NBC Action Communities

Thank you for keeping a close eye on the situation. With my wife working a night shift in a metro hospital, I appreciated being able to follow the storm tracks even before any threat moved toward us here in Emma. We finally got the wind and lightning, along with 1.25" of rain. Thank God, we had nothing so severe as hit the immediate KC area and elsewhere.

Walt Snyder

It's amazing no one was killed or seriously injured with the storms.

Kristi

Has the NWS made a declaration on whether or not there was a tornado embedded in the gust front as it passed through northern Douglas County, Southeast Jefferson County or southwestern Leavenworth County?  I was listening to the storm spotters and Deputy Sheriffs on one of my radios at the time the gust front came through.  All said the rain was coming down too hard to see into it.  But several said that there was the familiar roar.  This morning, even though damage was limited you could see places where it appeared the damage was not in one particular direction.  I know there are many conditions that can cause that.  But it isn't very often a 70 mph wind will snap power poles that should be able to handle winds closer to 105 mph.  Or structures that should have been able to handle that wind speed but apparently didn't.  I just hope they decide to do a survey before the damage is cleaned up.

SIMPLY amazing...

Jeremy - this came out after your blog...more than the two tornados in your entry title.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/product.php?site=EAX&issuedby=EAX&product=PNS&format=CI&version=1&glossary=0

Gary is a perfect example that you can overcome this disease.

Hi Jeremy.
As you pointed out, there were two tornadoes in our area.  I think it's important to note these came with the bow echo in the early hours and not with the severe weather everyone was concerned with around 8PM.  
It should also be pointed out that tornadoes associated with bow echoes are rare and of a different type of tornado as in not associated with any particular thunderstorm.  They are caused by vertical motion from wind gusts, which is similar to a supercell, but caused by a different effect.
Of the two tornadoes, one began at the Argosy Casino in Riverside and skipped through Riverside to 72nd and N. Oak, where there was considerable damage.  It then skipped to 291 in Liberty.  On a map, this was a perfect straight line, not unlike 5 years ago almost to the day.
The other began just south of I-70 and  Noland Road and skipped a few times to 291 highway in Independence.  The roof of Contential Siding was blown off and laying beside I-70.  (I found that kind of ironic).....  
GaryB

ok I'm going to eat some heart healthy popeye's chicken...later all. Kristi check previous blog for my positive info about your post about your dad's biopsy.

GaryB, the link I just posted was for the storms earlier in the evening.  Also, I would say that tornados in bow echos are not "rare".  

Perhaps less likely but not rare.  [see article below]  Also, may I remind you of Atlanta earlier this year.

The damage recorded in Independence was not due to a tornado.

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/product.php?site=EAX&issuedby=EAX&product=PNS&format=CI&version=2&glossary=0

Jeremy - you may want to have a chat with your news dept.  Here is what they just posted...indicating that the EF-3 is still not confirmed.  I cannot find a PIS from the NWS on it either yet.

Last Update: 4:57 pm

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=e3ad37b4-e899-4f7c-b58a-3a4e4caa61d8

"The National Weather Service said a high-end EF2 tornado - wind speeds between 111-135 mph - hit around 2 a.m. Friday, cutting a 75-foot-wide swath along a roughly two-mile stretch of north Kansas City near Liberty.

Investigators determined a second tornado hit a little further south in Gladstone around the same time, though they've yet to classify the size of the twister. Teams also were on the ground in Independence to determine if damage there was caused by a third tornado spawned on the leading edge of what the weather service has characterized as a bow echo.

"It's not atypical for small tornadoes to spin up out of these types of storms," National Weather Service meteorologist Suzanne Fortin said Friday. "

I know, twister.  Gary's cancer was localized even tho it was aggressive.  My dad's cancer has spread. :(

Kristi

Kristi, have they classfied it as a certain stage yet? Or does that come tues?

Pease replay a radar "loop" of the storm hitting KC on the newscast.  I would love to see it.  

Thank you,

Don

****************

Don,

We'll show that at 6pm.

Jeremy

Twister,
That comes after the PET scan on Wed.  Tues. we find out exactly what type of cancer my dad has.  

KC and AR made the NBC National News lead story.

Kristi

Great coverage last night Brett and Jeremy.  I watched it again on my DVR today and you guys did a great job...  

*******************

Thank you for watching!  We knew a lot of people would want to know what was going on overnight. 

Jeremy

I live by Hodge Park and on N Shoal Creek Pkwy and I didn't realize that badly damaged neighbourhood is just north of us! We went to go see the damage and realized how cloase we were.

just checked the rain gauge, 2.50" in Kearney!

Gary:

My 3 girls were watching with us in Spring Hill, KS last evening.  We grabbed our shoes when the sirens went off and headed down to the basement.  The 2 older ones (5 and 8) were really nervous about a "twister".

As we watched, you continually talked to the kids watching.  Each time you reassured them, my girls were visibly comforted.  I wanted to thank you for remembering that there are wide-eyed, frightened kids watching.....as well as the wide-eyed, worried adults.  You made our evening a little less intense :)

Tobi
Spring Hill, KS

Your coverage was totaly useful last night Gary,Jermy,Brett,Jeff

Gary, I just sent you a picture of a mini waterfall here at Knob Noster. We were very fortunate down here to experience a more calm side of the storm.

Right now I'm being very happy that the storm damage at 291 and 32nd didn't keep coming north.  That would have plowed my neighborhood pretty badly if it had lasted on the ground just a few more miles.

Seems that the Arby's and Taco Bell both got hit hard.  My wife tells me that the Arby's was flattened.

I have a question, when my weather radio woke me up at 2am i looked at my radar on my cell phone that I get from nbc action new,(i love that) It helped me stay safe during a tornado in Oklahoma a month or so ago.  Anyways around 2:15-2:30 one of those purple triangles showed up in 2 places.  I showed my son and said why arent they issuing a tornado?  I have been wondering about this and what does it actually mean the tornado vortex, and that was showing up why didnt they issue a tornado warning?  Also both channel 41 and another channel looked at that suspisious cell and then moved back down to look at the city I think he thought it was something but because the nws didnt say anything neither did you guys.  Go ahead and tell us what you think when you see something like that.  Everyone should take cover with anything over 60 mph of wind.  That alone blew our trampoline over the fence a while back.

Still can't say much, we were lucky here. Operating in a state of shock. The devestation is unreal. I will never forget last night. I have photos that will amaze you all I plan on posting them on my own site soon.still blogging by blackberry as we have no power here in north benson place and basement is near flooding as sump is not working and will post pics as soon as I can.

i agree with scott on the tornado/bow echo thing.  most tornadoes that occur in florida are from bow echoes.  supercells are uncommon in the panhandle.

Actually, the damage to the Taco Bell on 291 was from the last round of storms. From what I could see before they boarded up the south side of the restaurant, it looks like it was hit by lightning, the same night that hotel off Noland and I-70 got hit.

It's amazing to think that the destruction of Arby's wasn't even from a tornado. The northbound traffic on 291 was horrid this afternoon with bunches of people slowing down to take in the damage. I've never seen anything like this within the Independence city limits in the 15 years I've been here.

Joy

I live off stark road and 110th street.

I got home checked the blog out last night and saw we had a line of storms heading this way. so i started watching tv and noticed all the channels were saying 60-75mph winds. as the storm was getting closer i was watching close on radar where the bow echo was going when my buddy from gladstone called me.

He told me it was just crazy at his house. so i start watching out my front window as the storm apporaches looking towards the south/southwest(best view out the front window). i saw a couple of power flashes a little ways away so i went to wake my dad up and he told me he wasnt going to worry about it, it was only thunderstorms, he was going back to sleep.. i went back to the window and then it got interesting... i was actually seeing more power flashes than i was lighting! i've never seen anything like that in my life! i could see the flashes getting closer and closer and after about 15 seconds the power flashes were really close then my senses went on overload. in the time of about 5-7 seconds the following took place:

a really bright powerflash from right outside, the sound of something hitting the house, my dad yelling something, the power going out, LOUD sound of the wind outside, my step-mom and my dad waking up my nephews (who i think were already awake) that live with us, the entire house started vibrating, a second powerflash even closer this time, i looked out side and couldnt see the street it was raining so hard with the wind blowing it.

then i notice my family going towards the basement, and i figured that would be a good idea at this point. Lucky for almost no damage at all to the house. not sure what it was that hit the house but it sounded like a something big,, but no damage from it.

after a bit i got in the car to drive around to see what was going on/anyone needed help.. didnt take long to come across trees, slides, large sections of wood, shingles all over the place. fences torn down.... you dont realize how dark it is till nothing at all is lit up... i drove about 2 blocks and noticed red glow comming from stark and 291 so i drove that way thinking there might have been a car accident and a fire of some type. then i saw it was the police that shut the road down.. so at that point i figured i should head back i would just be getting in the way.  

had no idea at all how bad it was till i turned the tv on this morning and saw that just 5-6 streets away was total distruction.

last night is a night i will always remember. ******************* Thanks for sharing your story! We glad you watched last night and are safe! Jeremy

Gary, did you get my email?

I somewhat Feel Responsible for wanted tornados

:( ***************** Generally it isn't a good idea to cheer on severe weather to openly. But the tornadoes are certainly no one's fault...these things happen. The people in Gladstone and other locations wish the devastation would go away. The area was very lucky to have only minor injuries and no fatalities. Jeremy

Kristi

MAJOR HUGS.. wish you all the best hon.. you need a shoulder I'm here..

