TornadoVideos.net

Posted At: May 30, 2008 @ 5:38 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

Here is the probe video!!!

From the video, it looks like the southern edge of the debris cloud hit the probe.  Notice the large circular object rolling across the ground ahead of the tornado!  As you can see, we only had about 15-30 seconds to reverse to safety after deploying the probe.  This tornado touched down at around 8:00 pm CDT just east of Osborne, KS.  Be sure to watch the video in HD quality on Storm Chasers this fall on Discovery Channel!  Wait until you see the footage shot by the Discovery crew..

Posted At: May 30, 2008 @ 5:03 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

I've been trying to upload the probe video to Youtube for 4 hours at a Mexican restaurant and it's still not done!  We may get booted out of here soon, so if it's not finished I'll upload it when we get back to Norman tonight.  Very frustrating. 

For pictures check out the field blog at:

Discovery.com/stormchasers

Posted At: May 29, 2008 @ 10:08 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

A high risk has been issued this morning by the SPC for eastern NE and northwestern IA!  Given an uncapped warm sector, supercells will likely explode everywhere along and east of a dryline forecast to solidify over western NE.  This is a rather complicated forecast, as the location of the initiating boundaries is unclear at this time.  Stay tuned for updates as this dangerous weather situation unfolds..

Posted At: May 29, 2008 @ 3:48 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

As a strong jet streak ejects over the Central Plains later this afternoon, wind shear and instability parameters will increase dramatically ahead of a strong dryline forecast to surge eastward across Nebraska and Kansas.  Storm motions are forecast to be almost due easterly, so any supercells will have no problem moving off the boundary.  With 40+ knots at all levels including just above the surface, helicity values will be sufficient for strong tornadoes.  We'll have the live streaming in full force later today, so stay tuned to the tracker page as well as the blog for news updates.  Good luck to all who are chasing this event!

Posted At: May 27, 2008 @ 8:06 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

The NWS office is Des Moines, IA just released that the Parkersburg, IA tornado on May 25, 2008 was rated an EF5, with estimated wind speeds of at least 205 mph.  The tornado touched down at around 4:48 pm CDT, and quickly grew in size and intensity as it approached southern sections of Parkersburg by 4:59 pm.  100 - 200 homes were destroyed in Parkersburg, including a few with EF5 damage.  The full damage survey release can be found here:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crnews/display_story.php?wfo=dmx&storyid=14909&source=0

here is the damage survey map:

Posted At: May 26, 2008 @ 11:46 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

A moderate risk has been issued for parts of the Southern Plains (see below).  Unfortunately, I don't have time to post much in the way of models, but today will be characterized by monster CAPE and marginal low-level wind shear that is forecast to increase dramatically by sunset.  Closer to 00z, there may be a chance for large tornadoes as the LLJ increases if storms can remain discrete.  We're currently in Dodge City, KS but may position a little further east as the dryline mixes.  At least 3 live streams should be running today, so stay tuned to the live tracker!

Posted At: May 25, 2008 @ 11:29 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

Check out this incredible photo of the tornado that tore through the Minneapolis area earlier today, taken from AndrewMN!  The circulation passed directly over his house and touched down just to the east as a massive cone.  Radar indicated 146 knots gate-to-gate with this storm at the time of the tornado...  AMAZING picture Andrew!  You've had a better year than we have!

Posted At: May 25, 2008 @ 10:28 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

Posted At: May 24, 2008 @ 9:41 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

TVN Stream #4:
Lane Co, KS tornado

TVN Stream #3:
Quinter, KS wedge


TVN:
Same Lane Co, KS tornado from the east


TVN STream #2:
Quinter, KS cone



Scott Currens, ViolentPlains.com
Elephant trunk with the Ness Co, KS storm

Posted At: May 23, 2008 @ 12:41 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

Here is video from TornadoVideos.net Stream 3 yesterday (Don and Nicole Guiliano, Dave Demko, and John Esterheld), from the storm in Northwest Kansas that produced several amazing tornadoes.  They were within 1/2 mile of a large cone, and also documented a photogenic elephant trunk.  We were on a storm further south, and saw 3-4 tornadoes, and were actually inside a large tornadic circulation with 100 mph winds.  The roof of a barn was ripped off about 1/4 mile from our location - unfortunately my hand held cam missed this, but our dashboard camera caught everything (you can see it on Storm Chasers on Discovery this fall!)  I'd post it if it was on my camcorder..

Today looks even more interesting than yesterday for tornadoes, with more backed 850 mb flow which will be even more favorable for these northerly storm motions.  We're targeting an area just east of Garden City/Dodge City today...  We're always working out bugs with the live streaming system, so things should run much more smoothly. 

