Here in Saint Louis, two local channels pre-empt network coverage and use the Doppler Radar to follow the storms. This local coverage goes on for hours. I’ve been watching since 7 or so (when I heard the tornado sirens) and now it’s after nine.
The lunch crowd was discussing Tuesday’s tornado show, and my work husband Tim remarked that the Channel 5 meteorologist was able to talk calmly, in full sentences, for hours and give constant accurate information, while Channel 4 reports information like, “Now, see that dark area? That’s dark because it’s full of debris, and that’s dirt and cows and trees.” Cows.
Plus, Channel 4 has a team of reporters, and they often talk over each other, breaking in to interrupt with National Weather Service bulletins. There’s a chaotic vibe at Channel 4.
These tornado shows have changed my tornado behavior. Today I looked closely at the Doppler map when they zoomed in on the first reported tornado, and said, “Oh, that’s four miles away. Let’s just stay upstairs.” Because really, you can see the little comma-shaped hook that heralds a tornado, where it’s headed, and really we had a good four miles of green radar between us and It.
I think another thing that contributes to my blase attitude is that I finally understand what a tornado watch is vs. a warning: the terms describe what the Weather Service does. They watch their screens for the comma hooks, then they warn you if you need to seek cover. Sure, there were tornado warning sirens, but that was for that area four miles away.
There was plenty of drama in and around Saint Louis: thousands of people in the stands at Busch stadium waiting for the ballgame, glass windows blown in at Lambert airport, trucks and trees tipped over. Back at my house, there was a yellow sky and the sound of birds and crickets and cicadas. I don’t know if that’s typical, but it was chirpy.
Speaking of typical: I was driving home during Tuesday’s impending tornado, and I made the last turn onto my street when lightning flashed and my car simultaneously died. A neighbor said the same thing happened to him, that his battery wa scrambled and he lost all his radio pre-sets.
And is this typical tornado toilet behavior? Both Tuesday and today I walked in to my hall bathroom and the toilet seems to have … not leaked … exploded. There were drops of water on the lid, on the floor, but not on the back of the tank. Most important, all the cobwebs and dust on the ceiling were undisturbed. Not a leak. More of an explosion.
Update: Since I typed that, I see Lambert Airport is utterly out of commission, the highway that rings around the city is shut down both ways, but no fatalities to report.
Update Update: The one big house that got smacked in New Melle? That’s Gary’s boss. In true Saint Louis small town fashion, I went to Jr. high with him.
17 responses to “The Tornado Show”
Isn’t four miles no distance at all to a tornado? Can’t they jump that far in a er, nonce?
We very rarely get tornados here – cyclones are more our thing – so it seems foolhardy to me to be so blase about something so destructive, but I suppose they’re almost routine events in the Mid-West?
The airport damage was on the news here a few minutes ago.
That’s really weird about the battery and toilet, but I guess there’s a lot of static electricity in the air with a tornado, and a sudden drop in air pressure might explain the toilet.
Or you’ve got UFOs.
Big Dot – Tornadoes are the norm in farm country, when they have a long stretch of flat land they can use to build up speed. We are just on the edge of farm country, so I shouldn’t have been quite so blase. I think they’ve found that tornadoes don’t jump. You’d think so because a tornado can appear to go one direction, head for a house, and get one a block away, but you are actually looking at two tornadoes. They travel in packs. ~~Sik – I was thinking air pressure too. The local news people are gobsmacked about the airport destruction.
Glad you are safe n’ sound, and only experienced yellow sky and chirping…come to think of it, maybe the yellow sky and exploding toities were linked?
Glad you and yours are ok.
We were at Barnes when we saw reports of a possible tornado. It looked like it was going north (toward the airport)so we decided to head south for dinner instead of stopping at Sweetie Pies (yum).
South County saw some rain and storms but it wasn’t bad at all. Of course, because the media was going nuts, they wouldn’t even let us shop at Target in Arnold. Crazy paranoia.
Tornadoes? There were tornadoes?
Your airport! On OUR news! Just now!
Mare – Next time there’s a tornado warning I’m going right to the toilet. Zayrina – Well, Gary’s boss lost part of his house. We were lucky. Seals – Sweetie Pies? (looking it up) Oh yes – I investigated that place as a possible pig snoot venue. It serves soul food. Mershy – Have you not SEEN the airport surveillance video?Big Dot – International fame!
I find one aspect of my advancing years is these emergencies wear on me. What was once exciting now seems nerve-racking.
The kids and I were in another state after driving through some nasty storms that morning. During the height of the storms my husband called and said, “There’s a tornado on the ground in New Melle that’s headed for Weldon Springs.” I said, “Go downstairs!” “I will. But first there’s a call coming in on call waiting. Let me take it real quick.” “I can tell you right now it’s my dad telling you there’s a tornado heading toward our house and you should go to the basement.” It was. He did.
Hattie – In my youth I climbed all over our roof. Roofs terrify me now. And I wanted to go home today because it was windy. Sigh. I don’t like that part of age.Caroline – Ha! Sadly, no one called us. Hmpf.
Famous last words! Famous last words! We just had a tornado rip through our local mall, chucking cars around and killing someone! a TORNADO! HERE!!!
Make that two dead, and 15 critically injured in hospital. That’s where I go to the supermarket, you know.
Big Dot – I know everyone in the Northern Hemisphere is wondering: Do tornadoes turn one way in the Northern Hemisphere and another in the southern? And yes, they do. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado#Rotation But, I am so sorry to hear you’ve had a tornado. Were you warned first? What F number was it? I drove north on a local highway Friday and saw tarps on roofs and a roof in a tree.
No warning, since we so rarely get tornadoes – the weather people were thinking heavy rain, flash floods, maybe lightning. And it was F2 apparently, so mere bagatelle by your standards, but scary for us. And yes, it clearly rotated clockwise as it ripped off roofing iron, flung cars about and dropped a trampoline on top of a house. It was a REAL tornado!
Big Dot – I saw it! There was video on the weather channel.