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Severe Weather 2021

Gita1111

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I don't know if I can help you guys out or not.
I'm a life long weather enthusiast.
Minored in meteorology in college.
And I live in Mullica Hill less than a quarter mile from said leveled home.
And was home filming as the funnel skirted by me about 200 yards away.
I had zero damage nor any debris in my yard.. but right across the street from me was when it started. Missing shingles , siding. Minor stuff. Even the homes in the back of my development which were more or less in line with the Salvatore home, were just trees down siding shingles but no blown out walls.
Now a little background: ( this is the tl;dr didn't read part. )
The Salvatore home was built in 2010 by the builder Ryan homes if that helps. They had the reputation of being one of the lower end builders purely because they were just so big as a corporation..bad customer service...etc.. I can't speak to that about the quality (at least when I was looking at a house in 2008)..all I remember is my real estate friend / agent steering us away from them, and I never really questioned after that.
I live in a home built in 2008 by a different builder called Orleans.
They were out of BenSalem PA and considered one of the better ones, still mom and pop owned and ran. ..etc.
I was lucky they finished mine before the real estate crash.
Orleans went bankrupt in 2009, and well let the corner cutting begin for everyone. (keep in mind the Salvatore home was built in 2010 by Ryan homes).
Sooooooo....There was quite a bit of scuttlebutt in the community at the time, and the subsequent years after, about homes built after the crash 2009+ not being built properly and corners cut.
Of particular issue was the fact a lot weren't framed with shear wall specs.
Some went back and were able to get builders to fix the issue.
I've never heard of the framing anchoring being something that was focused on.
I know as mine was built there were huge lag bolts set into the top of the poured concrete walls, and the base framing boards were attached to these bolts. I don't remember how many.
But I feel like they had to be every 6 feet or so ? I can dig up all my pics if this detail is important.. Maybe more frequently spaced even. I'm not a home builder expert, so is this even considered an attachment point like you all are referencing ?
So a little context, the likelihood of this weather event for my area was extremely astronomical.. and it's easy to Monday morning quarterback the whole situation / event.
Fortunately no one was hurt since we all have basements.
This area is known to get the northern latitude hurricanes .. (i.e. Irene 2011..and sandy 2012).. and we had very little issues in the entire area from those. So I think they do build the homes around here with cat 1 hurricanes in mind, but certainly not ef3 twisters.
 
Last edited:

Gita1111

Member
Messages
6
Reaction score
6
Location
Mullica Hill, NJ
Special Affiliations
  1. SKYWARN® Volunteer
I don't know if I can help you guys out or not.
I'm a life long weather enthusiast.
Minored in meteorology in college.
And I live in Mullica Hill less than a quarter mile from said leveled home.
And was home filming as the funnel skirted by me about 200 yards away.
I had zero damage nor any debris in my yard.. but right across the street from me was when it started. Missing shingles , siding. Minor stuff. Even the homes in the back of my development which were more or less in line with the Salvatore home, were just trees down siding shingles but no blown out walls.
Now a little background: ( this is the tl;dr didn't read part. )
The Salvatore home was built in 2010 by the builder Ryan homes if that helps. They had the reputation of being one of the lower end builders purely because they were just so big as a corporation..bad customer service...etc.. I can't speak to that about the quality (at least when I was looking at a house in 2008)..all I remember is my real estate friend / agent steering us away from them, and I never really questioned after that.
I live in a home built in 2008 by a different builder called Orleans.
They were out of BenSalem PA and considered one of the better ones, still mom and pop owned and ran. ..etc.
I was lucky they finished mine before the real estate crash.
Orleans went bankrupt in 2009, and well let the corner cutting begin for everyone. (keep in mind the Salvatore home was built in 2010 by Ryan homes).
Sooooooo....There was quite a bit of scuttlebutt in the community at the time, and the subsequent years after, about homes built after the crash 2009+ not being built properly and corners cut.
Of particular issue was the fact a lot weren't framed with shear wall specs.
Some went back and were able to get builders to fix the issue.
I've never heard of the framing anchoring being something that was focused on.
I know as mine was built there were huge lag bolts set into the top of the poured concrete walls, and the base framing boards were attached to these bolts. I don't remember how many.
But I feel like they had to be every 6 feet or so ? I can dig up all my pics if this detail is important.. Maybe more frequently spaced even. I'm not a home builder expert, so is this even considered an attachment point like you all are referencing ?
So a little context, the likelihood of this weather event for my area was extremely astronomical.. and it's easy to Monday morning quarterback the whole situation / event.
Fortunately no one was hurt since we all have basements.
This area is known to get the northern latitude hurricanes .. (i.e. Irene 2011..and sandy 2013).. and we had very little issues in the entire area from those. So I think they do build the homes around here with cat 1 hurricanes in mind, but certainly not ef3 twisters.
I guess I should add too, that the Orleans homes in my development that were pretty much in the swath that were only missing siding shingles broken windows, were also built during the same pre-housing crash time as mine. So they would have been lag bolted to foundations in similar manner I described above.
 
