I have heard and maybe some of Ya'll have too, that a tornado will not cross a large river. Well the one that hit Vilonia, Arkansas the other night crossed the Arkansas River between Little Rock and Conway. It not only crossed but blew down trees on an island in the river. On the ground for 52 miles while doing it too. Myth busted. miles

The other myths that are busted are that tornadoes will not bore into large cities and they are minimal in mountainous terrain.

Actually the third myth is that these are being caused by "global warming". La Nina is the prime energy mover here. Its been documented in tree growth rings for hundreds of years.

Think that one was blown out of the water a few years back when one went through the middle of downtown Nashville.

Nashville was an example too. But these at the EF4 and EF5 level are unprecedented as was the outbreak. Just giants that caused massive loss of life and incredible damage.

Tornadoes were one thing that I found unnerving living in Tennessee. Hurricanes, though far more destructive, don't sneak up on your a$$ in the middle of the night or come out of nowhere. I much prefer something I can prepare for, then something that just kills your ass in your sleep.

Lived in "Tornado Alley" first 40 years of my life--Florida the past 25. A F4 F5 twister is a bitch. You put one of those big bastards on the ground for any length of time--you better hope you got a hole to crawl in. I'll take the hurricane any day--except for the "anticipation period",, that time prior when you WAIT to see if its going to hit you.
G

Are Tornadoes something that happen mostly in north America? I've never heard of them on the news networks in other countries. What's up with that?

A myth that I heard for the 1st time this year is that tornadoes never happen twice in the same place. Just like lightning, right?

They've been seen on every continent except Antarctica but by far the most are in our own tornado alley. There's something about the terrain and ocean combination that creates the right weather patterns for them.

I'd rather have a tornado by itself. Hurricanes often produce tonadoes. At least in most places now you know when the tornado is coming and it is usually brief- the damage is limited to only those in a direct hit. In a hurricane everyone within 20 miles is damaged plus it may throw out some hurricanes.

I've never understood the river thing since tornados over open water (aka waterspouts) have been around forever.

Nothing more mysterious than the combination of warm, almost tropical, air from the Gulf of Mexico coming up and meeting cold, almost artic, air from Canada during the spring.

That explains why early in the spring the tornadoes start down low and move up in the country as the months go by. By June, the bad weather will be up north in Wisconsin and Minnesota and high pressure will be settled over the southern plains barring those cold fronts from coming down.

Xenia, OH, comes to mind as an example that shoot's that myth down.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenia,_Ohio

That one is true. After a tornado goes through, that place ain't there no more. miles

I heard on the radio that MAJOR tornadoes with high loss of life are confined to (or have only been reported from) US, Canada, and Bangladesh.

England and Australia have them, but smaller. They did not discuss why.

Sycamore

We almost never have tornadoes in Utah, although we did have one go right through the center of Salt Lake City a few years ago, killing one. I have seen one funnel cloud that did not touch down, also.

So, those disprove both the city and mountain myths.

We do get them, but very rarely, and in comparsion to what you guys get, they are more like giant dust devils...One a few years back took a couple of house roofs off, but usually they are pretty much a non event over here..

Australia doesnt have them much cause most the continent is to dry, need warm moist air and dont get that much when most your interior is some variation of desert.....would guess England doesnt get them much do to lack of really warm moist air.....

if the Himalayas werent in the way of warm moist air coming out of the Indian Ocean you bet you would see alot more of them in Asia.....North America is a bit unique in that there is really nothing to block air from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf of Mexico.....most places have a mountain range or such that slows stuff down....

Tornados are far more dangerous than hurricanes. Even the tornados spun from hurricanes (and there are LOTS) seldom reach any size.

I have seen a waterspout at sea in the GOM.


Very odd

I've had my share. We moved out NJ (very low incidence) to central Iowa, where we spent plenty of time in the basement. Two of the four houses we occupied in Iowa were hit to varying degrees.

I had enough of that, so I moved to Tulsa...., then to Wichita....then to no. IL.....
and, I've seen one cross a river. I even watched one cross a lake in ne Ontario, Canada.

My heart goes out to everyone affected by the horrible weather and destruction caused by it this spring.
Jim

Mountainous terrain can affect them, unless they are the truly large, powerful ones driven by the jet stream, like the one that hit Alabama a few days ago.

