Devastating tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri

[jhamps10]

Thanks for the well wishes.

There was nothing weird that happened as I recall as far as ear popping or anything. I was running on adrenaline then so I don't really know. I was scared, but I wasn't shaking or anything. I still remember the sound and the loud low rumble. We just had a storm move through a few minutes ago and the rolling thunder kind of freaked me out.

The best thing for people wanting to volunteer and donate is to wait for a week or two when all the hype dies down and it is no longer national news and everyone who came in to volunteer leaves. We have a large church population here and the people are very giving so we aren't short on supplies at this time, but we may get that way in a week or two.

This radio station has been on the air since this happened. People were calling in and leaving their numbers for loved ones to find them, also various donation points. People also calling in offering their homes to complete strangers. "If you need a shower you can come to my place at *address*" You can listen to it online.

http://www.1310kzrg.com/

One of the radio personalities wives had a broken back, a couple of them have no home anymore. One has nothing, not even his wallet.

The tornado siren in this area is probably in some other state by now so they brought in temporary sirens which came in handy on Tues night I believe it was. We had another tornado warning issued but that storm never produced and the rotation remained just north of Joplin. The sirens blew a second time when the storm was indicated to have winds of 75 MPH so there were some tense moments but it never really produced. The emergency manager called into the radio station to update people as the storm was moving through.

Looking at the aerial photographs that were taken, I just can't help but notice how intense and tightly wound it was. I mean, in some cases the difference between a building that was leveled and one that has minimal damage was a block or two.

JoMo that's why our church is collecting donations for a solid month and then we'll be sending them down your way.

[Memphis Weather]

I'm very sure the NWS will do a service assessment for Joplin (they already have been conducting one for 4/27) and all of these issues being discussed will surely be raised. Typically it will be 6-12 months before their release...so it won't be until 2012 until we see it and perhaps later before any major changes are implemented...if any are recommended.

[sojitodd]

Don't know you at all JoMo, but so glad you are ok and dodged the bullet with this. Many many people here were very worried for you, especially given the horrific nature of the destruction and the strength and scope of this monster tornado. My best wishes for a good recovery from this ordeal for you and your town.

[AtticaFanatica]

I find the back and forth between NWS types and AccuWx kind of amusing. It's almost like grade school. Again, I'd back the NWS 9+ out of 10 times but sometimes things just get too emotionally driven and people don't even actually look at things which are worth addressing as they are blinded by the other stuff. I have no doubt that there are assessments going on within the gov as to what went wrong this spring.

Has the NWS responded at all regarding the tornado stuff?

[gymengineer]

I find the back and forth between NWS types and AccuWx kind of amusing. It's almost like grade school. Again, I'd back the NWS 9+ out of 10 times but sometimes things just get too emotionally driven and people don't even actually look at things which are worth addressing as they are blinded by the other stuff. I have no doubt that there are assessments going on within the gov as to what went wrong this spring.

I think many of you would be interested to read the NWS Service Assessment after the Super-Tuesday Tornado Outbreak in 2008:

http://www.weather.gov/os/assessments/pdfs/super_tuesday.pdf

Here were the first few of the findings and recommendations:

"Finding 1: Relatively few of the tornado warnings or statements contained wording or call to action statements indicating the urgency and danger of the situation, even when tornadoes and damage were confirmed (i.e., "this is an extremely dangerous and life- threatening situation").

Recommendation 1a: NWS Instruction 10-511 should provide guidance on using wording and call to action statements in tornado warnings and severe weather statements that convey appropriate urgency and danger.

Recommendation 1b: WDTB should develop training for warning forecasters on how and when to use explicit wording that conveys the urgency and danger of a situation.

Finding 2a: Some media partners interviewed prefer more definitive tornado warnings and SVSs.

Finding 2b: A majority of the tornado warnings contained wording such as "Doppler Radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado." It is phrases such as this that make it unclear whether or not there is a tornado on the ground.

Recommendation 2: The NWS should provide guidance on wording that increases the chances of improved public response during tornadic events where tornadoes have been confirmed. Clear wording such as "a tornado has been confirmed…" or "a tornado is on the ground at...and is moving…" should increase the probability that a warning will get an appropriate and immediate response.

Finding 3: There was no coordination between WFO Nashville and WFO Louisville on the Allen County tornado warning.

Recommendation 3: NWS should require regions to develop severe weather coordination procedures between neighboring offices."

Do any of you know in more detail how much progress has been made on these first three recommendations?

[Ian]

Has the NWS responded at all regarding the tornado stuff?

Not to my knowledge. And I don't see that normal statement in your sig so maybe I'm off, but your statement was part of why I made my comment. You're clearly extremely intelligent etc., I just found it offputting.

[sojitodd]

Glad to hear you are O.K. Really telling to know even though you were following the situation very closely and saw the couplet on radar before you took shelter, because the storm intensified so rapidly you did not realize the severity of the storm until afterwords. From that and other accounts many people did not know a tornado was upon them until the began to see debris. Yes they heard the sirens but they may not have thought too much of them.

On a sad note they are still finding more victims. Toll has risen to 132.

The really sad part of that rising death toll was that the latest 6 found did not sucumb from injuries or were unidentified who were then ID'd-from the news story I read they found the six bodies in the debris field while clearing debris. Even after so many grid sweeps and all.

[gymengineer]

The get out of the way versus the sheltering in place in the bathtub or a closet thing.

While an EF-5 making a direct hit will almost certainly kill someone sheltering in a bathtub or closet, I'd have to think for most tornadoes the radius of winds that would kill those even in shelter would be much smaller than the radius of winds that might drop trees on cars or flip cars over.

Storm speed is a factor, how urbanized an area is and how likely traffic is to becoming gridlocked and putting more people at danger has to be a factor.

Since EF-5s and EF-4s are a small percentage, IMO, even though in this case sheltering in place led to deaths that might have been avoided (although rain wrapped tornadoes would also seem to make it harder for a driver to visually see and avoid a tornado, even if the roads are clear enough to have that option) I'd think the standard advice, the vast majority of the time, is the right advice.

On a semi-unrelated note, I saw some video of the I-44 Oklahoma stuff, and some lucky people did not get hit by a tornado while trying to shelter underneath a highway overpass. Apparently very few highway overpasses are of the construction of the one in that ~15 year old video, where the reporter and crew, a father and his daughters 'got up under the girders'.

Yeah, I read that massive thread after the Tuscaloosa tornado about what advice to give on-air.... I don't have a strong opinion on this since I don't have stats to analyze on the topic, but just wanted to point out the difference in phrasing between the KFOR weatherman and the Birmingham weatherman (James Spann, was it?).

As for the storm speed factor, that was discussed in the Service Assessment for the Super Tuesday outbreak that I linked above.

[wxmeddler]

Lets flip this statement around:

"While the National Weather Service warnings are a boon to the public at large, they are not suited to the requirements of specific businesses."

AccuWx is a business, thus they are suited to the requrements of specific businesses. They are not suited to the public at large simply because their services are not designed or priced for the public. Unfortunately the number of the pubic is 10^x fold greater than the number of "specific businesses".But who really needs the services? The public, and that's where the NWS comes in, and why they are so crucial.

[JoMo]

I don't think a "Tornado Emergency" would have done anything. This thing spun up really fast. It was on the ground just SW of Joplin. To be honest I find the updates on NOAA weather radio to be lacking in timeliness. You can tell from this video that the local NBC affiliate KSN was caught off guard as well. The guy is not a meteorologist but the female is. We have so many tornado warnings that don't produce anything so the best indicator was actually the sound and visuals for those that could see it.

[Master of Disaster]

The "tornado emergency" wording has helped, but is not an officially consistent policy across forecast areas yet. Perhaps there will be a push to standardize the usage across all offices after the NWS Service Assessments from these tornado outbreaks?

Assuming this list from wikipedia is accurate-- http://en.wikipedia....ado_emergencies -- you can notice some prominent tornadoes not getting such a warning and others that did but probably didn't require one based on the criteria established by the Des Moines office (http://www.crh.noaa....y%202010-01.pdf).

"A large and catastrophic tornado has been confirmed and will continue (A radar signature alone is not sufficient)

It is going to have a high impact and/or affect a highly vulnerable population (Historically, this probably has happened once every 10 years in our warning area.)

Numerous fatalities expected."

I don't think just having tornado emergency warnings standardized will solve the problem of high death tolls. I agree with Ian that communication is a key issue-- I'm envisioning a well-coordinated training and cooperation system to link the NWS mets to the TV mets during "tornado emergency" situations, with a standardized template listing key points to emphasize during the TV coverage about how dire the impending situation is.

In addition to a standardized "tornado emergency" use, how about a "confirmed" Tornado Warning vs. a "radar-indicated" Tornado Warning? I know the wording is already included in the warning text itself, and any new warning in a life-and-death type weather phenomenon is going to take lots of outreach and public education. But, maybe that would eventually help the public understand that in a specific type of warning, you need to get underground now.

And as for what to do in potential F4/F5's---a topic that came up in threads after the AL tornado outbreak in April-- I did hear the KFOR met say something extraordinary during the peak of the OK outbreak. He explicitly used the phrasing "get out of the way" many times in addition to the "get underground" phrasing. While he did not tell people to get in their cars and drive away from the tornado, his phrasing implied that in a general sense, you might not survive if you were in the path of the tornado while at home.

Good points, but use the words "fatalities expected" and you wont have a job after that. Ive learned this after 5 years of issuing public warnings, never relay that anything fatal is expected. Use the word "possible". Or "this storm has the potential to cause multiple fatalities". Might not seem like a big deal, but "expected" gives the impression you aren't going to do everything you can to help becaause its inevitable.

[baroclinic_instability]

Glad you are back and ok Jomo

[AtticaFanatica]

Not to my knowledge. And I don't see that normal statement in your sig so maybe I'm off, but your statement was part of why I made my comment. You're clearly extremely intelligent etc., I just found it offputting.

You found what I said off-puting? Ok, well I meant every word of it. Regardless, I haven't made a forecast in a decade. I'm about as far away from the NWS as anybody. That doesn't change that the AccuWeather statement is completely absurd.

I don't quite understand what you mean by my sig. I don't think I've ever had a sig.

Edit: Ok, I see what you meant, the "my opinions are mine alone blah blah blah..." But yeah, I don't work for the NWS and never will.

[Ian]

You found what I said off-puting? Ok, well I meant every word of it. Regardless, I haven't made a forecast in a decade. I'm about as far away from the NWS as anybody. That doesn't change that the AccuWeather statement is completely absurd.

I don't quite understand what you mean by my sig. I don't think I've ever had a sig.

Edit: Ok, I see what you meant, the "my opinions are mine alone blah blah blah..." But yeah, I don't work for the NWS and never will.

I thought maybe you worked for the NWS/associated... apologies.

Don't need to state again my larger thoughts on Accu -- I've been plenty unkind to them over the years. However, I don't think Mike Smith and his team are non-scientists or something-- that's for sure. I do find that at least outwardly there are communities within the larger ones who have no interest in debating.. it's 'our way or you're moron'. Unfortunate.

[chevy454]

Back to the meteorological aspects: notice that JoMo describes that same lull that we heard in the now-famous convenience-store video and that we saw in that video of someone's back lawn (with the trampoline). Interesting.

Could you post a link to that? All I can find is the convenience store vid...thanks.

[Memphis Weather]

http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-national-weather-service-insight-into-ef5-rating-for-joplin-tornado-20110527,0,7121986.story

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The National Weather Service provided additional insight into the decision to rate the tornado last Sunday at the top of the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The tornado was given an initial rating of an EF-4 before it was upgraded the next day.

Bill Davis with the National Weather Service said investigators look at structural damage and how far heavy objects were thrown. This tornado, for example, tossed concrete parking lot "bumpers" that sit low to the ground and can weigh up to 300 pounds.

The NWS investigators also noted that tractor-trailers parked near the Wal-Mart store were thrown farther than 1/8th mile. Manhole covers were also lifted and tossed.

The tornado's path is an estimated six miles long. It's from three-quarters of a mile to a mile wide at some points. The winds are estimated to have briefly hit between 225 and 250mph.

