We were lucky to thread the needle last night here near KMDH with significant storms just north and just south of us. Sadly, loss of life looks like it will be into three digits in one night. Simbrief has clouds topping out at FL420. Really unusually large weather system. Tornadoes are not uncommon here, but have a small footprint. Sometimes you get a cluster spun out of a system and if you happen to be in the path, well, Mayfield Kentucky looks like it was hit real hard. Hope everyone is okay. Even cleaning up after something like this will take a lot of chainsaws. I don't know what they do when half a continent is divided by weather you're probably not going to be able to go over or around.

Over here at KCGI the power went out on me at 9:30 pm and my brand-new APC Back-UPS kicked in.   This allowed me to gracefully exit the sim at least.

Anyway, so I went to bed and apparently power was restored around 2:00 am.  This morning I can't even tell if it rained much.  I don't think it did.  But winds were awful around 9-10 pm and I could see a lot of lightning in the distance, all around.  Definitely dodged the two "streams" of SW-NE-moving thunderstorm lines.  It's rare that we are in-between those streams of precip so that's dodging a bullet.

The worst storms were from what I could tell south/southeast of us, I hope they're all ok in Mayfield.

1 hour ago, Mace said:

I hope they're all ok in Mayfield.

Sadly doesn't look like it. We used to joke that Poplar Bluff sent us all their tornadoes (don't know why, but it seems that was always reported as the origin) but I don't recall seeing a parallel double front like we had. Glad you made it through okay. Did Cape get the derecho about ten years ago? We had never even heard of one. Basically, a straight wide wall of screaming wind. I raced down from Belleville, where I was working at the time, and just north of Murphysboro it was like a bulldozer blade had just scraped all the way to our house south of Carbondale. Every road was blocked by trees, but people showed up with chainsaws out of nowhere and it was amazing how quickly at least traffic was able to get moving through the area. My mom survived the TriState Tornado and remembers the neighbor's car upside down in her yard with the wheels turning. Guess we pay for our front row total eclipse seats.

https://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/yesterday.html

Yesterday reminds me of the Super Outbreak of 1974 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Super_Outbreak

Cheers

John

 

 

Edited December 11, 20214 yr by johnbow72

3 hours ago, Tim_Capps said:

Sadly doesn't look like it. We used to joke that Poplar Bluff sent us all their tornadoes (don't know why, but it seems that was always reported as the origin) but I don't recall seeing a parallel double front like we had. Glad you made it through okay. Did Cape get the derecho about ten years ago?

Yeah we did.  My yard looked like a war zone with limbs etc.  But I guess it pruned the trees for me.

3 hours ago, Tim_Capps said:

We had never even heard of one. Basically, a straight wide wall of screaming wind. I raced down from Belleville, where I was working at the time, and just north of Murphysboro it was like a bulldozer blade had just scraped all the way to our house south of Carbondale. Every road was blocked by trees, but people showed up with chainsaws out of nowhere and it was amazing how quickly at least traffic was able to get moving through the area. My mom survived the TriState Tornado and remembers the neighbor's car upside down in her yard with the wheels turning. Guess we pay for our front row total eclipse seats.

The Tri State tornado went thru Perry Co. MO right thru my cousins farm.  They survived hiding in a cistern.

Later in 1949 we had a tornado in Cape that also crossed the river, and for years after you could see the destroyed trees on the Illinois side, at a place where the Picayune Chute comes into the river.  Picayune Chute is right next to Ware and McClure IL and separates the mainland from Devil's Island.  Even back in the 80's, I remember seeing the lower treeline where the 1949 tornado crossed.  Today I can't see much difference though, it's all grown back up.   I think we're running on borrowed time, we haven't had a tornado since 1949.   Jackson had one around 2006.

Marion had that bad one in 1983 if I'm remembering correctly, but even that has been a while.

I was reading about Graves County Kentucky Airport  in Mayfield reopening soon as the debris was cleared off the runway, and parking area to make room  for emergency aviation. A generator was connected to cover both  Avgas Jet A pumps  and buildings.

Edited December 12, 20214 yr by Paul Deluca

Its unimaginable for we Brits, what you guys go through. Sure, we have bad storms, the occasional loss of life, a few trees blown down, but I can't imagine the devastation that wrecks your neighbourhoods when a Tornado rips through.

Where I am we get excited when its windy at high tide and the sea comes over the sea wall a bit. 

Take care people. 

Blame the Rocky Mountains, Gulf of Mexico and lets not forget Canada's cold air. Darn Canada.;).Lived in Tornado alley me whole life and witnessed three.

Edited December 12, 20214 yr by Adrian123

Mayfield, or at least it's CBD (central business district) has endured near total destruction.  Their courthouse had the top part removed -- a stout brick building.  Outside of Joplin in (2011?) that is the worst I've seen recently.  

I just flew around Mayfield with the sim.The only  size aircraft for moving emergency supplies besides helicopters i think of is a Short SD-360.The airport staging area is small  [Bing Maps].Logistics has their work cut out for them. Lets hope for the best.

Just looking at Monette Arkansas with the map. Closest airport is Jonesboro.  Monette is somewhat remote to get to. National Guard is the only way to transport. Just saw videos from the area,and they need all the help possible.Joplin Missouri all over again [2011].

Edited December 12, 20214 yr by Paul Deluca

5 hours ago, martin-w said:

Its unimaginable for we Brits, what you guys go through.

For all the tragedy, the reality is tornadoes can be incredibly destructive, but have a very tiny footprint and brief lifespan. (Except for the historic rare monster like the TriState Tornado.) Tornado watches and warnings are part of life her in the Midwest, but I am 64 and have never seen one. I've passed through places where one has just hit, or had a few near misses, but this is still a place of small towns for the most part and a lot of farmland, fields and forests. It is a really unlucky break for one of these to smash right through a town like this. We have a basement that we could go to and probably survive; a lot of people don't. But I remember living in an apartment with just my dog while I worked up across the river from St. Louis. The sirens were going off and I looked at Buster and said, "Well, buddy, if our number's up, it's up." So, it's a risk, but the chances of being killed in an airliner crash these days are probably a lot higher than getting killed in a tornado here. Not much comfort, I know, when it happens, but that's the perspective.

 

5 hours ago, Paul Deluca said:

Just looking at Monette Arkansas with the map. Closest airport is Jonesboro.  Monette is somewhat remote to get to. National Guard is the only way to transport. Just saw videos from the area,and they need all the help possible.Joplin Missouri all over again [2011].

Monette has the advantage of being about 15 miles from the former Blytheville Air Force Base, which is now called I think Arkansas Intl.  It has a 10,000+ foot runway because it was a SAC base with B-52's.  I got to see those B-52's back in the day.  Anyway, they could supply Monette thru that airport.

Mayfield/Graves Co. airport is pretty small.  KPAH is Paducah/Barkley Field and it has a 6-7,000 foot runway, but it is a little further away from Mayfield.

Thanks for the info Mace  Perfect staging point. Samaritans Purse, Americares could land there of course. Anything to get help to the victims.

Edited December 13, 20214 yr by Paul Deluca

13 hours ago, Tim_Capps said:

For all the tragedy, the reality is tornadoes can be incredibly destructive, but have a very tiny footprint and brief lifespan.

 

This might surprise you Tim but tornado's are quite common in the UK. Puny little affairs compared to US Tornado's. There are something like 30 per year, small and short lived and cause minor structural damage from time to time. Ive never seen one and now live in the Channel Islands were I don't believe they occur at all.