Thread: Kansas Weather

Tweet

Attachment 64026Attachment 64025We had a line of severe storms move through the area last night an hour or so before dark, and they reported several funnel clouds. This picture was on one of the local news channels web site this morning. The house on the left belonged to one of my boys until about a year ago, and it's located in a neighborhood three miles due south of our place which means that the funnel shown dropping was likely between us, which is plenty close! Life on the edge of Tornado Alley...

tornado.jpg

My oldest boy just sent me a couple more that he shot with his phone as he left work, saying that they were just north of 151st Street, about six miles to the east. With a SW to NE direction that means it likely passed within 1/2 mile of us....

I've often wondered why anyone would settle in a place like that. I mean, life is tough enough without having to endure killer storms too. I guess I shouldn't talk though, I live only 30 miles from the San Andreas fault and have no idea how I ended up here. There are several earthquakes here in Hemet every day. We had a 3.6 the other night about 1:30 AM that sat me upright in the bed. I live in a large all-wood house on the side of a mountain of granite and the timbers react violently to quakes. This one sounded like a shotgun went off right next to my head.

Of the quakes 1.5 and larger here in Hemet.......
7 earthquakes yesterday
23 earthquakes in the past 7 days
73 earthquakes in the past month
772 earthquakes in the past year
California is way past due for a 10.0 or larger. It's going to be very, very ugly.

Here are the results of the quake that hit Northridge, California in 1994.....
The quake hit at 4:30am, 6.7 Magnitude

Faults Involved: Northridge Thrust (also known as Pico Thrust) and several other faults experienced minor rupture
Epicenter: 20 miles west-northwest of Los Angeles, 1 mile south-southwest of Northridge
Type of Fault: Blind Thrust
Duration: While the actual rupture of the fault only lasted about 8 seconds, but because of amplification and reverberation of the seismic waves most people felt shaking for 20 to 30 seconds.
The quake was felt from Orange to Ventura Counties, with impacted areas covering more than 2,500 square miles and 50 cities.

Caltech says the earthquake produced the "strongest ground motions ever instrumentally recorded in an urban setting in North America."

DEATHS/DAMAGE/DOLLARS
57 deaths directly attributed to the quake.
Approximately 12,000 injuries.
Up to 114,000 people left homeless.
100 major alarm fires.
Approximately 449,000 homes/apartments damaged or destroyed
Nearly 9,000 public and commercial buildings damaged or destroyed
More than $20 billion in damage, According to FEMA, this was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history at that time.

.

Hope you live on the east side of the fault as then you'll have coastal property--




2 weeks ago tornado in Coal City Il (60 road miles south) destroyed dozens of house, thosands of trees-Mother in law and wife endured storm in bathroom while I kept in touch with them via cell phone while watching storm passage on active weather report on Chi TV----------

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

Hope you live on the east side of the fault as then you'll have coastal property--



-

Hmmm.....I guess that means I'll need a floatation device....


Tech, I didn't realize you're in Hemet. Not that far away from me.

As for settling in an area know as "tornado alley"....I don't think anyone does that intentionally....unless you buy a trailer house and move to Moore, OK!! That has "DANGER" written all over it!!!

Originally Posted by randyr

As for settling in an area know as "tornado alley"....I don't think anyone does that intentionally....unless you buy a trailer house and move to Moore, OK!! That has "DANGER" written all over it!!!

Reminds me of a little kid that was on the Tonight Show back when Johnny Carson was still hosting, and Johnny asked the boy, "Do you have a joke for me?" The kid replied, "Ya' know what a Divorce and a tornado have in common in Oklahoma?", and after Johnny's response he brought Carson to tears with, "Well, either way somebody's gonna lose a trailer!"

Originally Posted by rspears

Reminds me of a little kid that was on the Tonight Show back when Johnny Carson was still hosting, and Johnny asked the boy, "Do you have a joke for me?" The kid replied, "Ya' know what a Divorce and a tornado have in common in Oklahoma?", and after Johnny's response he brought Carson to tears with, "Well, either way somebody's gonna lose a trailer!"

Verry Funnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeee Roger,

People on the east coast can't imagine why people live in "Tornado Alley," yet they have hurricanes. People on the west coast can't imagine why people live in "Tornado Alley," yet they have earthquakes.

I lived in Virginia Beach for 8 years, and had to dodge a pretty serious hurricane. We left town, but luckily the house wasn't damaged. I explain it this way: A tornado is like a hunting lion. It gets a few antelopes, but the herd is pretty safe. A hurricane or earthquake is like a monster pride of lions - which gets a LOT of antelopes. I'll take my chances with the former.

I'm glad you were safe and spared this round Roger. It's kind of crazy how the tornado activity shifts around each year. A few years ago Arkansas got nailed heavily, then to Oklahoma. Before that it was the Dakotas, southern Minnesota, and northern Iowa and Illinois. But man alive, Moore Oklahoma, and that area, keeps getting hammered. We had two on the ground 35 miles away from us 2 weeks ago. That's close enough. Haha

I'm a devout Coward.
I practise it religiously with the utmost devotion.
Hence we time our visits to the Oklahoma/Kansas area to late August early September when (hopefully) the wild wind season is over.

I don't want that sort of blow wave thank-you-very-much.

But it's good to know that everyone's okay, and with no property damage.

I lived in Kansas for 50 years and never came that close to a tornado (knock on wood). I've probably been closer to one when I lived for 7 years in Highlands Ranch, CO. I hope that I'm too close to the Colorado foothills now, to ever see one. We do get a lot of wind. My house had to be designed to withstand 116 mph winds.

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

Hope you live on the east side of the fault as then you'll have coastal property--

Nope, I live on the Pacific Plate.....glub, glub, glub.

.

Even that side you'll have coastal property on an Island------

A guy I knew in the Navy had property on the extreme west Nevada border, and he was fond of saying how he was going to retire a rich man when SOCAL fell into the Pacific, and he would have beachfront property....

Had the pleasure of visiting a friend in the southeast corner of Kansas and I'm amazed at how fast the weather can change from sunny and mild to dark and violent. The black clouds that came over seemed like they came almost instantly! But all in all it was a great place to visit...I especially liked the 1 1/2 hour drive from the airport to my friends home with only 1 stop sign all the way and 65 mph speed limits,unlike the bazillion red lights we have here on the east coast!...So I guess the trade offs make it home for some!...lol...Almost forgot the trip to Home Depot and the Storm Cellars they had on display for sale!

I don't think there is a "perfect" location away from mother natures rath, if there was we would all live there! Be it earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, wildfires or anything else. Like I mentioned if there was we would all live there without any home owners insurance! I headed out on a cruise ship in the carribean a few years ago and got caught in a huge storm that turned into a hurricane made me realize even paradise has its flaws!