TornadoVideos.Net Latest News

July 4th outlook: a little stormy!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:53:29 +0000

Thunderstorms are possible across a large part of the U.S. today, with large pockets of convection currently spreading east over the middle Mississippi River Valley into the lower Ohio Valley area, as well as in northern Oklahoma into western Missouri and Arkansas. While a widespread severe weather event is not expected, those planning outdoor activities for the 4th of July weekend will want to remain up to date on the latest weather information in their area, as the threat for damaging winds, hail and even tornadoes does exist in some parts of the counry.

Many of our LIVE video streamers will be showcasing parades and, later tonight, fireworks displays from around the country, so be sure to check those out! Have a happy, safe holiday weekend!

Severe weather possible today in central Plains!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:02:36 +0000

Severe thunderstorms are possible today over parts of Kansas and Nebraska, including the same area that experienced the "tornadofest" on June 17th! Although a fairly strong cap will be in place, supercells are expected to develop late this afternoon over northern Kansas and southern Nebraska, given moderate instability and favorable shear profiles for that timeframe. ...

TVN & Extreme Tornado Tours storm chasing images from this week!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:12:34 +0000

TVN and ETT have been chasing in the central Plains this week, hosting winners of a European Sweepstakes hailing from The Netherlands! These images by ETT guide Olivier "Klipsi" Staiger are from Wednesday night, when they chased a monster supercell in south-central South Dakota that apparently put down a long-track tornado. The storm began as an LP supercell, growing larger and larger as they followed it southeast. After sunset, the group eventually encountered fresh tornado damage in the form of fallen trees and powerlines blocking the road!

Aerial footage from the June 17 Nebraska tornadofest!

reedtimmer@gmail.com (Reed Timmer) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:58:55 +0000

As mentioned in earlier blog entries, the TVN/Radiance Technologies team successfully launched the RC plane into the tornadic southern Nebraska atmosphere on June 17th. The video below shows the initial launch with a tornado in the background, and the RC plane deploying parachute probes into the inflow region of the storm. Note the aerial shots of the parachute probe getting deployed out the rear, and sucked toward the tornado before wrapping around the backside! Each of these probes measures temperature, pressure, and dewpoint inside the tornado; one of the probes can even record HD video! The probes were recovered that night from a corn field. Each of the probes has GPS tracking ability and we plot their path and location in 3-D on Google Earth in the Radiance vehicle. At the time of the video below, we were in the process of driving into theses same tornadoes (shown far away from the plane vehicle perspective) with the SRV Dominator, with the radar pointed in the vertical to measure the updraft winds while the roof-mounted anemometer measured winds in the horizontal. Be sure to watch Storm Chasers on Discovery this fall for the rest of the story!! (Click on the "READ MORE" button, below, for the video!)

June 15 and 17th videos finally uploaded!!

reedtimmer@gmail.com (Reed Timmer) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:32:21 +0000

Here are the videos from the June 15 Macksville, KS tornado and the June 17 tornadoes north of Gibbon, NE and west of Aurora, NE, as shot from the TornadoVideos.net SRV. The June 15 tornado was definitely one of the strongest of the year, ripping trees out of the ground as it crossed the road in front of us, and then turned southwest and headed straight toward our location! I tried to back up away from this tornado as it was too strong for intercept, but encountered a minor obstacle... The Radiance Technologies/TornadoVideos.net RC Plane successfully deployed a parachute probe into this tornado from the southeast, and it was lifted from 400 feet where it was dropped to an altitude of above 3500 feet before being carred for ~6 miles!

The first video below from June 17 is of the first two tornadoes produced by this supercell just north of Gibbon, NE. We attempted to intercept the first tornado but it roped out just as it reached our north-south road, and the second tornado was just as short-lived. Still though, the RC Plane was able to deploy 5 parachute probes into the inflow region of the second tornado (aerial video coming soon) as we in the SRV Dominator were attempting to collect vertical wind data near/in the tornadoes with the mobile radar.

And now for the grand finale... Below is video from inside the Aurora, NE tornado as it intensified on top of us. Note the mini suction vortices rotating around the vehicle inside the parent tornado, with the strongest one slamming into the left side of the vehicle and blowing out the driver's side window. The bubble cam captured this vortex the best as it rotated around the front of the vehicle and approached from the left... A 138.8 mph wind gust was recorded just as this mini-tornado slammed the vehicle, and our ears popped as the pressure dropped inside the circulation. We were scanning the vertical winds with the Close-Range Vertical Radar (CLOVER) for nearly 30 seconds as this tornado passed directly overhead, and captured incredible measurements of the updrafts inside a strengthening tornado. This moment was captured by our dashboard cams perfectly, so be sure to watch Storm Chasers on Discovery this Fall for INSANE footage of the window imploding inside the tornado.

Moderate Risk! Plus intense video from June 17th!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:58:20 +0000

As mentioned in the previous entry, Dick McGowan and Darin Brunin of TornadoLive chased with TVN on June 17. They captured some of the most dramatic footage of the day, including the moment when the tornado slammed into the TVN SRV, causing the driver's side window to explode! Check out their video below!

Click "Read More" for details on today's severe weather threat.

Continuing coverage of the INSANE 6-17 chase; TORNADO OUTBREAK POSSIBLE TODAY!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:31:36 +0000

Dick McGowan and Darin Brunin chased with TVN yesterday and got these dramatic shots of the crew in action. [Photos not for use without license.] As mentioned in the last update, the SRV lost the driver's side window, which resulted in some minor injuries to those onboard; hence the blood streaming down Reed's face! The SRV has Lexan windows but must be manually rolled up, and unfortunately there was little time to do so during this particular intercept yesterday -- one of FOUR on the day!

Check out more of Dick and Darin's work at http://www.tornadolive.com/ and http://www.stackedplates.blogspot.com/

Also, below is new footage of the tornado southwest of Aurora, NE from meteorologist/storm chaser Jeff Snyder, who is one of the TVN live streamers! AMAZING footage from Jeff as well! Click the "READ MORE" tab to watch!

INCREDIBLE tornado day in southeast Nebraska! June 17, 2009!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:54:21 +0000

Storm chasers who targeted south-central Nebraska were treated to the best chase day of the year to date, as multiple highly-visible, highly-photogenic tornadoes occurred in the area.

TVN had an INSANE day! The RC Super Hauler successfully deployed 5 probes into two different tornadoes, while the SRV made FOUR (4) intercepts... including one that resulted in a blown out window and bloody faces for everyone onboard! (MORE DETAILS TO COME!)

Stream Thunder captured dramatic footage of multiple tornadoes near Grand Island and Aurora - cluck READ MORE to see their INCREDIBLE video!; other chasers' footage is still to come, so check back for updates!!!

Damaging tornadoes hit south-central Nebraska!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:15:24 +0000

At least one large tornado has reportedly caused considerable damage just outside the town of Aurora, Nebraska. Details are still coming in, but at roughly 9:00 PM, the tornado apparently intensified very rapidly and has caused damage to the west side of Aurora along HWY 34. Several chasers were along that stretch of road at the time, and their accounts and footage will be available soon. There are also reports of damage coming from the Iowa-Minnesota border region.

Moderate Risk for eastern Nebraska!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:03:29 +0000

EXTREME instability and ample shear are already in place across portions of the central Plains, setting the stage for today's severe weather episode across the moderate risk area. Supercells have fired early over southern Nebraska and are tracking east toward Iowa and Missouri, and as a result a tornado watch has been issued for that area. Any storms that do form in the areas of greatest instability will be capable of dangerously-large hail in addition to tornadoes and damaging winds! Chasers are already tracking storms in the area, so remember to follow along on the Live Video tab!

Click "READ MORE" for video from June 15th in southwest Kansas!

TVN intercepts tornado near Macksville, KS!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:02:37 +0000

With the CLOVER radar alive and radiating and the aerial assault in full force, TVN has just intercepted what Reed describes as a violent tornado near Macksville, Kansas! We'll update with more information as it becomes available, but Reed and Don confirm that radar data was obtained and three probes have been successfully deployed by the RC Super Hauler! (Don Giuliano, of TVN and TwisterData, is overseeing the RC plane project.) The radar images above were taken from GRLevel 3 at the time of the intercept - Check back later for INCREDIBLE VIDEO!

Tornado northeast of Colorado Springs!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:03:39 +0000

Verne Carlson is chasing a storm in eastern Colorado that produced a tornado for over 10 minutes! Watch his Live Video stream to follow along!

