Significant Tornado Events

[locomusic01]

Also worth noting that there's some uncertainty to the actual toll for obvious and gruesome reasons. Incidentally, the Ward Williams store is a good example of that as well. So far, I've been able to confirm seven people who were killed there, but they were still occasionally finding bits of remains even in early July, so who knows what the real number is? The store owner and some of the others who were there claimed just after the tornado that there were "at least 20" victims, though it probably wasn't that many. At least 10 seems pretty likely though, and similar situations played out in a number of other places as well.

Bit random, but my friends & girlfriend are all tired of hearing about New Richmond at this point so I'm gonna ramble about it here lol. I've been trying to get to the bottom of this particular issue, but instead things have just gotten murkier.

I've found at least three separate accounts stating that someone in the Ward Williams shop (either an employee or a customer) was urging people in the street to come inside and take shelter in the basement, and that there were anywhere between "at least 20" and "perhaps 30 or more" inside when the tornado hit. But then I've also found two different accounts saying there had been a lot of people inside but most of them ran out into the street just before the storm, so there may have been as few as 8-10 people actually inside the store.

What is clear is that very few of the people in the store were ever pulled out alive - I've got accounts from two of them, and there may have only been one other. That being the case, the death toll could conceivably be anywhere from the 7 I've already confirmed to maybe up to two dozen if there really were "perhaps 30" there when it hit.

As I said, I think it's probably toward the lower end of that range, but it may never be possible to tell for certain. It sounds like some of the victims were essentially torn apart by wind/debris or crushed by the tons and tons of collapsing stone + stock from the store, and then on top of that part of the wreckage caught on fire. A few bodies were removed fairly quickly and were still identifiable, but others were more or less cremated.

To make matters even more confusing, Ward Williams' brother also had a store on Main St. (O.J. Williams Hardware Store) in which more or less the same scene played out, and many of the sources confuse the two shops and give conflicting accounts regarding which people were in which place at the time. There's a part of me that realizes all this stuff is probably only interesting to me, but these are the kinds of things that keep gnawing at me until I figure them out.

I blame ADHD for all of this btw, including this unnecessarily long and rambly post. And y'all wonder why it takes me years to finish an article lol

 

[locomusic01]

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

Also, that whole process is fascinatingly apparent in this video taken by an OKC police officer, especially if you play it at 2x speed:



The tornado clearly contracts, slows down to the point it seems like it's being forcibly shoved backwards (because it essentially is) and then grows/intensifies/begins moving forward again as the circulation reestablishes itself. It's kinda evident in the radar loop from this period as well, although the poor temporal resolution obviously can't capture much detail.

 

[CheeselandSkies]

Also, that whole process is fascinatingly apparent in this video taken by an OKC police officer, especially if you play it at 2x speed:



The tornado clearly contracts, slows down to the point it seems like it's being forcibly shoved backwards (because it essentially is) and then grows/intensifies/begins moving forward again as the circulation reestablishes itself. It's kinda evident in the radar loop from this period as well, although the poor temporal resolution obviously can't capture much detail.

It's really fascinating to be able to relate real-time visual tornado behavior to what is seen on radar. In over 25 years of being a severe weather geek, it never occurred to me that this was even possible outside of tornadoes scanned up-close with DOW or other high resolution portable radar (which this particular tornado actually was, but you know what I mean).

 

[locomusic01]

It's really fascinating to be able to relate real-time visual tornado behavior to what is seen on radar. In over 25 years of being a severe weather geek, it never occurred to me that this was even possible outside of tornadoes scanned up-close with DOW or other high resolution portable radar (which this particular tornado actually was, but you know what I mean).

Yeah, it's really cool to see the process actually play out visually. There's also another video of the same time period taken from a different angle where you can see a ton of debris fallout. As I understand it, this happens when successive rear-flank gust front surges start disrupting the circulation, each time ejecting bursts of debris. Apparently I don't have the video saved (or maybe it's been deleted?) but I'll try to find it again in a bit.

 

[Austin Dawg]

Also, that whole process is fascinatingly apparent in this video taken by an OKC police officer, especially if you play it at 2x speed:



The tornado clearly contracts, slows down to the point it seems like it's being forcibly shoved backwards (because it essentially is) and then grows/intensifies/begins moving forward again as the circulation reestablishes itself. It's kinda evident in the radar loop from this period as well, although the poor temporal resolution obviously can't capture much detail.

I've watched a lot of videos of tornadoes that is still the scariest tornado I've ever seen.

 

[locomusic01]

I've watched a lot of videos of tornadoes that is still the scariest tornado I've ever seen.

The KFOR live video is particularly terrifying, especially the sequence beginning around 31:51 here. Looks (and sounds) like the freakin' apocalypse:

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Yeah, it's really cool to see the process actually play out visually. There's also another video of the same time period taken from a different angle where you can see a ton of debris fallout. As I understand it, this happens when successive rear-flank gust front surges start disrupting the circulation, each time ejecting bursts of debris. Apparently I don't have the video saved (or maybe it's been deleted?) but I'll try to find it again in a bit.

Didn't something similar happen with Moore 2013?

Also, there is that one video from Moore 1999 with all the debris falling out of the sky....

 

[Western_KS_Wx]

Yeah Moore 2013 even went as far as doing a full loop on itself during its failed occlusion. Once the updraft weakened all the copious amounts of debris that was suspended in the air rained down everywhere for miles and there was a ton of it. Also it rained literal dirt and grass as well which I’ve never seen happen before or since then.

