"dpb" wrote in message
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Robert Green wrote:
"dpb" wrote in message
...
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But, my latest relatively local (100 mi) example of the incredible is
the Greensburg (KS) EF5 that obliterated 90+% of the town. It left a
JD
9600-series combine over ten miles from its starting point in the
dealer's lot on the west edge of town.
Ouch! That's quite a trip. Now that video cameras are everywhere,
there's
some unbelievable close-up footage of tornadoes and their power. I
recall
seeing slo-mo footage of a tractor trailer, a cow, a couch and a pickup
truck all airborne and whirling around in the debris cloud.
...
I'll venture a guess that was from the terrible movie some years ago.
Definetly NOT!
Sounds very much like the epic scene therefrom. 
(I have seen that
claimed to be real, not special effects). I would be most surprised if
that were, in fact, actual storm footage, amateur or spotter, and quite
interested to see it if it really were.
They had to freeze the frame and draw little circles around the items in the
debris cloud, but once they did, you could easily pick out the large
vehicles. The amount of "real world" tornado footage has increased
dramatically because of cell phone cams, security cams and consumer cams
with video clip ability. I know the scene of a family scrambling to get up
under an overpass was real - you could see the grass flattening and hear
people screaming for their lives as the twister rode right up on top of
them.
I've seen precious little footage that has much specific debris of major
size actually discernible in real footage owing to several factors...if
they're really large enough, the amount of dirt and other stuff is such
that it isn't possible to see far into the wind field itself. Lots of
tin, paper, sheathing, etc., yes; automobiles and such not so much.
When you see a pickup truck whirling around 100's of feet off the ground it
sticks in your mind. You can easily see large chunks of debris silhouetted
against a clear sky in some of the pictures you'll find he
http://www.google.com/images?q=airborne+tornado+debris
especially:
http://www.tapestryinstitute.org/tor...ges/debris.jpg
Quite often other than on the far horizon when first form, the funnel
itself is rain-wrapped to the point it's not even possible to tell
there's actually a funnel at all other than rare glimpse that often
can't be told from a lower wall cloud, anyway.
That's true of many tornadoes, but it's clear that some of them present very
good displays of what's whirling around in the debris cloud.
That site says: "F-3 or F-4 tornado in Pampa, Texas on June 8, 1995. Scale
is deceptive; larger pieces of debris in this photograph are vehicles that
were picked up from an oil company parking lot and large sections of sheet
metal roofing, according to photographer Alan Moller, a National Weather
Service employee and storm chaser. Video taken of that same funnel by a
sheriff on the scene clearly shows pickup trucks and vans airborne at an
altitude of 80 to 90 feet off the ground: the height of an 8-story
building."
Then, on top of that, a large number form from late afternoon or evening
mesoscale thunderstorms so that by the time there are tornadoes it's
already dark.
Yeah, but they obviously aren't all like that.
Not that there aren't a few, but with as many as there are in the area
and with all the spotters w/ cameras monitoring all of them I don't
think I've ever actually seen that kind of footage during the event
itself; only the aftereffects.
Watch more Weather Channel! (-:
Spotters followed the Greensburg tornado for over two hours and almost
70-80 miles of total track trailing directly behind it but other than a
couple of shots against horizon before it got to be truly huge, it was
typical in that it was difficult to spot except by lightning or by
watching where transformer flashes were as it took out power lines, etc.
I've seen plenty of footage like the Pampa shot where the debris cloud is
perfectly illuminated. The problem is that the photos are usually taken
from so far away that it's hard to see what's rolling around the funnel
until you magnify them. They don't look like the close-up and obviously FX
shots in the movies. I am sure you'll eventually see the footage I am
talking about and be able to pick out the trucks, car, vans and other huge
items that tornadoes routinely pick up and spin.
Here's one of the most magnificent tornado photos I have ever seen:
http://listverse.files.wordpress.com...11/tornado.jpg
--
Bobby G.