Tornadoes are one of the most feared weather events on Earth. These quick-forming and normally short-lived cyclones tend to emerge from strongly rotating thunderstorms known as supercells. Driven by a long-lasting tower of rising air, these storms can unleash some of the fastest surface winds on Earth. Rising as much as 16.1 kilometers (10 miles)…
Stormy Saturday night in KMAland
Strong thunderstorms and at least one tornado interrupted the Easter weekend in KMAland. A classic supercell touched off severe weather throughout most of southwest Iowa, southeast Nebraska and northwest Missouri Saturday afternoon and evening. Activities began at around 5 p.m., when spotters reported a tornado one mile north of Dunbar in Otoe County. “From that…
Magnificent supercell thunderstorm in Kansas amazes tornado chasers
Dodge City, KS –- “If it’s May, you chase.” That’s a line attributed to storm expert and chaser extraordinaire Tim Marshall. A day like Saturday helps explain why. The beginning of an extended severe weather episode to close out May got underway this weekend across the Plains. And it did so in stunning fashion. On…
How May 3, 1999, Kicked Off a Life-Changing Stretch of Oklahoma Tornadoes
May 3, 1999, is forever burned into the memory of Oklahomans, thanks to one of the most infamous tornadoes in U.S. history. An F5 tornado tore through the cities of Bridge Creek, Newcastle, Moore and parts of the south side of Oklahoma City. It claimed 36 lives, destroyed 1,800 homes and damaged another 2,500, according…
There is no luxury of the moment for some, no time to linger in the agony and despair that defined April 27, 2011. Not for National Weather Service, not for the utility company with thousands of customers not only without power but without the immediate infrastructure to restore it, not for the mayor whose downtown…
Pic of the week: ‘Mothership’ supercell drops two tornadoes on Tulsa
This, ladies and gentleman, is what we call a “mothership” supercell. Meteorologists and storm chasers refer to a select few supercell thunderstorms as “motherships” for a simple, very non-meteorological reason: they resemble spaceships. To be considered a mothership supercell, the whole structure of the storm must typically be seen from top to bottom and end…