Spotters use new tornado identification system
Staff writer
Is it a rope? A wedge? Or a standard Dorothy-Wizard of Oz tapered tornado?
This severe storm season, the National Weather Service in Wichita is asking spotters to use a new system when reporting tornadoes.
The different tornado types indicate differences in severity, explained Brad Ketcham, lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wichita.
Ketcham presented, "Storm Fury on the Plains 2004," the annual storm spotters meeting Monday night at Marion City Building. Between 75 and 100 storm spotters, law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMS, dispatchers, and members of the general public attended.
"Communication is the key," Ketcham said. "The more accurate information we have, the better we'll be able to issue warnings."
A rope tornado is thin like a rope. The standard tornado is the traditional tapered stove-pipe shape everyone recognizes as a tornado.
"Over 80 percent of the tornadoes out there are ropes," Ketcham said.
Wedges, however, are the big ones which can be more than one-quarter mile wide at times.
"Wedges are very rare, but they're the ones that kill people," Ketcham said.
Ketcham said the NWS is likely to change its warnings based on whether the tornado is a rope, standard tornado, or a wedge.
"If it's a wedge we're going to use stronger language in the warning so people will get to cover," he said.
Ketcham told the crowd that between 1895 and 1938, the Weather Bureau was prohibited from using the word "tornado."
"They believed it would cause a panic which would lead to death and heart attacks," Ketcham said. "Nowadays, everybody heads outside or gets in their car to chase them."
May 2003 set a new record for the number of tornadoes in one month, with 516 reported. That was up 115 from the previous record of 391 set in 1995.
In the event of a tornado warning, Ketcham said people need to find a sturdy place to take cover.
"One of the safest places is under the basement staircase. We used to tell you to take cover in a corner. But we've found out the corners of the basement tend to collect debris," he said.
"You need something to cover your head to protect you from the weight of debris."
The weather service uses the acronym "DUCK." Down to the lowest level, Under something sturdy, Cover your head, and Keep in shelter until the storm passes.
Despite the news crew footage taken during the Wichita area tornado outbreak in April 1991, an overpass is not a safe place to be during a tornado.
"Do you see any handrails up there under the overpass for you to hold on to?" he questioned. "If a large tornado comes over it's going to suck you right out."
During the Oklahoma City tornado outbreak in May 1999, several people left "perfectly good homes" to seek shelter under overpasses, he said.
"Some of those people didn't make it, and their homes were untouched," he said.
Also, in severe storms overpasses tend to become parking lots as drivers leave their cars under the protected bridge areas.
"Then if a tornado comes through and jumbles all those cars together, the emergency vehicles can't get through," he said. "If you're on the road and need to take shelter, park along the shoulder and get into a ditch. Don't create a hazard with cars."
Flash floods
After the deadly flooding on the Kansas Turnpike last year near Emporia, the NWS is emphasizing flash flood safety, Ketcham said. Flash floods are the number one killer in severe storms.
"That night was a sobering one for us here at the National Weather Service," Ketcham said. "Once again communication is the key. During the turnpike flood, we didn't even find out the turnpike was flooded until one hour later."
Seven to eight inches of rain fell in a small basin within a short period, he said. Drivers on the turnpike did what they were supposed to do — they stopped and did not drive through the water.
However, the water kept rising but people opted to stay with their vehicles.
"One gentleman tried very hard to get a family to leave their vehicle and they wouldn't. When the (concrete divider) broke they were swept away," he said.
"That man got who-knows-how-many people to take action, but he ended up losing his own life," Ketcham noted.
Six-inches of water is all it takes to sweep a person off his or her feet. Two feet of water can float a car.
"Don't drive through barricades. The saying I use is 'Turn around, don't drown,'" Ketcham said.
The meeting also included a safety presentation by Ken Armbuster of the American Red Cross in McPherson.
Concluding his presentation, Ketcham showed a map documenting locations in the United States which have recorded hail of one-inch in diameter or more. A second map showed areas which have documented F-4 or F-5 tornadic activity. Marion County was in the hail area on the first map, and on the western edge of the second.
"That shows it can happen around here and we're overdue," he said.