Last edited:

Gita1111

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Mullica Hill, NJ
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This was a home about 2 miles downrange of my immediate area (Salvatore home).. this one here was condemned..but the funnel went directly over it. A quarter of the back walls were blown out, but still had roof and standing.
This house is 35 years old, so I have no info at all on builder, quality, etc. But it's still up.
 

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TH2002

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I don't know if I can help you guys out or not.
I'm a life long weather enthusiast.
Minored in meteorology in college.
And I live in Mullica Hill less than a quarter mile from said leveled home.
And was home filming as the funnel skirted by me about 200 yards away.
I had zero damage nor any debris in my yard.. but right across the street from me was when it started. Missing shingles , siding. Minor stuff. Even the homes in the back of my development which were more or less in line with the Salvatore home, were just trees down siding shingles but no blown out walls.
Now a little background: ( this is the tl;dr didn't read part. )
The Salvatore home was built in 2010 by the builder Ryan homes if that helps. They had the reputation of being one of the lower end builders purely because they were just so big as a corporation..bad customer service...etc.. I can't speak to that about the quality (at least when I was looking at a house in 2008)..all I remember is my real estate friend / agent steering us away from them, and I never really questioned after that.
I live in a home built in 2008 by a different builder called Orleans.
They were out of BenSalem PA and considered one of the better ones, still mom and pop owned and ran. ..etc.
I was lucky they finished mine before the real estate crash.
Orleans went bankrupt in 2009, and well let the corner cutting begin for everyone. (keep in mind the Salvatore home was built in 2010 by Ryan homes).
Sooooooo....There was quite a bit of scuttlebutt in the community at the time, and the subsequent years after, about homes built after the crash 2009+ not being built properly and corners cut.
Of particular issue was the fact a lot weren't framed with shear wall specs.
Some went back and were able to get builders to fix the issue.
I've never heard of the framing anchoring being something that was focused on.
I know as mine was built there were huge lag bolts set into the top of the poured concrete walls, and the base framing boards were attached to these bolts. I don't remember how many.
But I feel like they had to be every 6 feet or so ? I can dig up all my pics if this detail is important.. Maybe more frequently spaced even. I'm not a home builder expert, so is this even considered an attachment point like you all are referencing ?
So a little context, the likelihood of this weather event for my area was extremely astronomical.. and it's easy to Monday morning quarterback the whole situation / event.
Fortunately no one was hurt since we all have basements.
This area is known to get the northern latitude hurricanes .. (i.e. Irene 2011..and sandy 2012).. and we had very little issues in the entire area from those. So I think they do build the homes around here with cat 1 hurricanes in mind, but certainly not ef3 twisters.
Have you uploaded your video of the tornado anywhere? If so can you post the link here?
 

Gita1111

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Mullica Hill, NJ
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Have you uploaded your video of the tornado anywhere? If so can you post the link here?
I imagine you've seen this video?
My house is just to the left.
The funnel there is pretty much over Salvatore home.
(Interesting to note, but the final nws mount Holly report issued last night shows it only to be a 2 now going thru these neighborhoods)

My house is just to the left.
The funnel there is pretty much over Salvatore home.
 

