Significant Tornado Events

[buckeye05]

Also, I should add that the assertation that concrete cannot "bend" like that is not necessarily true. Concrete that has any type of metal reinforcement can crack and warp in that type of manner rather than failing catastrophically, and that's by design. A perfect example is the basement wall at that one large home in Parkersburg, IA.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Also, I should add than the assertation that concrete cannot "bend" like that is not necessarily true. Concrete that has any type of metal reinforcement can crack and warp in that type of manner rather than failing catastrophically, and that's by design. A perfect example is the basement wall at that one large home in Parkersburg, IA.

This is what happened in Brandenburg, Joplin and Chapman too, right?

 

[buckeye05]

This is what happened in Brandenburg, Joplin and Chapman too, right?

Chapman yes, but I'm not sure about Joplin and Brandenburg. The concrete in those cases completely broke and collapsed, so either they weren't properly reinforced, or the tornado was so violent that it didn't matter.

 

[TH2002]

Also, I should add than the assertation that concrete cannot "bend" like that is not necessarily true. Concrete that has any type of metal reinforcement can crack and warp in that type of manner rather than failing catastrophically, and that's by design. A perfect example is the basement wall at that one large home in Parkersburg, IA.

That's a good point; off hand I'm not exactly sure if poured slabs regularly have steel reinforcement though, nor do I understand the differences between reinforcing a concrete slab, a poured concrete stemwall or a regular concrete wall. @Sawmaster would be more qualified than me to comment on that matter.

 

[buckeye05]

That's a good point; off hand I'm not exactly sure if poured slabs regularly have steel reinforcement though, nor do I understand the differences between reinforcing a concrete slab, a poured concrete stemwall or a regular concrete wall. @Sawmaster would be more qualified than me to comment on that matter.

Most modern homes, both of the slab foundation and poured basement foundation variety, typically have rebar running through the poured concrete. I'm not sure when this was put into practice though, or if older homes (which I believe the Cox home was) were ever built with such reinforcements.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Found this on extremeplanet awhile back in an article from 2012, so I decided to compare the pic with google maps of 2023.

From 2012:




"The path of the F5 tornado is still visible years later in satellite images. A trail of deforestation can be seen at bottom left near Bridge Creek, and the northerly turn the tornado made in Del City is visible at top right."

From 2023:



If you look in the bottom left of the photo you can see a scar stretching from Bridge Creek, not as visible as back in 2012 but still there. Not sure about the scar near Del City, though.

 

[locomusic01]

Found this on extremeplanet awhile back in an article from 2012, so I decided to compare the pic with google maps of 2023.

From 2012:

View attachment 17993


"The path of the F5 tornado is still visible years later in satellite images. A trail of deforestation can be seen at bottom left near Bridge Creek, and the northerly turn the tornado made in Del City is visible at top right."

From 2023:

View attachment 17994

If you look in the bottom left of the photo you can see a scar stretching from Bridge Creek, not as visible as back in 2012 but still there. Not sure about the scar near Del City, though.

There are definitely still areas where the trees are noticeably smaller/more sparse within the path through the metro, particularly SW of Tinker AFB and around Buena Vista Ave in Midwest City where the final three victims were killed. Or there were when I last checked anyway.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

There are definitely still areas where the trees are noticeably smaller/more sparse within the path through the metro, particularly SW of Tinker AFB and around Buena Vista Ave in Midwest City where the final three victims were killed. Or there were when I last checked anyway.

The Midwest City/Del City area I think has quite a few vacant lots still, but the scar isn't as visible as it was 10 years ago.

 

[locomusic01]

The Midwest City/Del City area I think has quite a few vacant lots still, but the scar isn't as visible as it was 10 years ago.

Yeah it's subtle depending on your zoom level/when the imagery was taken. Here's the area I mentioned - the three people were killed basically near the center of the outlined area and then the tornado lifted less than half a mile to the north:

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Yeah it's subtle depending on your zoom level/when the imagery was taken. Here's the area I mentioned - the three people were killed basically near the center of the outlined area and then the tornado lifted less than half a mile to the north:

So its last 3 fatalities were within the last half mile of its life? That's something else, and also demonstrates how so many tornadoes likely are at extreme intensity until the very end of their lives.
I think it was at F5 intensity throughout the metro area much more than the surveyors realized.

 

[locomusic01]

So its last 3 fatalities were within the last half mile of its life? That's something else, and also demonstrates how so many tornadoes likely are at extreme intensity until the very end of their lives.
I think it was at F5 intensity throughout the metro area much more than the surveyors realized.

Yup:

It was still very intense up to within a few hundred yards of where it dissipated basically:

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Yup:

It was still very intense up to within a few hundred yards of where it dissipated basically:

Interesting how it stopped in the middle of a neighborhood....did it gradually rope out or just stop all of a sudden?

 

[locomusic01]

Interesting how it stopped in the middle of a neighborhood....did it gradually rope out or just stop all of a sudden?