Stacy

Does anyone know why a bow echo might cause a sound that sounds like a whooop whooop whooop?  As the echo passed over my house last night I heard that whoooping sound and it continued fading away as the bow pushed eastward.

Laura

This Could have been alot worse if The same 4 Tornados that hit Greensboure hit Kansas City
***************** Keep in mind the long links aren't blog friendly:) Jeremy

I am tired to Gary, I stayed up until around 3am or so, tracking the storms!!

Jeremy Whats ur email so i can send you the Maps.

Generally it isn't a good idea to cheer on severe weather to openly...
Jeremy
**********************************************************
Is it ok to cheer on 80 F and sunny?  I am all for that and it can happen any time, here!  Back into the May version of the "freezer," though I suppose this late into the season its the "chiller"!  

I also wanted to thank you and the rest of your team for great coverage last night! It's not too often you outlast me. You all earned every dollar as you do every day! Thanks again.  Up at KCI, the strom had enough punch to move a chocked jet airliner parked at a gate 3 feet and damaged several buildings (not the passenger terminals, however).  

I was surprised at those tornadoes that spun up, in all honesty. I know it can happen with bow echoes, but I have seen it personally twice now including this time. I will take more heed with those now. Especially with a renegade storm out ahead of one, after reading the NWS explanation, it seemed so obvious to me, but last night it didn't really compute. I was more in fear of those confirmed 80 mph winds headed my way to the Northland. As large as that mega bow echo was, I knew the chance for widespread damage was increased substantially and I knew 80 mph was as strong as some weak tornadic winds. You said it better using the hurricane term. It equated to the spanse (not literally, but was an effective descriptor of such a giant bow) with the same power. I am convinced you all may have saved some lives last night, especially up here in the Northland where the damage speaks for itself. We all survived, and that's the bottom line. Houses can be fixed, lives can't. I think it all started many days ago as you made people aware of the threat. Knowledge is power, and a great many people in my estimation knew that what happened last night was possible beforehand. Well done!

Now, if you could do something about the 80s and Sun! LOL!

TW      

Thanks for the great explanation on why tornadoes can form in bow echoes. I was wondering about that.

I woke up shortly before anything started here and immediately turned on the TV because of knowing what could start soon.  Every single KC station was on and doing an excellent job (I know I'm talking about competition for you but thing everyone should be credited).  I was disappointed to not see our local station on (nothing but snow from them).  But that is just another example of why I watch my weather info from Gary and the team.  You all were and are awesome.  

We had a brief (maybe 10 min) storm w/ guessing 50-60 mph winds here in St. Joe this morning.  We even missed the early evening storms that came through just south of us.  I am thankful for that but...

For those that are living in those areas that are affected my prayers and my heart go out to you.  It is amazing to see that damage on TV and have EVERYONE come out of it safe.  I don't want to sound preachy but God was there with you all last night and know that he remains with you as you now have the long road ahead.  Prayers are still with you!  

I am looking at the radar data from my Radar program and it showed a MESO around 159th and Mahaffie around 1:32am, and on the radar around that area the radar seemed to have a little hook echo. The only thing is as of right now that Drywall supply place was the only thing damaged. Just something I thought was interesting.

Does anyone know why a bow echo might cause a sound that sounds like a whooop whooop whooop?  As the echo passed over my house last night I heard that whoooping sound and it continued fading away as the bow pushed eastward.

Laura

Laura,

Extreme winds passing overhead or over objects can have a wide variety of sounds as the collision between the air and rigid object interact. A sudden increase or decrease in windspeed could easily cause a sound similar to what you describe. I'd be willing to bet that the sound you heard was the windspeed going from 15 mph to 70 mph, it interacting with the structure you were in, and possibly some very microscale things going on as the bow echo reached you (such as a short decrease in speed immediately after the initial gust).    

Good Night all, I'm tired after these last 24-48 hrs!

Good night, Andrew. Have been enjoying reading your posts! Understandable you being tired. Last night kept us up lots longer than we wanted! Go saw some logs!

Wow, I'm glad I was prepared to go to my mom's house.  I headed over there around 5pm.  When those first sirens went off it was really terrifying.  The kids were mainly scared of the sirens, as they don't hear them too much.  (My house the sirens are very light)  It also scared them when the police came by.  They didn't use their typical siren, and they were talking through their speaker system.  We were located in North Kansas City.  When the warning went for Wyandotte I went outside.  We actually saw a wall cloud.  That's when I went inside and took cover.  It was about 3 minutes before the sirens went off in Clay county.