Posted At: May 22, 2008 @ 9:34 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

All of the ingredients will be in place for a major tornado outbreak today across western Kansas and Oklahoma, with incredible low-level wind shear and instability.  Today is by far the most favorable setup for strong tornadoes since early May last year at the very least!  Residents in Western Kansas and Oklahoma should keep a VERY close eye on local media this afternoon and evening, as this could be a very dangerous situation.  The RUC forecast 850 mb flow and CAPE for 00z this evening are ridiculous:
The Storm Prediction Center has issued a moderate risk for this region, but this could easily be upgraded to a high risk given the extensive storm coverage forecast by all models.  Be sure to check out the Live Tracker today, since we'll have 4 veteran storm chasers streaming live to the website.  Jason just implemented a more efficient streaming system as well, so many of the problems we've experienced with the beta version have been resolved.  Stay tuned for more updates as this dangerous weather situation evolves..

Posted At: May 20, 2008 @ 2:31 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

A massive trough will amplify over the Northeast Pacific Ocean tonight, and is forecast to intensify and park over the Western U.S. by Thursday of this week.  Land spout-type tornadoes will be possible with high-based storms in Eastern CO and WY on Wednesday, with a much more significant severe weather episode on Thursday over Western Kansas.  If tonight's model runs verify, there would likely be an outbreak of strong tornadoes over Western into Central Kansas on Thursday.  There will also be severe weather chances through the weekend, but 6-7 days is a little far to even speculate.  The 500 mb forecast loop below tells the story...

Posted At: May 16, 2008 @ 2:24 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

The GFS has finally come into agreement with the European in the forecast evolution of next week's storm system.  If these model forecasts verify, then significant tornado outbreaks will be possible from Wednesday through Friday from the Central/Southern Plains northeastward to the Great Lakes region.   The long-range models are now forecasting a very large, semi-permanent trough to amplify over the Western U.S. by mid-week, and remain nearly stationary into the weekend.   Since this event is still 5 days out, there is substantial uncertainty on the timing and exact geographical location of the severe weather, if it occurs.  Stay tuned for updates as we get closer to this potentially significant severe weather event(s).  The 500 mb forecast map for Thursday evening tells the whole story:

Posted At: May 15, 2008 @ 11:01 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

As a decaying mesoscale convective system (MCS) moves across the Gulf Coast Region today, there will be a slight chance for severe convection in the untainted environment to the east.  Limiting factors for tornadoes today will be marginal instability and low-level wind shear - but crazy things can happen east of the Great Plains as we all know.  The Storm Prediction Center has issued a slight risk for this area, with a non-zero chance for tornadoes with any isolated storms that can form ahead of the MCS.   It looks like we may have some time off for the next week or so, with the long-range models indicating a classic Western U.S. trough by late next week into the weekend!

Posted At: May 13, 2008 @ 11:55 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

This morning's model forecasts do not look very favorable for tornadoes across the Southern Plains, and even further northeast into MO.  An unfavorable orientation of the frontal boundary and weak low-level shear are the two main limiting factors for tornadoes today, but extreme CAPE values of 4000+ J/kg will be possible east of the cold front/dryline across OK/TX.  Here is the 12-hr RUC forecast for this evening for CAPE and 850 mb wind:


There is still a possibility that the extreme CAPE values over central OK into Texas can over-compensate for weak low-level shear, so we will still likely be chasing this event.  Even if tornadoes are not a possibility, we would enjoy a core-punch with softball size hail..  Our current target is Duncan to Wichita Falls, TX, but we are also considering a northeast OK target where low-level shear may be able to hang on into the evening.  We'll be streaming this event live so be sure to check the tracker page..  Good luck to all who are chasing this event

Posted At: May 11, 2008 @ 12:05 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

Preliminary SPC reports indicate that 42 tornadoes touched down yesterday from the eastern Southern Plains to the Southeast U.S., with many of the reports coming from a particularly strong supercell that tracked from Southeast KS into Southwest MO.  Sadly, this storm produced at least 20 fatalities from extreme Northeast OK into Newton Co, MO, with the hardest hit communities being Picher, OK and Seneca, MO, where 7 and 10 fatalities were reported respectively.  The tornado that hit the town of Picher (an old mining town of ~800 people) was a 1/2 mile wide wedge tornado that appeared to be very strong.  From the damage pictures I've seen and from a friend who intercepted the tornado, it appeared to be EF3 to EF4 damage in Picher. 