UPDATE: Click "Read More" for video footage!

Moderate Risk! Tornadoes possible today in Kansas!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:58:36 +0000

Tornadoes and extremely large hail are possible again today, with the focus shifting slightly east to include most of the central and southern Plains. Instability will be much greater than yesterday,withsupercell thunderstorms expected to develop this afternoon ahead of a dryline extending from western South Dakota south into the Texas Panhandle. Tornadoes appear most likely across the majority of Kansas, where the best shear and instability should come together.

Tornadoes and GIANT hail possible today on the high Plains!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:52:06 +0000

As an upper-level short-wave trough advances over the Rockies, shear and instability will be adequate for supercell development in the high Plains this afternoon and evening. A tornado has already been reported in the recent hot-spot of Goshen County, Wyoming, along with softball-sized hail!

Pictures From Last Night's Tornado In Norman

daveholder@sbcglobal.net (Dave Holder) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:15:07 +0000

Brett Roberts captured these amazing pictures from the tornado that touched down in Eastern Norman last night. Reports were that the tornado touched down at 48th Ave E and Lindsey Ave, which is about 3 miles from the National Weather Center and about 2 miles from my own house!

TVN will be chasing in Northeastern New Mexico today with the hope of getting some upslope magic! {jcomments on}

Tornado touched down tonight in Norman, OK!

reedtimmer@gmail.com (Reed Timmer) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:08:50 +0000

An incredible supercell blew up along an outflow boundary right over Norman at around 10:00 pm CDT earlier this evening, and produced a nice tornado within 30 minutes after initiation!! The tornado touched down near 48th and Lindsey street, and drifted slowly westward before roping out over east Norman, and appeared to be on the ground for at least 10 minutes. Check out the radar image at right at around the time of the tornado. Note the textbook hook echo even this extreme close proximity to the Twin Lakes radar site.

Video from TornadoVideos.net - Radiance tornado field project - Day 1

reedtimmer@gmail.com (Reed Timmer) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:34:41 +0000

Here is video from the first day of the TornadoVideos.net - Radiance Technologies tornado field project, invovling the radar (CLOVER) on top of the SRV Dominator, and the 12-foot wingspan RC plane designed to drop 8 parachute probes in the inflow region of tornadoes, where they will be sucked into the vortex while collecting measurements of temperature, dewpoint, and barometric pressure. This footage is from a supercell storm on June 9 that produced a nice wall cloud and two small funnels. We recorded vertical wind data underneath a rotating wall cloud with the SRV, and deployed the plane to the south and east of a rotating wall cloud as the storm crossed an outflow boundary. Radiance will be returning to the field with us for the next few storm chases, so stay tuned for updates! Click READ MORE for video!

Moderate Risk! Derecho heading for lower Mississippi Valley!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:05:23 +0000

A derecho has taken shape in northeast Oklahoma and is moving rapidly into Arkansas! Damaging winds of 85 MPH and hail the size of baseballs have already been reported in Oklahoma! The Storm Prediction Center has upgraded most of Arkansas into west Tennessee and northern Mississippi to MODERATE RISK, and a PDS Severe Thunderstorm Watch has just been issued, with winds in excess of 100 MPH and 3"+ hail possible!!

Amazing supercell in Colorado! Check out live stream

reedtimmer@gmail.com (Reed Timmer) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:08:09 +0000

A textbook supercell is roaring southeast away from Pueblo in Southeast Colorado, with a funnel cloud reported shortly before 6:00 pm MDT. This storm is likely producing monster hail and will have the potential of tornadoes as the evening progresses. Verne Carlson and Tim Samaras with Twistex are chasing this storm, so be sure to check out the live stream! Here is a screen capture showing Verne's view of amazing mesocyclone structure and a very low wall cloud.

Photos of yesterday's tornado in western Missouri! - Tornado watches in effect again this evening!

heidi@tornadovideos.net (Heidi Farrar) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:30:35 +0000

TornadoVideos.net live streamer Brandon Sullivan capped a multi-day chase yesterday by documenting this tornado near Schell City in western Missouri last evening. Brandon departed his home state of Illinois late last week, arriving in the high Plains of southeast Wyoming in time to see the impressive Goshen County tornado last Friday! You can find out more about Brandon's cross-country chase by visiting his website, http://www.vortexventurers.com/