moines), KDVN (NWS Quad Cities), and KARX (NWS LaCrosse). As mentioned in the video Parkersburg (Grundy County) I’d served my NWS Des Moines, whose radar is 70-ish miles away. Velocity is effected big time because of this distance. I fear if a nocturnal supercell spawns a massive tornado it’d be too late for meaningful advanced warnings. Hopefully, there will soon be longer range radars or another NWS office/radar is added to cover northern Iowa and south central Minnesota.
Absolutely; NE Iowa is one of a number of areas in the US that struggles with radar coverage. Hopefully with our next generation of radars, we’ll be able to fill those gaps.
I drive through Parkersburg on the way to visit family in Iowa. It’s eerie to drive past all newly built homes knowing that the reason they’re there is because that entire section of town was just completely destroyed.
I get the same feeling when I drive through Greensburg, KS…very sobering to know that it was once all rubble.
Same thing when I drive through Andover
I would love to see a case study of the May 10th, 2003 tornado outbreak. I know there wasn't an F5 in this outbreak but I lived through it. I can hardly ever find any information about it.
Was so excited to see this from you. Also felt like you illustrated the DRC more in depth here than in the Moore analysis, which helped me understand both events better. Can't believe these videos are free and readily available for people to watch, thanks for the great work Trey!
Thank you! The goal with these is to make severe storms meteorology accessible to everyone, so I hope to keep these free as long as possible!
Man, a ton of videos on the Parkersburg EF5 lately! I was there working search and rescue. Thanks for the deep dive!
Dang, can't imagine what it was like seeing that devastation first-hand.
@@ConvectiveChronicles We were called out for storm spotting in Iowa Falls while the cells went over our area. They were black as night. The radio traffic on the ride over there was crazy. We got over there and all looked normal until we got to the curve on Hwy 14. It was devastation after that.
@@ConvectiveChroniclesThat security camera footage of that house being destroyed by the Parkersburg tornado was featured on TruTV's "Most Daring" and "Most Shocking".
Thanks so much for this analysis Trey. I grew up in Waterloo and my mom was still living there at the time. I was 5 when the Charles City F5 came through. I was so traumatized that I decided to go get a meteorology degree to understand these severe weather events. Thank you again. As always, spot on coverage.
Thank you! That’s awesome; the best way to overcome fear/trauma from these severe weather events is to learn how they work. We get a lot of tour guests who tour with us because they want to get over their fear of storms.
Great Breakdown! This is the first major tornado that I remember as a kid, I remember talking about it in school for a project, especially as it occurred in Iowa, where I live. 11 years later I would finally see my first tornado (May 24th 2019 Kalona/Frytown Iowa tornado), I'm up to four now!
Thank you! Congrats on getting up to four tornadoes; four of many I’m sure!
Oh man these case studies are my favorite. Been binging obscure EF5 footage, so I’m glad to see a new breakdown from you on this storm. Curious to see what kind of severe weather we get this winter season.
There's one that I've always wanted to see but there's no footage of at all is the broken bow Oklahoma f5 of 1982. Same day an f4 hit Paris Texas around 70 miles away
Another great case study! really shows how theres so many elements that can come together and produce something like the Parkersburg EF5. Failed occlusions are so interesting, it's as if the tornado is fighting to keep itself on its feet
Thank you! I agree; seeing more and more cases in my research with these failed occlusions. Would love to learn more about why the occlusion process fails in these cases.
Wonderful video, Trey! It's always rough digging into the tornado events that aren't as well-documented, but I really appreciate how you pulled out every detail you could find to showcase the specifics. I especially liked just how incredibly deep you got into the gravity waves this time. I mention it every video, I love waiting for the "one new thing to learn" each video, and while you've talked about gravity waves quite a few time, you really kicked it up a notch with the teaching.
This was such a unique case, too, with the weirdness of how many surface features played a role. North-South secondary warm front from a surface low giving cells something to latch onto and increase low-level shear, non-convection gravity wave crossing across an entire state and interacting with a baby tornado and helping it intensify, and once again the right entrance region of a trough playing a role when it's just not where you expect to look for violent tornadoes.
