Nick -
I think you got dope-slapped about swirlies in your bathtub, not
tornadoes but I see why you might be shy (or else just like a good
dope-slapping? I know I do!).
Have you ever seen Sharknado <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2724064/>,
it's a must see, trust me... before you watch _Snakes on a Plane_ or
_Towering Inferno_ for sure!
Three years ago I was traveling to Des Moines Iowa and back during
Tornado Seasonin my wife's Honda Insight (tiny two-seater hybrid, weighs
about the same as a big motorcycle, mostly aluminum and plastic-resin
components, very aerodynamic!)... we stayed at a motel where the
Discovery Channel Storm Chasers were staying... awesome post-apocalyptic
vehicles.... I think there were about 5 total... then on our way
back, just shy of the Black Hills of SD we had been watching a Tornado
Weather brewing in front of us and with the radio on an emergency
channel, we raced toward the shelter of the Black HIlls as several
Twisters touched down... I wasn't tempted to "chase" them in any sense
of the term.
Do you drive to NM from Maine, braving Tornado Alley, yourself? When you
coming home buddy?
- Steve
Like whale watching, there are folks who track down and watch
tornados. Have you ever tried it? Probably pretty dangerous, but who
knows, maybe not. It would be fascinating!
-- Owen
On Fri, Apr 4, 2014 at 9:21 PM, Nick Thompson
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Dear Friammers,
It's almost May, the season in which I provide posts on tornadoes
and the rest of you dopeslap me for my naïve interest in them. A
true sign of spring, this message is.
I offer for your amusement the following:
http://www.americanwx.com/bb/index.php/topic/43293-tornado-in-michoacan-mexico/
It contains two videos of an urban tornado in Mexico, the second
of which (marked NASA) is by far the longest, steadiest portrait
of a tornado I have ever seen. There are many mysterious aspects
of this storm --- the high base, the innocent sky, the absence of
any lightning, or even any precipitation in the region all seem
strange. I considered that it was a hoax of some sort, but there
is yet a third video of this same storm, taken from another angle,
and in this case, the video takers have to take shelter from
falling stuff. Another feature of this storm that makes it
exciting is that it picks up long strands of agricultural debris
(plastic row covers, perhaps?) which have the effect of
visualizing the circulation of the storm outside the dustcolumn
that we normally think of as "the tornado". One of the thing
that makes tornadoes seem so implausible is that the column itself
often seems quite strand-like and delicate.
Please let me know what you think.
N
Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/
<http://home.earthlink.net/%7Enickthompson/naturaldesigns/>
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