Jump to content

aslkahuna

Meteorologist
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,251

  • Joined

  • Last visited

About aslkahuna

  • Birthday 09/27/1939

Contact Methods

Profile Information

  • Four Letter Airport Code For Weather Obs (Such as KDCA)
    KSEA
  • Gender
    Male
  • Location:
    Kent WA
  • Interests
    Tropical Cyclones, Space Weather, Photography, Astronomy, AZ Monsoon plus much else

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. kperk014

    In the 2011 Super Outbreak, you posted:

    Just as an aside-although terrain may weaken most tornadoes, it may not be a good idea to expect that it would weaken all tornadoes. Especially when the dynamics involved are as powerful as they have been today. Cases in point: During the 1974 Super Outbreak a number of the tornadoes tracked over hilly terrain without even noticing it. One western US tornado that formed in UT made it across the Divide in WY which is at 10000 ft elevation causing considerable tree damage. Bellemont and Flagstaff AZ are close to 7k elevation and in the mountain region north of the escarpment of the Mogollon Rim yet last October 8 tornadoes up to EF3 intensity formed in the area doing significant damage. The parent storms actually developed along the base of the Mogollon Rim and moved north where the tornadoes developed.

    You are right and people who think a 5,000 foot mountain will "rip apart" a 58,000 foot super cell is putting themselves in danger. It's pretty obvious by the time that cell got to North Carolina, it was after midnight and probably 500 miles from it's power source, the Gulf of Mexico. Those are the factors I believe ended that tornadic storm.

    Kenny in Alabama

  2. aslkahuna
    The activity in 1989 and 2003 was beyond awesome as active red aurbos were seen in SE Arizona and even into Mexico. In fact, we had major AZ displays in 1991, 2001, 2002,2003, 2004 and 2005 based upon my photos. Steve
  3. aslkahuna
    Why did he keep going on when he saw all of the people stopped on the side of the road? He should have been listening to the radio instead of his CD player. Steve
  4. aslkahuna
    Methane is very potent as a GHG as any IR image of Neptune would show you. Its one redeeming feature is that it disassociates readily under UV radiation so doesn't stick around as long as CO2. One point to make here. If we were to TOTALLY cease putting CO2 into the atmosphere right now, it would make little immediate difference because that CO2 we've already put there will still be there for a long time and the atmospher is, apparently, still responding to that input. Steve
  5. #NoPoles

    hey, just wondering where you have been? you haven't really been active in the monsoon threads :( the desert monsoon is my absolute favorite and this season has been so productive in terms of consecutive storms that produce rain, and not just lightning...hope everything is ok! please come back to the monsoon thread soon! :)

  6. aslkahuna
    High resolution Doppler radar imagery of a TX tornado in 1995 (I believe it was the Dimmitt tornado) showed an open center. I once saw a open center briefly in a tornadic hook echo very close to Whiteman AFB with a 3 cm CPS-9 radar in short pulse mode in 1964 but was unable to photograph it. Steve
  7. aslkahuna
    I saw a figure of 4 inches. IIRC, this is the second major high rise hit by an EF-5 in the past 40 or so years. The first was the Great Plains Life Insurance building in Lubbock TX on May 11,1970. That building was actually twisted by the impact of the tornado. Steve
  8. aslkahuna
    Mobile Doppler probably one of the research teams got up close and got surface to near surface measurements. Steve
  9. aslkahuna
    Looking at Piotrowski's video, at times you can hardly tell it's a tornado but a huge mass of boiling black clouds. Move this with a forward speed of 69 mph and you have some idea of what the people in 1925 must have seen. Incidentally, a 20 minute leadtime is excellent for a mesoscale event of only 9 minute's or so duration. Steve
  10. aslkahuna
    It's also frustrating when the warnings you put out are ignored. I had a situation once where we had a really nasty storm coming into Fort Huachuca via the South Range. We were getting extreme winds and the lightning frequency was outrageous. I was on the radio telling everyone to take cover and cease outdoor activities. One bright (?) Butter Bar (2nd Lt) decided that the middle of a raging thunderstorm was a great time to line his crew up for inspection outside of their Comm Vans with antennas deployed-12 of them wound up in the hospital due to the lightning strike. In 1964, I and my Duty Forecaster followed a hook all of the way into the Base keeping the Command Post continuously advised. The next day with 6 confirmed tornadoes in his Missile Complex and damage on Base, the Wing Commander was enraged by the fact that not only had he not been informed of what was happening but that the Command Post never issued or passed on any warnings to the people in the complex including contractors in a house trailer parked near a silo that was missed by 50 yards. Steve
  11. aslkahuna
    The old AN/CPS-9 Radar that I used at Whiteman AFB in the early 1960's had sector scan and also short pulse to increase resolution over shorter ranges. Steve
  12. aslkahuna
    Mempho, the problem you noted and has been identified as a major concern. There IS a solution however it's one not overly feasible during the current economy. The's the construction of a special Safe Room that is properly anchored and heavily reinforced concrete (not blocks but solid concrete. In essence a mini blockhouse. Properly designed and built they can withstand tornadoes of high EF intensity. But they remain few and far between these days. Steve
  13. aslkahuna
    Back in the day when I was still working (I was lucky and worked for Sam although even there you have to put up with a lot of BS), we would refer to the el cheapo private companies as "Whorehouses" instead of sweatshops because the workers were always getting screwed and most of the money went to the owners. Best choice these days and even then there are limits is with the Military. Steve
×
×
  • Create New...