The main thing I want to shout out, however, is your editing work in this one. At this point I've seen every case study you've done, and I feel like with the past couple you're really finding awesome ways to condense the same amount of information in slightly smaller chunks while also ramping up some of the individual edits like highlighting with circles and arrows outside of your normal draw pad work. I know it's way more work to add the extra cuts, add more layers onto the video timelines, and just takes more time to re-watch certain sections of the video and align things perfectly and all that, and I just wanted to make sure you knew the work is not unnoticed! I love the longer-form stuff, too, but I know for the general audience, 30 minutes with arrows and circles is way easier to digest!
Thank you so much for that feedback; I really appreciate it! I'll be completely honest; I took a look back at some of the old case studies and I wasn't happy. They were too long, often not because of the amount of content but because of my "uhs" and such from thinking on my feet. I've broken down and started writing scripts for these videos; I was resistant for awhile because I wanted to maintain a conversational feel, but it just led to lots of unnecessary words and pauses that added up over the course of a video. It's certainly a lot more work, but I think the end product is much better, and I'm very proud of these last few case studies. Thank you again!
@@ConvectiveChroniclesYeah as someone that did streaming/CZcams for a couple years, I totally feel you on wanting to keep that unscripted vibe. There's something a bit more personal about seeing/hearing more raw, unedited footage. But at the end of the day, especially for educational content, I definitely feel getting a script together and cutting at pauses just keeps the momentum going and ends up creating a more "professional" feel. You're doing a fantastic job, and you keep getting better!
Excellent! Been waiting on this one. Thanks Trey!
Nice case study. Really great job going into detail about the tornado🌪.
Thank you!!
Always makes my day better when you post
When CC posts I stop what I’m doing and watch
Thank you so much for another great analysis! I've been very interested in the influence of gravity waves on tornado events like this; they don't seem common, but I've seen them associated with some violent tornado events. Really glad to see you talk about Parkersburg, as well; when I was first getting into meteorology, I often spoke of Greensburg and Parkersburg, despite the latter not receiving as much attention.
Thank you, Ethan!
Fantastic dive as always Trey! Thanks for the awesome content. Appreciate you 😊
Thank you!!
Each day Trey uploads a case study is a good day! These are absolute brain food for me. Im always looking forward to the next one. Helps me get through the off season blues. Thanks for your hard work and dedication!
Thank you so much!!
Thank you for these case studies.
Been looking forward to this!
Wow, Trey! This is simply fantastic!! I will have to listen/watch this a few hundred more times to assimilate the amount of information, but simply amazing. As always, thank you for putting this together and take care!!
Thank you so much, Tal!
Keep up the good work and thank gor the lesson on gravity waves
Finally got to this video, thank you!
Excellent work as always, Trey! This one occurred only a couple hours from me, and was looking forward to your analysis. Well done!
Thank you so much!
Amazing as always
Thank you!
Great breakdown, Trey! The way the gravity wave may have amped up this storm is fascinating!!
Thank you!!
I lived in Cedar Falls at the time as I was wrapping up college. I distinctly remember the weather that day. It was relatively normal and cool in the morning and then the sun came out. It got insanely humid. Parkersburg was only 25 min from where I lived. I heard there was a tornado on the ground so I wanted to go see it. It just missed where I live to the north. I wanted to go see if there was any damage and I drove west towards Parkersburg not knowing it was leveled. I ran into EMS vehicles and knew it was bad. I could see the town in the distance and all you could see was the water tower, everything else was leveled. I'll never forget that sight.
I’ve been patiently waiting for this one
Informative and interesting. Great case study!
Thank you!
I really appreciated the depth of this video! The radar coverage of this area is exactly why I try to tell people in Waterloo, Iowa, & Albert Lea/Austin, MN to watch extra-closely when outlooks include tornado probs.
Thank you! Yeah, the radar coverage is really rough in that area.
An absolutely fascinating deep dive and awesome video as always! I was looking forward to you digging into this one; I volunteered with relief efforts about a month after this tornado and Parkersburg has always been a special place to me ever since. I really appreciate all your hard work in making these videos. The section on gravity waves was especially interesting. Thanks again and keep up the great work!
Thank you so much for the kind words; glad you enjoyed it!
Finally got around to sitting down and studying this video throughly, I’ve always wondered what the Spectrum Width product is for. I think I finally understand! Appreciate it Trey.
Great video, Trey. This synoptic setup was an interesting one. It's much appreciated that you share documents and journals that go with these events.
Thank you!
Amazing video! The editing and presentation has got to make this video one of your best!! Great job!
Thanks man; I appreciate it!
Happy I found your video! I actually lived here at the time, so it's interesting to see a breakdown on it!
Hell yes! Literally just in time to hype me up for my workout. Thank you!
I love how Trey can put together a great video! You don’t need fancy editing to put together a great story and explain thermodynamics. Great work!
Thank you so much!
Wahoooo! Great vid Trey! Premium content and tornado lore as always !
Thank you!!
Again it just amazes me how much needs to fall into place for a monster EF-5 to come together. This is definitely unique in the complexity of the set up. Well done once again.
Absolutely! Thank you!
I’ve been anxiously waiting for this one, I can’t believe I’m so early 😁
Really like the new, more concise and professional commentary style that you’ve implemented into your newer analyses, also as always this was an amazing analysis, didn’t know the Parkersburg event was this intricate, the continuous failed occlusion behavior seems like something that’d make Cameron Nixon a kid in a candy store.
Also is a great example of how big of an impact something as small as gravity waves can have, I think the Oklahoma setup back in September was a good example of how gravity waves can also negatively impact severe setups if I’m remembering correctly
Thank you! I’ve broken down and started writing scripts for these, as I feel it cuts down on the fluff and unnecessary pauses.
I’ll be honest; I don’t even remember which September setup you’re referring to. I didn’t pay attention to many setups after tour season ended.
Thanks for this! Been a tornado guy since grade school, have been in a couple (only EF1-2 category). Kinda wish I'd gotten that meteorology degree I've always thought of doing.
awesome work! of the ef5's parkersburg and rainsville i feel like rarely get talked about so its awesome to see a case study on it
Thank you!
Been waiting on this since Greensburg! I like to watch EF5 analysis in chronological order
Thanks!!🙏
Another fantastic case study. The Parkersburg tornado already intrigued me due to there not being many photos/videos of it.
Would love to see you do a case study on the 11/17/13 Washington, IL tornado and outbreak in general with the 10 year anniversary coming up.
Thank you! Stay tuned👀
Thank you for making this video, it was very interesting despite some limitations of data analysis on this event. I was 6 years old when this happened but back then I was living on the western side of Iowa so it didn’t really affect us much, but it was still a pretty nasty storm nevertheless. I love the videos you make especially in my state. I also love how well you explain things despite how difficult it is to understand lolz.
Thank you so much!
When you realize that this is a lesser talked about tornado, it hits you how insane that is, especially since this produced some of the most violent damage ever recorded in a tornado. Hackleburg and Rainsville were notable for exposing an underground shelter. This tornado did that MULTIPLE times. There was no safe place from this twister except directly out of its path. This is right up there with the Smithvilles, Jarrells, and May 3rds of the world as a high-end EF5
That security footage gave me nightmares for months!😢 couldn't imagine actually having to face this monster!! God bless the people of Parkersburg❤
This was the same day that a supercell tracked across the northern suburbs of Minneapolis-St. Paul. My parents' house was sideswiped by an EF-1 tornado before the same cell dropped an EF-3 tornado about ten miles to the east. I'd love to see a case study of the June 17, 2010 outbreak that mainly impacted Minnesota and North Dakota.
It’s on the list!
