nebraska tornadoes

[theresa p]

sure hope all forum members living in the midwest states were unscathed by the huge tornadoes yesterday. this has been an incredible year for weather!!

[Vickie B.]

Thanks Theresa!

I left work last night (early) at about 7:45 pm, cuz we were under a severe thunderstorm warning and the black clouds were coming fast! I had the Ridgeline truck and I didn't care about using extra gas---I drove like a bat out of heck for home, all the while watching the clouds in my rear view mirror.

Got home and told my husband---man, the sky looks like those storm chaser shows. We opened the back door, and just like THAT the straight line winds hit---we could barely get in and get downstairs! When we came back up, neighbors trees on both sides of us were down. One on their driveway (no cars), and one in the back yard.

We have vinyl privacy fencing and this morning we were picking up the slats and putting them back in (a good thing about this fencing!)

[theresa p]

vickie---you are SO lucky to be okay! here, where we very, very rarely have anything near a tornado, it is hard to comprehend their potential for severe damage. hope the clean-up goes smoothly.

[CindyL]

Well..., not quite unscathed. I get to shop for a new car when we return from our camping trip. Happily, the car was going to be replaced, so it probably will be replaced sooner now. I doubt insurance will fix it.

[honda03842]

Originally Posted by theresa p

sure hope all forum members living in the midwest states were unscathed by the huge tornadoes yesterday. this has been an incredible year for weather!!

We certainly hope everyone is safe and sound. The reality is, as incredible as a tornado can be, the frequency of the big ones (F3-F5 tornados) has been decreasing for some time. If we add Hurricanes to the record, a hurricane has not made landfall in the USA for over 1000 days, the longest period since the American Civil War.

We do see more tornados and hurricanes than we used to see, particularly small ones because we have more tools to see them. For example, hurricanes that only last a day are added to the list of hurricanes that would have never been seen in the past, similarly with small tornados.

For those interested in the history of weather, the real weather catastrophies thru history, the following web site provides amazing information. I must tell you it is a long document and that it takes a while to download but it really provides perspective on weather for those of us who have not lived 2000 years.

http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Weather.pdf

Certainly tornados are the most serious short term weather events, unfortunately there can be longer events, like the relatively recent Little Ice Age, that can cause much greater pain to a larger population.

Thankful for all that are safe and quick recovery for those that are not,

Norm