It remained strong/violent up to roughly SE 8th St and then rapidly weakened; the last couple hundred yards the damage was very light. This is looking W across the end of the path, so the tornado would've moved from left to right (technically the end of the path is just out of frame to the right):

Closer shot of the area where the tornado first began to weaken (left side of the first photo):

The area just south of that, near where the final three deaths occurred:

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

It remained strong/violent up to roughly SE 8th St and then rapidly weakened; the last couple hundred yards the damage was very light. This is looking W across the end of the path, so the tornado would've moved from left to right (technically the end of the path is just out of frame to the right):

Closer shot of the area where the tornado first began to weaken (left side of the first photo):

The area just south of that, near where the final three deaths occurred:

Those last 2 pics are interesting, with some being swept away, others partially levelled and some still standing with light damage. Also interesting how some trees are partially debarked, some merely uprooted but mostly intact and some still only missing some branches and leaves. Resembles a multivortex structure.
What do you think made the tornado weaken so quickly?

 

[CheeselandSkies]

It's very interesting how on high-end days sometimes these storms will go for hours and hundreds of miles and then they'll encounter something like slightly more midlevel capping and it's like they hit a brick wall.

 

[locomusic01]

Those last 2 pics are interesting, with some being swept away, others partially levelled and some still standing with light damage. Also interesting how some trees are partially debarked, some merely uprooted but mostly intact and some still only missing some branches and leaves. Resembles a multivortex structure.
What do you think made the tornado weaken so quickly?

If memory serves (which it often doesn't lol) the cap was quite a bit stronger around the eastern part of the metro and beyond. The storm produced a couple weaker tornadoes afterward but died out fairly quickly. There was also a subtle boundary west of the metro where LCLs were lower and helicity was maximized, and the storm would've been moving away and into less favorable parameters in general by that point. Stroud is really the only significant tornado that occurred further east, and that was a few hours later.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

If memory serves (which it often doesn't lol) the cap was quite a bit stronger around the eastern part of the metro and beyond. The storm produced a couple weaker tornadoes afterward but died out fairly quickly. There was also a subtle boundary west of the metro where LCLs were lower and helicity was maximized, and the storm would've been moving away and into less favorable parameters in general by that point. Stroud is really the only significant tornado that occurred further east, and that was a few hours later.

Is the failed occlusion the tornado experienced while crossing the river related to that cap?

 

[ColdFront]

Trey Greenwood just put out a new case study video on the March 2, 2012 outbreak. Looks like the Henryville tornado will be front and center.

His case study videos are super interesting and he gets extremely detailed on the meteorology behind the outbreaks. I’m pretty excited for this video personally as this was my first real outbreak I followed as a “weather weenie” in high school and I’m from eastern KY so it had that significance. The West Liberty tornado also impacted the counties north of me.

I think that was a real surprise for some in this area, who believed tornados “won’t or can’t form in the mountains”, or if one does form, it would be weak and short lived. Anytime I hear that now I can point to the numerous videos of the west liberty tornado traversing the Appalachians or the Cordova tornado on 4/27/11 easily climbing rough terrain.

The Crittenden tornado on this day is one that gets overshadowed by Henryville and West Liberty, it was an EF-4 and while it was relatively short lived, produced some pretty wicked damage.

 

[locomusic01]

Is the failed occlusion the tornado experienced while crossing the river related to that cap?

I'd assume so but I dunno tbh.

Also, while we're on the topic of 5/3/99, I figured I'd post a bit of the stuff that didn't end up making it into my article. I don't feel like putting this into any coherent order so it may be a bit random lol. First one is around Lamar Dr & Bismarc Dr in Del City:

I didn't label this one for some reason, but IIRC it's from the same general area:

This is overlooking SE 89th St between Bryant Ave and Sunnylane Rd - the arrow is pointing to the pond in which the car I've posted here a few times landed. It's almost exactly a mile from where it originated (out of frame to the left).

Right along the left edge of the photo, near the bigger pond, is the famous "textbook F5" house that may or may not have actually been swept away:

I can't remember if I've posted these before or not, but they're all from around S Penn & SW 134th (the intersection immediately NE of Country Place Estates where the Grand Am was thrown a mile under the bridge):

Looking SW over Kelley Elementary/Regency Park:

Regency Blvd & NW 19th St in Regency Park:

SE 46th St & Mackleman Dr southwest of Tinker AFB:

SE 52nd St & Republic Dr, same general area:

SE 10th St & Buena Vista Ave in Midwest City - IIRC a man was killed in the home just left of where the crane truck and white tank are (bit left of center).

Didn't label this one either for some reason and too lazy to match it up at the moment. I wanna say it's from Regency Park but not sure:

Dewey Edwards Dr east of Amber, about 6 miles from the start of the path:

Finally, this is from the Mulhall tornado on Boonesboro Rd, ~6 miles south of Perry.

 

[Austin Dawg]

Yup it was the Cox family residence. Good memory on your part. I do recall reading on the Tornado Talk article that they say it did indeed deform the foundation, which they say was concrete. If they are truly thorough with their research, I'm inclined to believe them. I just would want to hear from an independent source that it was for sure a concrete slab foundation to be 100% confident in that.

If It was a building there where the Cox family lived I only remember solid buildings. It's been a while since I was there pre-tornado but I'm pretty sure all the buildings owned by the Cox family lived were all fairly good construction.