Here’s some videos of the debris fallout

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

The KFOR live video is particularly terrifying, especially the sequence beginning around 31:51 here. Looks (and sounds) like the freakin' apocalypse:

Yeah, footage like this along with the damage from Bridge Creek is why I think this thing was more violent than Moore 2013, just something about it makes it makes it seem that much more vicious and ruthless.

 

[locomusic01]

Didn't something similar happen with Moore 2013?

Also, there is that one video from Moore 1999 with all the debris falling out of the sky....

Yeah Moore 2013 even went as far as doing a full loop on itself during its failed occlusion. Once the updraft weakened all the copious amounts of debris that was suspended in the air rained down everywhere for miles and there was a ton of it. Also it rained literal dirt and grass as well which I’ve never seen happen before or since then.

What's interesting is that Moore '13 peaked in intensity (at least technically) where it did its loop, producing that row of EF5-rated homes near Moore Medical Center. Moore '99 did the opposite, weakening briefly but noticeably as it crossed the Canadian River.

 

[locomusic01]

Btw, something interesting I found as I was working on New Richmond this morning. While most of the eyewitness descriptions from around the city describe the tornado as either a large column/cone/pyramid or sort of the classic "boiling mass of cloud," I've come across a couple that describe a large main funnel with smaller funnels/"ropes" either coming out of the sides or swirling around it.

Always a bit hard to interpret old-timey accounts, but it sounds like the way many people describe horizontal vortices. They aren't that uncommon in violent tornadoes of course, but you don't see them mentioned or clearly described too often in older sources. It's fascinating to see how different the descriptions are from one person and one location to the next - part of that is no doubt just the inherent subjectivity/unreliability of witnesses, but it still gives the distinct impression that the tornado's appearance shifted quite a lot throughout its life.

 

[pohnpei]

What's interesting is that Moore '13 peaked in intensity (at least technically) where it did its loop, producing that row of EF5-rated homes near Moore Medical Center. Moore '99 did the opposite, weakening briefly but noticeably as it crossed the Canadian River.

Moore was almost stationary when doing that loop which pretty likely worsen the damage. Based on radar/damage/moving speed, I actually feel that it may peaked just before entering Moore where Jarrell esque damage occured with not Jarrell level speed(still relatively slow speed)

 

[pohnpei]

While we are still on topic of Moore, I want to add some details about the damage to Briarwood School. Technically, it can even be classified as a concrete structure building with H-steel frame and thick reinforced CMU walls filled with cement. The roof was made of thick industrial iron sheet.
You can see the pic below how thick these CMU were

Heavy H-steel were ripped off and topped onto the roof


One of the classroom was nearly leveled and only thing left were toilets.(notice the h-steel frame and reinforced thick cmu walls.)

You can also notice that tank got completely inside out left of the pic.

10t(at least) tank tossed onto the roof of the school

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

More damage photos from Moore showing extreme damage.

 

[UK_EF4]

Moore was almost stationary when doing that loop which pretty likely worsen the damage. Based on radar/damage/moving speed, I actually feel that it may peaked just before entering Moore where Jarrell esque damage occured with not Jarrell level speed(still relatively slow speed)
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Every time I see these photos I am just astonished. The absolute power of the wind to do *that* is just mind-boggling. A truly violent tornado.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Moore was almost stationary when doing that loop which pretty likely worsen the damage. Based on radar/damage/moving speed, I actually feel that it may peaked just before entering Moore where Jarrell esque damage occured with not Jarrell level speed(still relatively slow speed)
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What makes this tornado and Bridge Creek-Moore 1999 impressive is how they both managed to do Jarrell-esque damage while moving much faster than Jarrell. Your last photo, of what appears to be a either a mangled automobile or a pile of automobiles fused/mangled together reminds me of what Jarrell did to some cars in encountered.

 

[locomusic01]

What makes this tornado and Bridge Creek-Moore 1999 impressive is how they both managed to do Jarrell-esque damage while moving much faster than Jarrell. Your last photo, of what appears to be a either a mangled automobile or a pile of automobiles fused/mangled together reminds me of what Jarrell did to some cars in encountered.

Never a great sign when you can't even tell how many vehicles there are, let alone what kind they were.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Never a great sign when you can't even tell how many vehicles there are, let alone what kind they were.

Yeah, I think Bridge Creek-Moore 1999 was more violent than 2013 Moore, due to how complete the devastation was in the Bridge Creek area and the sheer amount of ground scouring that was visible from satellite. Also it did its peak damage while moving relatively fast and not while stationary and occluding, whereas Moore 2013 seems to have peaked when it was stationary for a short bit.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Never a great sign when you can't even tell how many vehicles there are, let alone what kind they were.

OK, those first 2 pics it looks like those cars were literally disintegrated into tiny pieces; I stand corrected that Jarrell is the only tornado with clear visual documentation of that.

Also, this pic:




Looks like several things (car or cars, house, steel girder/frame, wire, vegetation and other things) were more or less ground together into this pile (perhaps an intense subvortex played a role here) of unrecognizable scrap.

 

[locomusic01]

OK, those first 2 pics it looks like those cars were literally disintegrated into tiny pieces; I stand corrected that Jarrell is the only tornado with clear visual documentation of that.

Also, this pic:

View attachment 18103


Looks like several things (car or cars, house, steel girder/frame, wire, vegetation and other things) were more or less ground together into this pile (perhaps an intense subvortex played a role here) of unrecognizable scrap.

Yeah that was a trailer in which one of the fatalities occurred, along with (among other things) bits and pieces of a truck. I can't recall off-hand which of these the pieces were from, but they're both from the same area: