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Wow, looks like it just scraped the foundation clean. Hope everyone was able to get to safety.

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They stayed with a near by neighbor who had a basement.  Their neighbors house was also damaged, but not destroyed. 

Gary

Global Warming not real. No more arguments!

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Andrew, why do you bring it up?  Let's not debate this tonight. 

Gary

EF2 or EF3?

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Or EF4?

Gary

Tornado radar Loop

http://www.billyswxstation.com/Springfield_MO_tornado.gif  

Andrew, your quest for knowledge is admirable, your diplomacy is lacking.

I saw it being debated a little on the other post while I was quickly skim reading to catch up.

Tornado Photos:

http://www.theweatherboard.com/board/severe-threat-year-t18857.html&st=25

I know I was glued to my computer all night following the weather to the south and east and southwest.  Reminds me of how little I get done during spring weather events!  Spring storms are definitely my bag.  I was so happy to see some lightning and hear some thunder.  I was, however,  not happy people were injured, killed, and left with nothing. I wish all of the beautiful, amazing storms could all just keep at a safe distance from humans... except for those of us who enjoy getting up close and personal with them. =)  

Andrew,
We were not debating GW...  I made it very clear that I don't debate GW so please do not read into an exchange discussing different outbreaks or a comment wondering about why all these outbreaks are happening at a time of year when they are not suppose to.  I am curious to now why we are getting outbreaks like last night that are happening in this region that are not suppose to occur at this time of year.  I hope that a team of meteorologists will study this so we can understand why this is happening.

I was tracking those storms via the live feed from KTTS, an online weather chat, and NOAA.  I could not believe how late that those warnings went on for this time of year.

It's very sad to see Joe's house destroyed. :(  That looks like EF4 damage to me.  I will be anxious to hear what the NWS rates the damage there as.  They rated the tornado that came thru downtown Springfield as an EF1.  I can't remember where I read that tho.  There are some pics on Springfield's News-Leader.com website.  

Joe, I hope that you and your family can get your lives back together soon.  Lots of good thoughts and prayers for you and your family, Joe.

Kristi  

heres an interesting sight listing the rate of most of the major tornadoes, 48 reported, 11 confirmed, so far...looks like 1 ef3 in missouri, 1 in illinois, and 1 in wisconsin...so far...

the marshfield tornado hasnt been rated as of this posting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozarks_Tornado_Outbreak_of_January_2008

oops, that's what happen when I try to skim read! I know why it happened,and I think Brent knows too.

that link is constantly being updated, so check back regularly to see where certain storms rank...

pvt,

Thanks! I like the link.

i found another neat site for those of you who are bored out there:

http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~storms

just select the state, county, and what type of severe weather you are looking for, and it gives a very descriptive account of what happened.

That is just amazing...I feel sorry for the those people...Glad they werent in that house, they would of been in a lot of trouble:(

Did this last storm correspond to the Nov. 21 storm according to the LRC because there was a similar amount of snow both times?  Also, I had .39 inches of rain at 151st and Mur-Len in Olathe.

Thanks, Eswar

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Eswar,

The results were very similar to that November 21st storm, but it isn't exactly that storm on the cycle.  Both storm systems do fit into the "long term" long wave troughs.  This next one also is a close cousin to these storms in this part of the cycle.

Gary

Wow, It's amazing how quick someone writes things up on Wiki...We should start a wiki page on Gary Lezak and the LRC... :)

Wow, It's amazing how quick someone writes things up on Wiki...We should start a wiki page on Gary Lezak and the LRC... :)

With the house ripped clean off the foundation like that theres no way that's anything less than a high-end F4. It's most likely an F5.

Final rain total -.32" Olathe North HS

   Hello Gary, Any chance of anything (snow) forming tonight light spots on ESP!!!!!!

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No, those are just false echoes.  But, there is a chance Thursday.

 

Gary

fOOdl... It's very hard to rank a tor w/o seeing and knowing a lot more about the structure, debris, and other specifics.  That is pretty impressive damage and it could be an EF4... but I wouldn't endorse any guess without having a lot more pics... and education for that matter. =)  It is fun to throw numbers out though, just to see how good one can guess from seeing so little.  

Gary,

You need blog post on how to read Doppler Radar from the composite to the 0.5 tilt reflectivity to velocity.

.41 inches of rain in Lee's Summit... we had a breif period of pea size hail last night (monday)  at 9pm

Here's a NOAA site about radar questions: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/doppler/radarfaq.htm

Utterly devastating, thankfully they are safe, definitely unreal for this time of year. One thing that I seem to learn more and more as time goes by, never count Mother Nature out, she can bend any rule she wants to, especially in this part of the world.

Those pictures are just devastating.  I hope Joe and his family are okay.  I will be thinking of them in the upcoming weeks as they try to get their lives back in somewhat "normal".  

Keri

Gary, you made a comment tonight on the news about a few winter events we've had the last three winters (March 12, 2006; last February, and the event on Monday).  How about discussing some of these changing trends at the next bloggers' meeting?  It's thought for a topic at the meeting.  There are others, but I thought I'd throw this one out.

January tornado outbreak.. amazing.

Kristi:  Winter tornado outbreaks, while not common, have happened in the past.  While I was in school, we discussed the New Year's Eve outbreak of 1947 specifically, but if you look on Wikipedia there's a more comprehensive list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_tornadoes_and_tornado_outbreaks

Good Morning Everyone!! New blog soon?

A springfield news station is reporting that survey crews have confirmed 6 tornados so far in 3 counties in MO. The Marshfield one was the most severe and was rated EF 3.

What are snow chances tomorrow?

With damage like the pictures above, why wouldn't that rating be higher?

How well constructed was the house in the picture. It appears that there were not many bolts securing it to the foundation for one thing?

DfromWarsaw,

You ask a great question.  Here is why...

Initial views of damage can be somewhat decieving.  You really have to factor in the way and quality of how the structure was constructed.  This is the big reason why the scale was enhanced.  Prior to the change, this was not factored in as much thus leaving some ambiguity as to a norm amongst each rating.

The picture above looks devestating..and I found myself really looking at the picture to see remains or evidence of how the framing was secured to the slab.  Its hard to tell..but depending on how well the structure was mounted and secured would greatly determine the relative strength of the tornado.  Look in the background of the pictures at the trees.  This is normally a good tell.  While maybe out of the path [unknown], some look undisturbed while others look stripped.  

When I think of a stripped tree, I am thinking EF2-3.  EF4-5 likely would have completely removed the tree.

Either way, this is a tragedy for those involved, and my heart goes out to them.

Just my thoughts on January tornado outbreak...I have not been following the Springfield situation closely (mostly check this blog for weather stuff vs. watching the news) so I am not sure what the air temps. were in the Springfield area during the storm.  If it was a winter night of say, 20 degrees or so, then I would be very surprised to see a tornado outbreak--even from a serious storm.  But if much warmer temperatures have pushed up from the south and there is therefore sufficient energy and moisture along the frontal boundary to create tornadic cells, then why should we be surprised to see this happen (even if it is January?)  Isn't the temperature more of a factor then the time of year?  Perhaps one of the weather team (or a weather-enthusiast blogger) could let me know if I'm off track on this?

BTW, I'm also curious as to the possibility of rain vs. snow for tomorrow.  If the temp. range is 32-38, are we looking at a repeat of yesterday?  Possibly big wet flakes but no accumulation?  Or does the forecast differ for the various portions of the KC metro area?  :-)

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Great question!  This is what we will be figuring out today!

Gary