TH2002

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I imagine you've seen this video?
My house is just to the left.
The funnel there is pretty much over Salvatore home.
(Interesting to note, but the final nws mount Holly report issued last night shows it only to be a 2 now going thru these neighborhoods)

My house is just to the left.
The funnel there is pretty much over Salvatore home.

Well as I don't use Twitter, no I haven't seen that video. Definitely some crazy stuff though, easily the most intense rotation I've seen on an NJ tornado.
 

Gita1111

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Have you uploaded your video of the tornado anywhere? If so can you post the link here?

Well as I don't use Twitter, no I haven't seen that video. Definitely some crazy stuff though, easily the most intense rotation I've seen on an NJ tornado.
What's your take on the intensity just looking at it visually?
 

TH2002

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What's your take on the intensity just looking at it visually?
Obviously it's very subjective to rate tornadoes based on rotation, but I would be surprised if it didn't have low-end EF4 potential at some point during its life.
 

Gita1111

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Obviously it's very subjective to rate tornadoes based on rotation, but I would be surprised if it didn't have low-end EF4 potential at some point during its life.
Wow.
So I've actually never experienced a full on tornado like this in my 45 years. I was always fascinated by them, always wanted to witness one, and really never thought I'd see something like this here.

Based on fact it went about 12 miles in 20 mins, it was moving approx 40 mph.

Is that really fast ?

How does that affect damage at all moving at that speed for an ef3.. less or more damage?

Also from the moment I heard the "train" sound, moving at 40mph, about how far away is that from me? 5, 10, 15, 30 seconds, etc?

I filmed it from inside my house and when I saw the debris field swirling about my windows, that's when I slid down the basement.
If I look at my video it's almost a full minute from when I hear the sound to the initial debris.
So does that seem right that I would first hear an ef3 when it was about a half mile away, regardless of how fast it was traveling?
 

TH2002

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Wow.
So I've actually never experienced a full on tornado like this in my 45 years. I was always fascinated by them, always wanted to witness one, and really never thought I'd see something like this here.

Based on fact it went about 12 miles in 20 mins, it was moving approx 40 mph.

Is that really fast ?

How does that affect damage at all moving at that speed for an ef3.. less or more damage?

Also from the moment I heard the "train" sound, moving at 40mph, about how far away is that from me? 5, 10, 15, 30 seconds, etc?

I filmed it from inside my house and when I saw the debris field swirling about my windows, that's when I slid down the basement.
If I look at my video it's almost a full minute from when I hear the sound to the initial debris.
So does that seem right that I would first hear an ef3 when it was about a half mile away, regardless of how fast it was traveling?
Depends on who you ask, but statistically speaking a 40 mph forward speed is above average.

If a tornado is moving faster, it simply has less time to do damage. In this case the EF scale is only relevant to assign a rating to the damage the tornado leaves behind.

Couldn't give you an exact answer. Some tornadoes you can hear from quite far away. Others you don't notice anything until they get much closer. I think it depends on a number of factors such as the amount of debris a tornado has to work with, and the size and intensity of the tornado itself.

Back in '08 we had an EF2 in nearby Riverside that derailed boxcars and hurled a semitruck 40 feet through the air. It was a slow mover tracking just under three miles in 21 minutes.
 

buckeye05

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Wow.
So I've actually never experienced a full on tornado like this in my 45 years. I was always fascinated by them, always wanted to witness one, and really never thought I'd see something like this here.

Based on fact it went about 12 miles in 20 mins, it was moving approx 40 mph.

Is that really fast ?

How does that affect damage at all moving at that speed for an ef3.. less or more damage?

Also from the moment I heard the "train" sound, moving at 40mph, about how far away is that from me? 5, 10, 15, 30 seconds, etc?

