Tornado Activity in Western, KS????

[WyoNewk]

Originally Posted by cp1969

I have lived in Kansas my entire life and I have yet to see my first funnel cloud, let alone a tornado.

Originally Posted by jscottyray

How long has that been...if I may ask.
I spoke with a perosn today in St Francis today, said he's been there 51 yrs and has observed (1) tornado...the odds are in my favor for safety.

I was also wondering... so I looked at your picture, cp. Hard to believe you've never seen a tornado.

I was raised in NE Kansas and saw several of them. We lived on a hilltop, so that might have been the difference. Our family moved to Iowa when I was 12. I remember my mom being glad to get out of tornado alley. Uh-huh.

The improvements (house, barn, etc.) on my sister's farm in Iowa has been hit by 5 or 6 tornadoes since they moved there in the 70s. Every building except the house was demolished by one or the other. They built a new home to go with all the other new buildings. It was hit by a tornado the following year! My wife and I were married in her front yard a few years ago under a large tree -- the only thing still standing that was there when my sis and her husband bought the farm.

I now live in NE Wyoming, and I've seen a few tornadoes and many, many funnels here too. I saw one tornado last summer, along with a couple funnel clouds. It's hard to find an area without tornadoes. Alaska works, but....

[athfo]

Warnings, awareness keep tornado deaths low | Wichita News - Kansas News | Wichita Eagle

Kansas is seventh on the list, with 33. Just over half of that total came from two major tornadoes: the Greensburg tornado of May 4, 2007, and the Haysville/Wichita tornado of May 3, 1999.

......

Kansas has set records for most tornadoes in each of the past two years, leading the nation in 2008 with 187.

Given the size and number of tornadoes that have hit Kansas over the past decade, it's remarkable the state's death toll isn't higher, Hayes said.

"It tells me that Kansans are probably a little bit more weather savvy and a little bit more prepared for severe weather than people in other states," he said.

[cp1969]

Originally Posted by jscottyray

How long has that been...if I may ask.
I spoke with a perosn today in St Francis today, said he's been there 51 yrs and has observed (1) tornado...the odds are in my favor for safety.

57 years.

[cp1969]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

I was also wondering... so I looked at your picture, cp. Hard to believe you've never seen a tornado.

What picture? Unless I resemble Stevie Wonder (I don't), I have no idea what you mean.

[quesera]

Originally Posted by cp1969

What picture? Unless I resemble Stevie Wonder (I don't), I have no idea what you mean.

Maybe since you have a striking resemblance to Moses (LOL... click on your name) you'd be old enough to have seen more than one funnel/tornado.

To O.P. since you grew up in a humid state, the only thing you'd need to get used to are the arid summers of western Kansas. Here in eastern Kansas, it gets quite humid, so it may be more like what you grew up with. I'd take the dry heat any day, over the humidity of our summers, though.

[itsMeFred]

In this part of the world, people start complaining about the humidity when it hits about 80%.

And I too, find it odd that someone in their 50s has only seen 0-1 tornadoes or even tornado clouds!
I'm only 35 and have not only seen several tornadoes on the ground in my lifetime, but see wall clouds, supercells or updrafts etc. (all those lovelies that spawn tornadoes) at least once a season.
Most don't create tornadoes, but the opportunity is always there.

jscotty-- the odds are indeed in your favor for safety because we live in the technological age and tornadoes don't really catch people by surprise anymore. The cell is observed, the potential is predicted, and people know to take necessary precautions.
The Greensburg tornado, for example, didn't give a lot of warning, and it was a monster that demolished an entire town. But very few people were killed for the simple fact that they did get warning and knew to get under cover.

Besides, if you're observant, it won't take you long to start reading storm clouds and know exactly what you're looking at.

[jscottyray]

Originally Posted by itsMeFred

In this part of the world, people start complaining about the humidity when it hits about 80%.

And I too, find it odd that someone in their 50s has only seen 0-1 tornadoes or even tornado clouds!
I'm only 35 and have not only seen several tornadoes on the ground in my lifetime, but see wall clouds, supercells or updrafts etc. (all those lovelies that spawn tornadoes) at least once a season.
Most don't create tornadoes, but the opportunity is always there.

jscotty-- the odds are indeed in your favor for safety because we live in the technological age and tornadoes don't really catch people by surprise anymore. The cell is observed, the potential is predicted, and people know to take necessary precautions.
The Greensburg tornado, for example, didn't give a lot of warning, and it was a monster that demolished an entire town. But very few people were killed for the simple fact that they did get warning and knew to get under cover.

Besides, if you're observant, it won't take you long to start reading storm clouds and know exactly what you're looking at.

Thanks to everyone for all of your input and most valuable information.

God Bless

[cp1969]

Originally Posted by quesera

Maybe since you have a striking resemblance to Moses (LOL... click on your name) you'd be old enough to have seen more than one funnel/tornado.

Oh, that picture.

That was an attempt to install an avatar which obviously went awry.

I don't know what the deal is. I do not avoid tornadoes but they seem to avoid me. The closest I ever was to one was in Clay Center circa 1973 or 1974. I had driven a truck there late one night to pick up a load of augers the next morning. I was totally exhausted and fell asleep in the truck. When I woke up the next morning, the truck wouldn't start because I'd left some lights on, so I started walking to find some assistance. Unbeknownst to me, a tornado had struck during the night and did quite a bit of damage; I remember seeing demolished businesses during my walk, including the bank whose front wall was lying on the sidewalk and an alarm was sounding, though no one was there or seemed to care. I could've walked inside and helped myself to the ash trays, pens and deposit slips if I was so inclined.

It was a very strange day, sort of like a scene out of Twilight Zone. Trees twisted and uprooted, roofs blown off houses, and very few people to be seen.

I would like to see one before I croak...but at a distance.