Little did I know that would be only the first round.  I was still awake and wound up about the storms when the line came through.  My windows were open and once the curtains flew up to the ceiling I shut it.  At that time my mom came out yelling get to the basement.  I had to run upstairs to help my sister get her two kids to the basement.  As I was carrying my nephew down the stairs her window was open and a gush of rain flew inside and hit us.  Scared him to death as he was only in his undershorts.  We couldn't hear the wind as my niece was screaming because she had been woken up.

When we woke up in the morning we looked at the damage.  Some of my mother's exterior paint on the siding is GONE.  There's a hammer of unknown origin on the middle of the roof.  One of the city's heavy trashcans blew approx. 40 ft. and landed in her front yard.  The gutters on her patio (It's a covered patio) were ripped off and tossed on top of the roof of said patio.  Very frightening indeed.  Oh there's also a lot of tree limbs in her yard.  Miraculously we didn't lose power.

Hopefully this doesn't happen again ANYTIME soon!  I'm on so little sleep I'm going to try and get some, but had to work tonight.

One more thing.  You said there was a threat again next week! What does that mean? Something like this or no?

*******************

Thunderstorms are back in the forecast by late Monday.  If there would be a chance of severe weather it looks like sometime Tuesday-Wednesday Night.  Hopefully nothing like this, but we'll keep watching the trends over the next several days.

Sounds like a scary experience!  I'm glad you and your family were okay!

Jeremy

ya know its been busy when the 7 day forcast hasnt changed for 2 days( its still on thursday).. not saying i'm upset at all by that.. just shows how crazy its been!

********************

We've been updating the 7 day forecast...sometimes one of the server that receives the graphics from the forecast center has issues connecting.  I'll talk to someone today.  Looks like the day planner is fine.

Jeremy

Lillyana, I am glad you were prepared too! Were you confronting your fears by going outside? I saw that same wall cloud I think, it passed just to the north of KCI. It sounds as if you "had all your ducks in a row" .  When I said you were ahead of the game a couple of days ago, you showed it all right there! You are to be commended by taking such good care of your family.

I am with you, I am still wanting 80 and sunny. I saw that comment by Gary earlier. I hope there is nothing like this next week, but the best thing to do is keep doing what you're already doing. The KSHB crew knows what is happening and this blog is great to gain that extra edge you couldn't get just by watching at 6 & 10.  Glad you and your family are safe, Lillyana!  

This whole ordeal seams so amazing. All in all the whole metro was affected by these raging storms. I live here at 68th and leavenworth rd in Kck. I was on my front porch at approx. 1:30. It was such a loud roar i myself would have believed it was a tornado. I expirenced the wyandotte tornado in may 03. Since then i am very gun shy when they issue storm warnings. I take all of them very seriosly. Listening to the mayor of Gladstone. He is right they cannot sound the sirens everytime a severe thunderstorm warning is issued. Only if an actual tornado warning is issued. He is right people ignor the warnings. I for one now am a true believer when a warning is issued take it seriosly because you never know what may be coming. I appreciate the great job all of you did forcasting and staying on top of these storms. I seen alot of trees down here in kck. I also finished with 1.65 in rain.

Lets all get some rest now!

-Rodney

Have not been able to get to the computer today:(,  All I have to say is wow, unbelievable, I'm glad nobody lost their lives, as soon as I got up and saw the damage I knew something was up when I saw the totally demolished houses, no way it was just 70 to 80 m.p.h. winds, then alas later I found out about the tornadoes, Nick in St. Joe(hoping for a speedy recovery for his neighbors down south)

MCIRamp said:
Does anyone know why a bow echo might cause a sound that sounds like a whooop whooop whooop?  As the echo passed over my house last night I heard that whoooping sound and it continued fading away as the bow pushed eastward.

Laura

Laura,

Extreme winds passing overhead or over objects can have a wide variety of sounds as the collision between the air and rigid object interact. A sudden increase or decrease in windspeed could easily cause a sound similar to what you describe. I'd be willing to bet that the sound you heard was the windspeed going from 15 mph to 70 mph, it interacting with the structure you were in, and possibly some very microscale things going on as the bow echo reached you (such as a short decrease in speed immediately after the initial gust).    

MCI, Thanks for offering a possibility to what "whooop" sound was caused by.  While that was going on I could feel the pressure in my house change, in out, up down.  Whatever that was it kept whoooping as it moved away to when I could no longer hear it.  There was something up there in thar atmosmphere, for sure.

On a lighter note...

Gary, where do you get your on air wardrobe?  You seem to be one of the more fashionable newsies out there.

Also, I have a golf tournament on Monday morning that will last through the afternoon.  What's the latest?  My iPhone keeps telling me T-storms but everything you've put out shows it to be partly cloudy.