I didn't realize this one was so obscure. I live in Iowa so it was a huge deal
Hi, me again! So, I'm really glad you covered this storm. You're right, it is overlooked. I did use a video of it, though, for a power point college assignment back in, like, 2010. These videos are so interesting, although I don't understand the super-detailed meteorology, haha. Doesn't stop me from trying! While talking about overlooked tornadoes, I'm wondering if I could interest you into looking at an EF4 that happened in Northwood ND back in August 2007. To give a bit of context, it occurred after 8:30 pm after what had been a hot, humid, very sunny day. That night, 50 miles east, the sky was positively electric with continuous CC lightning. A tornado had also dropped after 10:00, close to my location. I just thought I might bring it up so that others might discover it, because, considering the circumstances, all that happened seemed very curious, given how late it was in both season AND time.
Thank you! I’ve had some others ask me about that case; it’s on my list!
Great case analysis as always, Trey! It only takes one a brief look into some of the high-end examples of the damage at Parkersburg and New Hartford to realize that this relatively obscure tornado is well deserving of being the second (and one of only 9 such ratings officially assigned to date, all of them spanning 2007-2013 but that's another can of worms) EF5. Max Hagen of the (sorely wish he had continued producing content for it) Extreme Planet blog ranked it 11th on his list of the 20 most violent tornadoes since 1970, above both Joplin and Moore 2013, and that's what really (re)opened my eyes to how noteworthy it was.
I had just graduated from UW-Green Bay at the time and this day was my first solo chase (or chase attempt). Coming from Stoughton, WI I started out by targeting La Crosse on the southeastern edge of SPC's initial 10% hatched area. Lacking mobile data at the time the raging tornadic supercell was hopelessly out of reach by the time I found out about it, but since nothing else had really gotten going anywhere close (I don't think you ever actually showed the SPC reports map from 5/25, but on it you can see the only other tornadic storm of note in the northern mode was way up by the Twin Cities, leaving my original target roughly midway between the two) I decided to make a mad dash for it. Of course, it stopped producing tornadoes right around the time I finally got to it at the IA/WI/IL triple point region, which you can also see on the reports map for the day. I caught a couple of dramatic CGs on video and that was about it.
On the top of the track map you can see the towns of Shell Rock and Waverly, IA. On July 14, 2021 an EF2 with an amorphous, multivortex structure for most of its life tracked just south of those two towns. I was on that storm just before it produced but due to a poor positioning decision (typical for me until 3/31 this year) I only glimpsed the tornado at the beginning and end of its life. Still, that was the second fairly close call for the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area in 13 years.
For about 15 years after I started following severe weather and chasers in general, they generally referred to Iowa as "Lieowa" for a seemingly inordinate proportion of hyped setups in the state busting; but when it did produce it produced big. After the last few years especially, I don't think it really produces or busts at a rate noticeably different from adjacent states like Nebraska, Kansas and Illinois.
Thank you! This was quite the interesting first chase setup! I did do some research on the Coon Rapids/Hugo, MN supercell to the north, which was also quite discrete and produced some significant tornadoes. I do recall the Shell Rock/Waverly tornado you mentioned; I've seen some awesome footage of that. Certainly an intense tornado. I've always thought the "Lieowa" moniker was a little overstated, and that's especially been the case over the past few years after events like Winterset, Keota, and others.
@@ConvectiveChronicles Also a note about the SPC hatching within the 5% tornado probability contour you mentioned - I think they stopped doing that because it was technically a mathematical impossibility. You can't have a "10% or greater probability of an (E)F2+ tornado within 25 miles of a point" (which is what the hatched area implies) when the overall probability of _any_ tornado within 25 miles of a point is less than 10%. I think this is why they introduced the 10% probability contour, which had already been done by this date, but it took a 15% probability contour to trigger the Moderate risk so even a 10% probability zone with hatching remained a Slight risk. Thus the Enhanced risk was introduced a few years later to correct this (although the verbiage is somewhat confusing, I've run into a lot of non-weather people who assume the word "enhanced" implies a greater threat than "moderate"). It wasn't until 45% hail/wind contours were introduced with the second outlook that day that the categorical Moderate risk was triggered.
That’s interesting. I believe the hatching corresponds to the actual category it’s housed within (i.e. a 10% hatched area is a 10% chance of EF2+ tornadoes w/in 25 miles of a point, a 15% hatched area is a 15% chance of EF2+ w/in 25 miles of a point, etc.). So theoretically, they could introduce a 2% or 5% hatched…I wonder if they would ever introduce these again.
So at 7:20 there were TWO warm fronts?
Thank you for breaking down what a gravity wave is. Didn't know they had two triggers, but the explosive convection makes sense, it's like an inverted rock in pond! Great illustration
I think I remember reading that gravity waves happened with the Jarrell EF5 as well? Definitely learned some new things today! Thanks Trey!
It does appear to me that there were two different warm fronts. NWS Des Moines even identified another one (perhaps just a mesoscale boundary that acted like a warm front extending east from the main N-S front).
And you are correct! Jarrell was influenced by gravity waves, but they were spawned by convection, unlike the ones in the Parkersburg case.
Ok finally got the comment thing to work this time after a day or so. As for this tornado, as I say many times and you said it too, it's basically the most forgotten about EF5 tornado and you did mention too at the end a lot of the factors at play. This basically was a Greenburg but for Parkersburg, IA and yet, it's rarely mentioned how much damage this did too. I mean the data and radar coverage was kind of a tricky bastard being in the radar hole it was and also the fact there was not a lot of video and photos of this tornado in general. I mean that house one is pretty much the main one I remember for years cause that was basically the only thing that was well known or seen of that tornado in motion.
One thing I found interesting in this video you did was the gravity wave section. I don't think gravity waves from no convection in the way you had that in the figure was something I think they went over in meso-meteorology when I was at SUNY Oneonta at the time. I did check through my METR books from college and I do see stuff on the spectrum width but nothing about the gravity waves forming ahead of no convection like that. It would be maybe as you pointed out the data was from the 80s there and that 2005 stuff never made it into textbooks at the time by 2010 for us and into the Spring of 2011 at SUNY Oneonta. Strange....cause gravity waves I mean how they are formed in the northeast up here and Upstate NY, like that mechanism is well know and we went over that I think even back in Sophmore year in 08-09 and well, that was some interesting new stuff there. But that was easy enough stuff for me to follow along and I did do some looking up on the paper that you pointed out. It does make sense reading it over somewhat....but damn this was quirky set up even more than I remember it being.
Well, that was a damn nice breakdown and I kind of forgot this tornado got rain wrapped and the path had so many failed occlusions like El Reno. I do agree I wish we had a super high-res radar scan like El Reno but I think too the tech and need for that in the field was not as prevalent given the location and usually it seems like the DOWs usually stay close to the TX/KS/OK/AR sectors. Hehe I only ever saw one make it to Nebraska and that was in 2019 during one chase we did. :P Anyway, damn nice video Trey.
I think it's crazy how similar the storms looked to el reno 2013 with the mergers and strong east movement
It really does. Massive HP supercell, except this tornado, was super photogenic for the most part despite the heavy rain and precipitation. Insane monster of a twister.
@@dannyllerenatv8635 agreed. I should have specified the radar loops 😀
This is quite the breakdown! Learning more with every video. Reed Timmer just did a breakdown of the tornados firing in South America and I felt compelled to ask, have you/would you consider an analysis of tornados way way down south? Just curious. Thanks for all the content! ✌️
Thank you! I would, I’m just not sure where to find the data to do a breakdown for stuff down there.
@@ConvectiveChronicles That crossed my mind, and I'm sure that understanding the specifics re: moisture sources, ocean currents, terrain affecting wind profiles, etc. require a fair amount of dedicated expertise. Figured it was a long shot but I just had to float it!
Wonderful work again Trey! I was wondering, are you going to do a case study on April 3-4 1974? The 50th anniversary is next year after all.
Thank you! I am planning on doing it closer to the anniversary date next year.
amazing like always! Could the reason the tornado initially started having violent damage and then seemed to weaken with the multiple failed occlusion processes could have been due to the gravity wave timing itself?
Thank you! I'm not 100% sure; my hunch is no because the gravity wave seems to have just provided the nudge the storm used to intensify the mesocyclone, rather than something like the warm front in this case, which the storm *needed* to anchor to in order to produce a significant tornado.
@@ConvectiveChronicles awesome thank you!
Pretty interesting how the 500mb trough developed with this. I notice something similar (albeit turned up to the extreme) with the 500mb flow on Apr 11 1965 where a second low seems to break off of the main low and rides the ridge to the south as it progresses east. Seems to result in elongated and "steady-state" hodographs that support extremely violent tornadoes.
Great video as always! (ps. A Palm Sunday outbreak analysis would be amazing)
Thank you! That's an interesting point; I'll have to go re-examine the Palm Sunday case.
@@ConvectiveChronicles Finding that June 8th 1953 (Flint, MI) is also a great example where the 500mb winds become more zonal over time acting to steadily enlarge the hodograph horizontally in a very similar way. Almost the complete opposite evolution of an event like May 3 99 where the 500mb winds turn north. I'm fascinated by this stuff and even though I've already settled as a programmer, I wish it would've been meteorology.
I lived through this tornado! I was visiting family in nearby Aplington
Glad you made it through ok!
What was the height above ground of the lowest radar scan at Parkersburg?
Is a gravity wave a turbulent phenomenon or laminar?
The beam hight of KDMX is just over 6000 feet at Parkersburg.
A gravity wave is a laminar phenomenon that turns into a turbulent phenomenon once it breaks.
22:21 their office is located in Valley Nebraska.
Weather People who know exactly where it is usually refer to it as NWS Omaha/Valley
Omaha is much more easily identifiable on a map for the general public than Valley.
@@ConvectiveChronicles that is true
Can you cover the April 14-16, 2011 "Forgotten" Tornado Outbreak?
It’s on my list!
Wonder how weak the storm relative outflow was for the Violent Plainfield, IL tornado? Bet the Rochelle tornado’s one was quite strong
That's a good question. I know Rochelle's was actually somewhat weak...see the proximity sounding at www.ustornadoes.com/case-archive/#2015
@@ConvectiveChronicles Wowza. I don’t think Rochelle was ever rain wrapped was it?
Hey Trey! I was gonna ask but could you do a study on the Salt Lake City Tornado back in August 1999?
It’s on my list!
@@ConvectiveChronicles all good sir take your time! I’ll keep an eye out for it. We can all agree the meteorology behind what lead up to the tornado was nothing short of interesting to say the least
Nice video of a biiiiiiiiiiiig tornado. what a monster
Thanks man…yeah, it was a beast
Thank god this storm didn't occur 10 miles to the southeast, the houses in Waterloo are very much like Joplin-all old and probably not very well built- Would have been a huge disaster.
I remember as a kid seeing the tornado from the south living in north waterloo. The change in temp was so rapid.
E Airline hwy Waterloo
Great video ! At the beginning, you explain the importance of the warm front for initiating supercells but it seemed to me that a warm front is associated with warm advection -> high-based storms (which is not the cas here, and not recommended at all for observing tornadoes!). If you could develop on this point?
Thank you! Warm fronts don't necessarily initiate supercells, but they can enhance them. Elevated storms can form *north* of a warm front, where the surface is stable, but right along a warm front, moisture and low-level shear can often be maximized, leading to robust tornadic supercells, as you're still tapping into the instability from the warm sector to the south.
Do more Wisconsin and Minnesota tornadoe events April 10 2011 June 7 2007 and June 18 2001 siren tornado may 16 2017 tornado. And June 17 2010 outbreak Southern Minnesota