[Bryan Wood]

I haven't seen this posted anywhere, but feel free to delete this if it has been. This is a first-hand account from an ER doctor who was on duty at St. John's when the tornado hit. http://www.thecitywi...m/?q=node/16072 The narrative is both heart-wrenching and uplifting (how people responded after the tornado hit). It's amazing to me how this guy snapped right back into "doctor mode" after it hit. There's no way I would've been able to keep a level head like he did.

[JoMo]

This is what happened as I recall, the times may not be correct and it may not have completely happened how I remember it but this is what I remember.

We are very used to having tornado warnings in Joplin. The first instinct of everyone when they hear the sirens is to jump up and go outside to look for it. It's even a joke between me and Wx24/7 that once a storm enters the Springfield, MO CWA, they'll issue a tornado warning for it no matter what.

I had been watching the HRRR all day Sunday and noticed that it was developing the very last storm over Joplin but nothing farther south. The helicity was scary crazy as well. I thought this was maybe just the HRRR being flaky until I saw the storm develop over SE KS and that it was moving SE.

As I remember it, the parent supercell storm that was moving SE developed a couple of cells on it's SE flank. These storms went from nothing but a small blip to a storm in no time at all. SPC mesoanalysis was showing 5000 SBCAPE. The last images other than the base velocity radar image I saw was the LFC and LCL heights, which were both 1000 over the area.

As the storm(s) were approaching, I heard constant rolling thunder and lightning. I was watching the initial parent thunderstorm, it had an unorganized couplet that was rather large and I knew it would slide by to the north of me. South of that another couplet was developing on the second 'blip' that had popped up. This one was farther south than the first one but was still really unorganized. I do believe both were Tornado warned. Then suddenly a third storm rapidly developed south of those storms. A tornado warning was issued that included my area and this was the one that produced the EF-5 tornado.

I watched it go from no couplet to a big bad couplet right over me in a few minutes time. ( I just watched the video that someone posted that showed how quickly the tornado went from a tiny rope to a giant wedge and I'm amazed.) I looked out the window to the west and the sky was pretty much black, much like how it looks when the sun is out at your location and there is a storm some distance away, only this time it was cloudy where I was. There was a lowering which was probably part of the wall cloud. It gave off an orangish hazy looking color against the black sky.

The sirens had gone off for one of the other tornado warnings, but they were going off a second time as well. It was then I heard what I thought was rolling thunder... only this time, it got louder.

I listened to the 'rolling thunder' get louder for about 5-10 seconds before I figured out that it was not thunder. I looked up towards where I heard the sound but the blinds were closed so I decided to get in the only safe place which was a closet before the windows blew out. As I turned on the closet light, the power went out. I was not really expecting an EF-5.

The sound was exactly like what people compare it to, a freight train. It was a loud roar, and it had times where it almost sounded like it was growling. The winds at my location were from the north or northwest because I heard the air screaming in the garage door, it screamed, stopped for a few seconds and then screamed again and then the roar got quieter so I ventured out.

I looked into the rest of the house, no glass was broken, still had a roof. I decided to look outside and despite having a tree that fell over, most of the other trees had no damage. It was now foggy outside though. I suspected I had just been through a weak tornado. I went outside and the first thing I smelled when I made it outside was the smell of freshly cut trees or wood. I thought that was a little strange, but some neighbors trees had broken limbs so I thought it was from that. The roof had sustained some shingle damage but nothing really bad.

I came back inside and I turned on a battery powered radio because I was wondering what the rest of the city was getting or what had happened. It was then I heard that St. Johns Hospital was 'leveled' (a report that was not true, although it had sustained heavy heavy damage) I was like.. whoa that's not good. It was around that time I heard firetruck/ambulance sirens. These sirens ran constantly from right after the tornado hit at around 5:40 PM until midnight. They also ran a lot the next day as well.

I walked down the street, heading to a local church (there's almost one on every corner here) and as I was walking that way I noticed a lot of trees down on just the next street over and the damage got progressively worse. People's privacy fences had been blown over, but this was nothing compared to what I saw at the end of the block. As I was walking I noticed the smell of natural gas, it was getting stronger the closer I got but I just had to see. People had gathered at the church and it was being used as some sort of local triage for minor wounds. I kept walking until I reached the end of the block where everything to the south of the intersection was completely destroyed. I looked down the street and I didn't recognize anything and I realized I could see much much much farther than I could before. There was a lot of traffic that was being turned around there and I didn't want to interfere with the rescue work so I returned home.

