Bloomington Illinois sitting in a bowl? (history)

[linicx]

In this part of the state tornadoes seem to form in the cornfields where there is extreme humidity and move SW to NE. It is the same problem in NW Peoria County where many of the storms move out of Fulton County and continue NE into NW Peoria County. At this point in history, NW Peoria in the area closer to Glen Avenue, is safer than farther NW in the county where there is more tornadic activity.

I lived in "tornado alley' several miles south of, or north of, I-44 on the OK/KS/MO border. The F5 that hit OKC was on the ground for about 8 hours and traveled nearly 40 miles; this was very unusual activity. The storm in Tulsa took out several miles of auto row. An EF5 hit Joplin, Mo last year and destroy several miles and killed nearly 200. Pierce, MO was nearly totally destroyed by a tornado. Springfield, MO has been hit north and south (I was in one). And yes tornadoes deviate. One of Springfield, MO's worst tornadoes in the south part of the city entered from the WSW at US 60 which is about 5 miles south of I-44.

What do the OK and MO towns have in common with Springfield, IL and Bloomington-Normal? Everyone of these towns are located on Interstate routes. OKC to Joplin is a SW to NE track and so is Springfield to B-N. Why there? I do not know if there is a scientific or a logical reason, maybe it is just 'the luck of the draw'. I personally think when we disrupt the balance of nature we open the door to unintended consequences. I would be willing to bet there is not one shred of scientific evidence to support my opinion.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Wow - what is alarming is the speed of the twister in oklahoma city.
8 hours on the ground and moved 40 miles , that in itself is amazing.

Your question about the tornados following an interstate route is something of interest.

Tornado season is upon us.

The places you have been have far worse tornados than we usually see in this neck of the woods.

By and large the northern part of the state has been spared lately.

Seems overdue.

Just read an article last week where storm shelters are on the rise due to recent storms
Hope you had a strong shelter down in OK.

Southern and central Illinois seems to always get a warning of some kind.
I watch the storms develop all the time on the diff weather sites.

[linicx]

I live in central Illinois, no where near any Interstate and I have a basement. I watched three tornado spouts form last summer and shrink back into the clouds as the storm was moving NE. It was an odd sighting. I don't remember that a tornado ever formed or was on the ground that day. It's too bad I didn't get the picture when the three were dangling from the cloud.

Originally Posted by sunnyandcloudydays

Wow - what is alarming is the speed of the twister in oklahoma city.
8 hours on the ground and moved 40 miles , that in itself is amazing.

Your question about the tornados following an interstate route is something of interest.

Tornado season is upon us.

The places you have been have far worse tornados than we usually see in this neck of the woods.

By and large the northern part of the state has been spared lately.

Seems overdue.

Just read an article last week where storm shelters are on the rise due to recent storms
Hope you had a strong shelter down in OK.

Southern and central Illinois seems to always get a warning of some kind.
I watch the storms develop all the time on the diff weather sites.

[cubssoxfan]

Are you referring to the
The Bridge Creek-Moore F5

from 1999?


If so, I believe your time on the ground information for that particular tornado is incorrect. Are you possibly talking about the entire duration of the outbreak on that day? I did read that 171 tornadoes were confirmed and although the F-5 spawned at about 6:23, the first twister of the outbreak was spotted around 3:33.
1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[linicx]

I took my information from NOAA at Norman, OK. It was earlier than 1999.

[linicx]

I was thinking it was earlier but you are right. It was on the ground almost 18 minutes, covered 38 miles and caused damages of $1B. I remember watching the TV and hearing about storms all night. There were a lot of violent storms that week all over the state. Tulsa may have been in one earlier that didn't do nearly as much damage. It was the 100th tornadoes to strike the OKC area since 1890. It had another one last year.

B-N area and OKC area are 101 each for reports of tornadic activity, but I think the OKC storms are more violent. The film "Twister" was based on the 1999 OKC storm.


F5 Tornadoes in Oklahoma (1905-Present)

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Are you referring to the
The Bridge Creek-Moore F5

from 1999?


If so, I believe your time on the ground information for that particular tornado is incorrect. Are you possibly talking about the entire duration of the outbreak on that day? I did read that 171 tornadoes were confirmed and although the F-5 spawned at about 6:23, the first twister of the outbreak was spotted around 3:33.
1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Chicago76]

This site is pretty cool to look through if you're into this sort of stuff:

Tornado History Project: Maps and Statistics

[Maintainschaos]

Originally Posted by Chicago76

This site is pretty cool to look through if you're into this sort of stuff:

Tornado History Project: Maps and Statistics

And if you search for Illinois tornadoes, it shows that there is no correlation between being near an interstate and the propensity of a tornado occurring!

[linicx]

NOAA lies. History does not exist.

[Maintainschaos]

NOAA doesn't say anything about the presence of interstates causing, accelerating, funneling, or channeling a tornado in a particular direction.