Here are links to video of this tornado from storm chaser Chris Wilburn:

Wedge near Picher, OK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-aKmv1QepQ

Stovepipe from I-44 in extreme Northeast OK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2obd362ZaM

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/05/10/tornado.deaths/index.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24558648/

In addition to this supercell, several tornadoes were reported in Eastern OK and Arkansas, with the town of Stuttgart, AR taking a direct hit from what appeared to be an EF2 tornado.  We were chasing this storm from south of Little Rock, through the town of England where the first circulation tried to put down a tornado.  Here, rain curtains were wrapping completely around the circulation, but a condensation funnel was never visible.  We fell behind the storm briefly but re-intercepted from the west just as a new tornado was moving through Stuttgart.  We could not make out a condensation funnel since we were approaching from the west near dark, but we did see power flashes as the tornado was moving through the south side of town.  After the tornado moved through, we returned to Stuttgart to help with the rescue effort.  Power lines and trees were down everywhere, and the smell of natural gas was nauseating.  We even witnessed some looting around some destroyed structures.  Very bad site.  From what I saw, I'm guessing this was an EF2 tornado.  Here are some radar images I captured as the tornado was on the ground from around 8:10 pm CDT yesterday evening.  Interestingly, this is the last radar image we were able to acquire, since we could no longer connect to mobile internet after this time...likely due to a downed data tower near the town of Stuttgart.

Posted At: May 10, 2008 @ 4:11 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

A "Particularly Dangerous Situation" (PDS) tornado watch has been issued for central and southern Arkansas for this afternoon and evening, for the expectation of strong, long-track tornadoes in the vicinity of a diffuse warm front draped across the area.  We're currently stationed just south of Little Rock waiting for the storms to our west to intensify and ride the front east-southeast-ward.  Three live streaming teams are in this area, so stay tuned to the tracker for live streaming tornado video!

Posted At: May 10, 2008 @ 7:33 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

An outbreak of tornadoes is possible today from Eastern OK/Northeast TX eastward through the Lower Mississippi River Valley.  Wind shear will be most favorable for strong tornadoes along an E-W warm front forecast to move northward across AR/MS through the day.  Due westerly upper flow will allow for storms to move eastward parallel to the boundary, increasing further the chance for long-track tornadoes.  CAPE values will be significant, contributing to the formation of massive hail stones.   The warm front can be seen clearly on the WRF forecast CAPE for 00z this evening - forecast to be along I-40 at this time.  The strong trough responsible for this severe weather episode can be seen in the WRF forecast 500 mb map for 00z (see below):
We're currently driving toward an initial target of Little Rock, AR, and will reposition from there depending on the location of the warm front.  Stay tuned to the live tracker as at least 2 streaming teams will be chasing today!

Posted At: May 9, 2008 @ 6:52 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

TornadoVideos.net just recently partnered with Vuze.com, a company similar to Youtube but specializing in the broadcast of high-quality standard digital and high-definition videos.  Most of the TVN videos have been provided to Vuze, and they just went live today!  You can check out all of our most extreme tornado videos in their best quality at the following link...Check it out and let us know your thoughts!  Vuze is an amazing site...

http://www.vuze.com/channel/tornadovideos.net

Posted At: May 8, 2008 @ 11:36 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

Another day of active weather is ahead, this time for the Deep South. There has already been a tornado report with damage in Tupelo MS. More warnings and extended watches are likely for North Mississippi and North-Central Alabama. In fact, SPC issued a 10% hatched area for tornadoes: 

I am not surprised by the forecast considering instability should increase before the main forcing moves into Alabama. A tornado watch is in effect through 2 pm today:

Biggest threat today will be supercells developing ahead of squall line. The environment is prime. Dewpoints in the mid 60s, temps rising into the 80s, 850 mb flow 50 kts, no CIN. Here is the RUC analysis from SPC of the curent 0-1 km storm relative helicity. This is the measure for the potential aid in updraft rotation:

Reed should have more updates later. I should be out chasing this event, but I am down in Mobile monitoring any severe potential for our inland counties. 

-JY

Posted At: May 7, 2008 @ 1:52 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

We're currently waiting here in Gainesville, TX, as a tornado watch was just issued for the area.  Looking at the low-level jet (visually), it appears relatively backed in our location, with near due-southerly flow.  This is very favorable for strong tornadoes if it remains until the storms arrive.  At least two teams will be streaming live to the tracker!!  According to the weather station, the dewpoint here is 67-68 - so clearly moisture will not be an issue.  Stay tuned for updates..

Posted At: May 7, 2008 @ 11:53 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

Given the insane wind shear profiles that are forecast to be in place east of a surging dryline this afternoon/evening, strong tornadoes will be likely with any discrete storms that form.  The best location for strong tornadoes appears to be along and just south of a surface low progged to move eastward just south of the Red River.  50 knots at 850 mb and 700 mb with significant turning will yield extreme low-level shear values.  This could be a very bad situation for the populated NE TX.  We're currently heading east on Highway 82 toward the I-35 corridor, and expect initiation around 2 and 3.  Stay tuned to the live streaming!  Good luck to all who are chasing today...these are going to be some very fast movers!