I didn't sleep at all that Sunday night, the days events, the sounds, the thought that I wouldn't probably be here if the tornado was three blocks closer, all kept replaying in my head.

I let the rescuers do their thing on Monday and it was raining most of the day, but on early Tuesday morning I walked back down there and down the street, and I almost could not stop walking. The entire area looked like it was a landfill. On my left, a car parked in the 'garage' where a house would have been but there was nothing but a slab there, water gushing out of a broken pipe. On my right, another street where nothing remained but debris. On the ground there was a St. Johns medical braclet from someone.

The streets were marked by wooden signs spray painted with the street name. "Haz gas" was spray painted on a piece of wood next to a gas meter, a couple of guys pulled up to check and make sure it wasn't leaking still, it was, so one of them phoned the gas company to tell them it was still leaking. The area was being patrolled by police officers from the area and from other counties farther away, but they didn't have much to say or didn't care I was there since I was on foot.

I ran into a lady who had brought a camera to take pictures, she told me that the State trooper guarding the intersection had told her that she had to see it. Pictures don't really do it justice though, people who have lived here all their lives and are older get turned around and lost because there are no landmarks left since it's just a debris field. It reminds me of a post-apocalyptic scene but it's real life. I probably stood on top of a hill and looked around for about 10 minutes at everything, how far I could see and where the damage path was then I returned home.

I decided to go back on Wednesday, a little later in the day and people had returned home to gather their belongings. There were also rescue workers in the area. I saw a boy and his mother on the 2nd floor of what was left on their house. It didn't exactly look safe but nobody was stopping them. I heard an insurance adjustor talking to a woman as another woman was inside what was left of their house attempting to gather whatever she could. I saw a man sitting on the back deck of his destroyed home, holding his head. I looked down and saw that a bunch of debris had gathered down in this valley and rescue workers were there, attempting to find people in the rubble I guess. I felt uneasy and like I was intruding so I decided to return home.

The last trip down there I took this evening. They had cleared away a bunch of the trees. The road was blocked by electrical trucks working on the electric lines, I didn't want to disturb them so I just watched them work. There was other equipment working in the area as well, no heavy equipment yet though.

There have been helicopters flying over for the past few days. I don't remember what day it was but there were 2 blackhawk copters from the National Guard on patrol then two A-10's flew by. I'm not really sure what the point of all that was and most of my neighbors thought it was really stupid. It's not like they were protecting us from some kind of invasion or something.

The city has a curfew in the disaster zone from 9 PM to 6 AM. You can't be in the area after that time. They were going to make people get permits, but they ran out of permits pretty quickly so they just decided to beef up security.

This radio station did a great job of locating people and getting information out there:

http://www.1310kzrg.com/

If anyone wants to link to this story, feel free to.

I have just talked to my ex-gf who was actually in the F5 part of the tornado. She doesn't have a house or anything anymore. She was injured but she's going to be ok. Her cats weren't so lucky though

She took shelter with her husband and step-daughter in either a closet or their bathroom and there is nothing left of the house at all. They were over by the high school.

[Hoosier]

An Indiana couple discovered a receipt that may have blown 525 miles from Joplin, Mo., to their porch - the longest recorded journey of debris from a tornado.

Tia Fritz contacted Ernest Agee, a Purdue University professor of earth and atmospheric sciences and tornado expert, when she and her husband discovered a receipt dated May 13 from Joplin Tire on the porch of their Royal Center, Indiana, home on Wednesday (May 25).

http://www.wthr.com/story/14741054/joplin-receipt-turns-up-in-indiana

[Memphis Weather]

Wow!

Add to that the latest SGF wind estimates above...we clearly have the strongest EF-5 of the modern scale era...and probably somewhere in the discussion among the strongest tornadoes ever thought to have occurred.

