Tornadoes in Oklahoma Last Night - 2 Merged into ONE - Rare Fujiwara Effect! Tornado Chasing so Different From Hurricane Chasing...

Last night was all about Tornadoes and almost everyone in the Weather Community was online somewhere watching or out chasing in person. I don't really chase tornadoes though I have gotten very close to one a more than once. I'm a tropical girl and I chase tropical storms, weak hurricanes and wild lines of monsoons coming across Biscayne Bay in Miami with thunder, lightning and looking like the world is about to end! Sometimes you see a funnel cloud, sometimes you see waterspouts but that's nothing like Twisters out in the wide open in Kansas, Oklahoma or even Iowa. In Iowa when near a tornado the sky turns dark, there's few cars on the road and I've never seen corn bend like that...........

Snapped from my son's balcony....

... typical Miami end of the world storm!

But last night I watched Reed Timmer chasing with others as well as some coverage from KOCO Live and KFOR in Oklahoma City. I watched radars, I watched Satellite Imagery and I watched Reed having fun doing what he loves doing and that in itself is a Joy! Best times in life are often when you are doing something you love vs something someone else tells you will you love doing but you do not. Sometimes you gotta do what yo gotta do whether you like it or not but when you have a chance to do what you love........DO IT!

So rare to see a Fujiwara happen with tornadoes.

It'll be studied for a long time to come.

Reed has a PhD

He's always actively involved in research.

People forget that I think...

I just love weather.

I love photography.

Took this in Raleigh....

...trees always obscure the sky.

Different day... trees in the way always.

I digress. The reason I'm blogging on this tonight is that it hit me last night how different chasing a tornado is vs a hurricane. It's hit me many times before and I've talked on it when lecturing, but again it hit me as such a huge difference. Tropical Weather you watch a tropical wave or the tail end of a decaying cold front and you keep checking it and checking the models and watching the water vapor loop and it goes on and on before a Tropical Depression even forms. Those of you who watched Ian from the first little collection of clouds waving on satellite imagery while models showed horrendous trouble ahead if it pulled together (as models predicted) and made it into the Gulf of Mexico which it did in real time ....and we watched for days and days. 

To try and find a location to chase a hurricane is something that evolves in real time, but during that real time we have watched the named storm for sometimes days, weeks and while it takes aim at one part of the Florida coast or Mississippi coast people who live there have time to get out of the way, get to safety or to hunker down safely before the hurricane arrives with their hurricane supplies that will be needed for weeks to come if not months.  In contrast a line of twisters form fast on a day when the sky could have been bright blue and cloudless and models and a gut instinct help chasers get into place fast for a chase that's fast and extremely compelling, happening in real time. Yes we see the potential is there days out and potential doesn't always pan out. 

Anyone following the saga of gas problems in Miami this week, not to mention certain products in stores that are lacking because Port Everglades was closed due to the rare, strange flooding event. recently should make anyone who thinks they don't need to worry on putting together hurricane supplies in South Florida...think again and prepare! If a day of flooding can shut down the supply chain, think what a landfalling hurricane will do to areas around the landfall even if you were spared the brunt of the worst winds or storm surge.

I also love Hail and Reed works with hail, last night he was excited like a child picking up baseball hail that looked more like a small grapefruits. I find hail fascinating, always have and always will.

Weather is fascinating.

People ask me often "why would you chase a storm?" or "isn't it dangerous chasing a hurricane?" and I always tell them it's way better chasing a storm with friends who have tons of experience setting up in the safest place with good information ...........rather than have a Category 5 Hurricane chase you to your house where your loved ones live. Trust me.... way better. Growing up in Miami I went through many hurricanes when young and I lived on Miami Beach when Andrew made a beeline to us before it bobbled South just a drop sparing Miami Beach a direct hit and slamming into South Dade and the Homestead area.

My pretty Roaring 20s house survived!

As the crow flies it sits 4 blocks West of the Ocean.

House went through the 1926 Hurricane!

I could hear the ocean waves over the wind at times.

So while a tornado is NOW, FAST and intensely immediate.....hurricanes are like keep watching, keep watching, keep watching.... but when they are there in your face they are timeless and forever engraved in your brain as if it's become a part of your very own DNA. Every hurricane you go through stays with you in some way you never forget! You're either terrified of them or hooked! You're either trying to figure out how to get out of town if it arrives or you are waiting on new data in the middle of the night from Recon and waiting on the 2 AM Intermediate Advisory..........

Love the beach on a stormy day.

Best part of living in NC is the beach in Wrightsville.

Ocean Isle Beach, Atlantic Beach.

Pick a beach...so much hurricane history!

Then again.........my issue with Severe Weather is it happens fast and then is over just as fast. Whereas a hurricane gives me days of being obsessed with every detail from structure to it's movements vs models, which model is working better, which satellite I prefer... talking to friends sharing information, staying up late at night waiting on recon data or being at the beach watching sea foam fly down the beach and feeling the energy of the wind, the waves and getting a feel up clsoe and personal for what this storm really has in it. Definitely a tropical girl but love hail, love snow and love the wind!

What do you love?

Sweet Tropical Dreams, 

BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on Twitter and Instagram

Twitter mostly weather and Intagram weather and whatever.

Here... you choose which is more fun to "chase" or watch someone chase? Tornado? Hurricane? Or it's all good because you love weather?

Tornadoes?

Feel free to fast forward, look around.... compare and contrast or just enjoy! Remember this video is from last night's tornado and is longer than the one that was cut down and shown below. 

Hurricanes?

And, remember data from storm chasers can be as relevant as other data compiled from many sources. Especially when looking back and evaluating the storm after it is over. 

One of the best storm chasers of hurricanes is iCyclone, his name is synonymous with HURRICANE. His work is everything as you can see from Hurricane Dorian below, but know his data collected and damage evaluation is invaluable especially with intense storms that make landfall in places where few storm chasers dare to go.

 

Special mention award to Mike who started chasing the last few years. He's hooked! 

Love listening to Mike talk :)

Truth!