Here's a photo showing the path left by a tornado that crossed the Ohio River from Kentucky into Indiana - November 6 2005.



..."TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 2 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF SMITH MILLS IN
HENDERSON COUNTY KENTUCKY AND MOVED NORTHEAST ACROSS THE OHIO
RIVER AND ACROSS ELLIS PARK; STAYED SOUTH OF I-164 IN EVANSVILLE;
CONTINUED MOVING NORTHEAST INTO WARRICK COUNTY THROUGH DE GONIA
SPRINGS AND SOUTH OF TENNYSON; LIFTED 1.5 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF
GENTRYVILLE IN SPENCER COUNTY."...

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/?n=evansvilletornado-nov.6,2005#AERIAL

I had one cross part of Lake Superior and go right over the top of me out on an island. Water don't scare them even a little bit.

No doubt about it and it's exactly why we've gotten no rain for almost 7 months.

I lived in NE Mississippi and then Eastern Arkansas until I moved to Florida in 1985. Every spring up there, you went thru the SOS. Storms and tornados that always seem to hit in the middle of the night. One hit north of my hometown of Corinth Ms when I was a kid and my dad and I drove up towards Selmer Tn to check on some friends. They were ok but the friend took us out in his backyard and there was a huge oak tree. Right in the dead center about 4 feet up was a 2x4 stuck so deeply into the tree that you could not budge it or even wiggle it back and forth. Maybe in there a foot or more and sticking out about three or four feet. The adults sat me up on it and took a picture. If I can find it I will post it. So sorry about the loss of life and property in Alabama and elsewhere. I sure don't miss that middle of the night terror.

I grew up in south Missouri--so I'm familiar with them. Have lived in the boreal forest for the last 40 years--we rarely get them here but they do occur--I've witnessed 2--both no stronger I would estimate than F2. We do get some serious downbursts. Its easy to tell the difference by the way the trees lodge.

I believe their path is, or can be infulenced by terrain - cities, rivers, etc - but this doesn't seem to apply to the F4 monsters at all.

I'm no scientist, but I have lived with tornadoes in Illinois all my life. They seem to follow paths repeatedly. The killers that made it into the southwest side of Chicago in the early and late '60s were on pretty much the same path, and the string of tornadoes in the '90s were all on that same path too. But, with each succeeding major tornado, they made it less far along the track.

The first one I remember - from the early '60s made it well into the south side of the city. The one in the late '60s was mostly spent by the time it demolished Oak Lawn, - an adjacent southwest suburb. The last major one was on the same path but was most powerful in Plainfield, a further southwest suburb. I'm inclined to believe these lesser tornados (less than the F4, anyway) are disrupted or raised off the ground somewhat by hitting built up areas, and as the suburbanization of Chicago has proceeded the ones on this path have been diminished sooner.

I'm inclined to believe they have a tendency to track on features like waterways or highways through forests, like a needle on a phonograph record. I think the big, mile-wide ones are way too broad and powerful to track on such features.

Legend has it that the town of Carlinville, IL is located in a place the Indians said a tornado would never hit - sort of the opposite of Xenia, OH. About '78 or '79 a tornado came through the area (Macoupin County, IL). My roommate had a gas station on the southwest corner of town. When he heard the sirens he went out on the drive and saw a tornado bearing down on the town, and then watched it lift up and clear the town before dropping down again to do a little more damage north of town. Maybe the Indians were right?

That tornado did hit a farmstead southwest of town, that I used to live on. Oddly, it removed all 20th century structures but left the 19th century ones. Even took the modern porch off of the old farmhouse without tearing up the rest of the farmhouse. I guess that tornado was a traditionalist!

The myths about tornados are just that. A farm just south of I80 here in Cedar county Iowa just north of Wilton has a grain bins that has been destroyed 5 times in the last 10 years by them. Know the owner and he jokes that the adjuster just calls and has new ones put up everytime there is a tornado warning. As far as crossing water, I have seen them cross the Mississippi river before. On our family farm in southern Iowa in the 60's we had one go thru and other than the tops of trees gone, the only damage we had was a crib full of ear corn that got turned a 180 degrees. My daughter lived in Iowa City when it got hit a couple of years ago and by the grace of God, it lifted up and over her building destroying everything on front,back and both sides of her for blocks.
Just got back from St. Louis about an hour ago. More specific Bridgeton. Lots of damage in a city. Russ