[Ed Lizard]

http://www.ky3.com/n...0,7121986.story

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The National Weather Service provided additional insight into the decision to rate the tornado last Sunday at the top of the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The tornado was given an initial rating of an EF-4 before it was upgraded the next day.

Bill Davis with the National Weather Service said investigators look at structural damage and how far heavy objects were thrown. This tornado, for example, tossed concrete parking lot "bumpers" that sit low to the ground and can weigh up to 300 pounds.

The NWS investigators also noted that tractor-trailers parked near the Wal-Mart store were thrown farther than 1/8th mile. Manhole covers were also lifted and tossed.

The tornado's path is an estimated six miles long. It's from three-quarters of a mile to a mile wide at some points. The winds are estimated to have briefly hit between 225 and 250mph.

Master of Disaster implied a picture I had attached was staged a few pages back. I think not. I don't know the original source of the picture, but if the tornado could throw concrete parking lot bumpers, it could do almost anything.

[jhamps10]

wow that is crazy to have something carried that far, i'll tell you what it's making me look around here for little things just in case..

[HurricaneJosh]

Winds up to 250 mph? Is that a finding from the official survey? If so, holy sh*t. This thing was literally off the charts.

Since the Fujita scale was revised/enhanced and the wind values were made more reality-based, I never again expected to see a credible source suggesting wind speeds that high in a tornado. That is just nuts.

The human tragedy aside, I am in complete awe of this event-- not only the intensity, but the speed of its development and the very short lifespan (for a tornado of this intensity). The whole thing is simply bizarre-- like a bomb went off.

[CoastalWx]

Master of Disaster implied a picture I had attached was staged a few pages back. I think not. I don't know the original source of the picture, but if the tornado could throw concrete parking lot bumpers, it could do almost anything.

Wow, look at that. The fact that the asphalt above the piece of wood didn't blow out, is a testament to how fast the piece went into the curb. That's incredible.

[CoastalWx]

BTW, getting back to the warning system and whether or not it's adequate..I heard a story from silver lining tours. They almost got caught in Joplin when the tornado hit, but quickly tore ass out of there before it came into town. They warned everyone going west into Joplin to turn around...that a tornado is coming. Many just laughed and headed right into Joplin. It just goes to show you people sometimes will never believe warning. There are stories from other instances where sirens went off and people called dispatchers saying..."well I don't see it..." It's human nature. People get complacent when warning after warning goes off and a tornado never happens. They hear a siren and if they go out and don't see it...it doesn't exist. Of course many know to take warnings seriously, but there will always be a large part of the population that just doesn't get it.

We have all these things now...Tornado warning...tornado emergency...heck most people don't even know what the difference is between a watch and a warning.

[hurricaneman]

Winds up to 250 mph? Is that a finding from the official survey? If so, holy sh*t. This thing was literally off the charts.

Since the Fujita scale was revised/enhanced and the wind values were made more reality-based, I never again expected to see a credible source suggesting wind speeds that high in a tornado. That is just nuts.

The human tragedy aside, I am in complete awe of this event-- not only the intensity, but the speed of its development and the very short lifespan (for a tornado of this intensity). The whole thing is simply bizarre-- like a bomb went off.

if true, the gusts must have been over 350 and THATS EPIC

[dan11295]

I was looking for what the Max. estimates speeds were in the other EF-5's? I know from last month:

Hackleburg, AL: 210

Philadelphia, MS: 205

Smithville, MS 205

Not sure about Parkersburg or Greensburg

[Ed Lizard]

if true, the gusts must have been over 350 and THATS EPIC

I don't think tornadic winds are rated as sustained and gusts like a TC.

I deleted my original reply because I thought you had removed yours.

[HurricaneJosh]

I'm not sure tornado winds are rated one minute sustained and gusts, as they would be in an Atlantic TC.

I suspect wind estimates for a tornado are instantaneous.

I believe tornadoes are rated by the highest estimated 3-second value. I know for sure it is not a 1-minute sustained wind. Definitely not.

The estimate says the max winds may have reached 250 mph. No one should be extrapolating higher "gust" values from that. They mean the 250 as the peak.

[thewxmann]

Tornado wind estimates are 3-sec gusts.

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/ef-scale.html