I filmed it from inside my house and when I saw the debris field swirling about my windows, that's when I slid down the basement.
If I look at my video it's almost a full minute from when I hear the sound to the initial debris.
So does that seem right that I would first hear an ef3 when it was about a half mile away, regardless of how fast it was traveling?
Believe it or not, a forward speed of 40 MPH isn't even that fast compared to some tornadoes. Some, such as the Guin, AL F5 of April 3, 1974 or the Smithville, MS F5 of April 27, 2011 can reach a forward speed of 60 to 70 MPH!!
 

TH2002

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Believe it or not, a forward speed of 40 MPH isn't even that fast compared to some tornadoes. Some, such as the Guin, AL F5 of April 3, 1974 or the Smithville, MS F5 of April 27, 2011 can reach a forward speed of 60 to 70 MPH!!
The fact those tornadoes caused the damage they did while moving at those speeds is a testament to how violent they were. I just wish there was more information available about Guin, but so far this site has done a good job tracking down what we can.
 

atrainguy

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We're under a "Slight" chance for severe weather this afternoon in the Great Lakes region, with tornadoes not being out of the question.
 

TH2002

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Today some SVR warned storms popped up SW and NW of my residence including two that displayed hook echos on radar. Far from a first in SoCal history but the first time I've officially documented rotating storms as a weather spotter. Probably nothing impressive to most users here but it provided me an interesting weather spotting opportunity I rarely get here in SoCal. Will post pics and radar screenshots if anyone's interested.
 

Austin Dawg

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I don't know if I can help you guys out or not.
I'm a life long weather enthusiast.
Minored in meteorology in college.
And I live in Mullica Hill less than a quarter mile from said leveled home.
And was home filming as the funnel skirted by me about 200 yards away.
I had zero damage nor any debris in my yard.. but right across the street from me was when it started. Missing shingles , siding. Minor stuff. Even the homes in the back of my development which were more or less in line with the Salvatore home, were just trees down siding shingles but no blown out walls.
Now a little background: ( this is the tl;dr didn't read part. )
The Salvatore home was built in 2010 by the builder Ryan homes if that helps. They had the reputation of being one of the lower end builders purely because they were just so big as a corporation..bad customer service...etc.. I can't speak to that about the quality (at least when I was looking at a house in 2008)..all I remember is my real estate friend / agent steering us away from them, and I never really questioned after that.
I live in a home built in 2008 by a different builder called Orleans.
They were out of BenSalem PA and considered one of the better ones, still mom and pop owned and ran. ..etc.
I was lucky they finished mine before the real estate crash.
Orleans went bankrupt in 2009, and well let the corner cutting begin for everyone. (keep in mind the Salvatore home was built in 2010 by Ryan homes).
Sooooooo....There was quite a bit of scuttlebutt in the community at the time, and the subsequent years after, about homes built after the crash 2009+ not being built properly and corners cut.
Of particular issue was the fact a lot weren't framed with shear wall specs.
Some went back and were able to get builders to fix the issue.
I've never heard of the framing anchoring being something that was focused on.
I know as mine was built there were huge lag bolts set into the top of the poured concrete walls, and the base framing boards were attached to these bolts. I don't remember how many.
But I feel like they had to be every 6 feet or so ? I can dig up all my pics if this detail is important.. Maybe more frequently spaced even. I'm not a home builder expert, so is this even considered an attachment point like you all are referencing ?
So a little context, the likelihood of this weather event for my area was extremely astronomical.. and it's easy to Monday morning quarterback the whole situation / event.
Fortunately no one was hurt since we all have basements.
This area is known to get the northern latitude hurricanes .. (i.e. Irene 2011..and sandy 2012).. and we had very little issues in the entire area from those. So I think they do build the homes around here with cat 1 hurricanes in mind, but certainly not ef3 twisters.

Welcome and I am glad you didn't suffer damage or loss of life with this storm.
 

TH2002

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A significant tornado ripped through Pantelleria, Italy earlier today, killing two and injuring at least nine more.
3072.jpg
 

andyhb

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With a La Niña looking least moderate going into fall plus even winter at times . Severe could be above normal . But we see guess
I don't think the La Nina is going to be that strong.
 
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