Posted At: May 6, 2008 @ 12:09 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

As a strong vort max rotates out from the Desert Southwest this afternoon, isolated supercells will develop along the dryline west and southwest of Lubbock, TX.  If these cells can remain discrete into the late afternoon/evening, then tornadoes will be likely as the low-level jet intensifies from the south.  We're currently targeting an area between Lubbock and Hobbs, NM where the wind shear profiles look most ideal.  I paid my data card bill, so the tracker and streaming video will be in full-force!!  Stay tuned for updates..

Posted At: May 5, 2008 @ 3:13 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

As many of you know, yesterday was the 1-year anniversary of the tragic EF5 tornado that struck Greensburg, KS the night of May 4, 2007.  Sadly, 13 people lost their lives from that storm, and a majority of the buildings in Greensburg were completely destroyed.  Below is a 4-part video compiled in remembrance of that night by Dick McGowan and Darin Brunin of TornadoLive.com. 

A week ago, we visited Greensburg for the first time since the tornado, and while the rebuilding process is moving forward rapidly, visual scars of the tornado are widespread.  Nearly all the trees in the town are dead or severely injured, and bare foundations of previous buildings can be seen everywhere.  Still though, a strong feeling of optimism and  determination is apparent with the locals as the town continues to rebuild stronger and more eco-friendly than ever.  Heading the rebuilding process is Greensburg GreenTown, a nonprofit organization established to provide the residents of Greensburg with the resources, information, and support to rebuild as a model green community.  News and updates of the rebuilding process, as well as donation information can be found at the following website:   

http://www.greensburggreentown.org/

Storm chasers not only played a significant role in the warning process during this tragic tornado event but providing ground truth to National Weather Service forecasters and Emergency Managers, but also have established a charity program called Project Greensburg, where profit from storm chaser highlight DVDs are being donated to the rebuilding process.  Information on this program can be found at the URL below:

http://www.thestormsof2007.org/projectgreensburg.htm

Posted At: May 3, 2008 @ 12:00 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

Here is the video of the strong, violent tornado in Northeast AR from Don G of TVN Stream 2.  Note how low the wall cloud is!  Sadly it appears that this tornado caused significant damage to at least a few structures, but I've been out of touch with the news since yesterday.  I'll have images up of the low-contrast wedge near I-40 that we intercepted earlier in the day, as well as the tragic scene in Enterprise, MS.  Thankfully though, no injuries were reported at this time in Enterprise due to the lengthy warning time - and the whole town went to a shelter.  Stay tuned for updates. 

Posted At: May 2, 2008 @ 9:28 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

A major tornado outbreak involving many southern states is occurring at this time. There are 51+ reports at this time... and expected to rise.

Reed has informed me that they have been in the town of Enterprise, MS, where a damaging F2+ tornado ripped through town. They were one of the first on the scene, and have been assisting in the rescue effort, thankfully reporting no injuries at this moment.

Stay tuned for updates as they come in.

Posted At: May 2, 2008 @ 12:31 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

Here is the video of several tornadoes that touched down today in Pawnee/Osage County, OK, shot by the TVN stream #1 team of Matt Chatelain, Daniel Betten, Matt Van Every, and Curtis McDonald.  We made it to the storm in time for the last tornado, which was completely illuminated by several power flashes in succession.  However, we missed the first few high-contrast tornadoes that TVN stream 1 intercepted.  AMAZING supercell!  When we punched the core there was barely anything left of the hail shaft, but the tornado was still violent and a strong stovepipe.  Now we're headed to Little Rock!

Posted At: May 1, 2008 @ 8:47 AM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

A moderate risk has been issued by the Storm Prediction Center for eastern Kansas, mainly for the threat of very large hail.  While the SPC mentions moisture will be a limiting factor for tornadoes today, we still think moisture will be sufficient for strong tornadoes near 00z when the upper-level support finally arrives.  We're targeting South Kansas just south of the triple point!  I'm not sure why comments were disabled in the last post!

Posted At: April 30, 2008 @ 10:25 PM

Posted By: Reed Timmer

Strong tornadoes are likely with any supercells that develop tomorrow ahead of the cold front/dryline from eastern Kansas south into eastern Oklahoma.  Late arrival of the upper forcing will prevent storms from initiating until late afternoon/evening, beginning first in Northeast KS along the cold front, and later on along the dryline into Northeast OK near sunset.  All models are forecasting a narrow axis of strong instability immediately east of the dryline, with a 40+ knot 850 mb jet from Texas into the Northern Plains.  This strong LLJ will result in immense low-level shear, creating an environment favorable for strong tornadoes.  We'll definitely be chasing tomorrow, so stay tuned to the live tracker!  Here are the 00z WRF forecast CAPE and 850 mb flow for 00z tomorrow: