This might sound funny......tornadoes?? (Kansas City, St. Louis: 2013, houses, tornado)

[Nmlcal1204]

I've posted about possibly moving to Missouri (suburbs of STL to be exact) from Baton Rouge. One of my biggest fears is tornadoes. At least with hurricanes we have some sort of warning. How do locals view them? Are they as big a threat as people who don't live in tornado prone areas seem to think? Does having a basement mean you will be safe if one does form?

[Curmudgeon]

They can be a huge threat but there are usually warnings about wind patterns that could develop into tornadoes and certainly warnings when one is spotted. We've had them close to us but have never been hit. As for basements, they can help.

[Arrby]

So far this year there have been two deaths from tornadoes in Louisiana, but none at all in Missouri. The number of recorded tornadoes per thousand square miles in the St. Louis area is between six and 10. This is in the same range as... Baton Rouge. See Tornado Alley :Tornado and Storm chaser Facts, Pictures and Weather Information .

The good news:
We almost always have a warning of many hours of an impending major storm. Modern communications make it easy to watch the track of a storm and to know if, or when to take cover. But it is true that there is the rare storm that pops up suddenly and becomes dangerous in minutes (Joplin, Mo., 2011).
Basements do reduce the risks to a near nullity. While the number of people in basements killed by tornadoes is not zero, it is very, very small.

Good luck to you.

[Floorist]

Most of us who actually live in tornado alley, don't worry too much. Deaths are rare.

[Scottiegal]

We take them in stride. They are fearsome but don't last long... I think the average tornado is like 15 minutes.

[Okey Dokie]

I have lived in the Midwest all of my 62 years and I've never seen a funnel cloud let alone a tornado on the ground.

As Arrby said above, tornado predicting is so sophisticated the NWS comes out in the morning and says there's a high chance of severe weather that afternoon. After a couple years you'll even be able to tell by yourself that the weather could turn severe.

Remember, a hurricane lasts for hours and the damage is wide spread. A tornado would pass over your house in a minute and then it's gone. A mile wide tornado is a big tornado. The chances of your home suffering a direct hit in a tornado are very slight. And you can look at pictures of tornado damage and you'll see a line of houses practically destroyed and there's a house without any damage at all.

Do not obsess about tornadoes. They'll tell you when to worry.

[MOforthewin]

While in recent years not always the case, BUT St. Louis seems to miss out on a lot of severe weather as it tends to move north of the metro or south of it as it approaches due to the heat island effect which causes the air to be drier over the metro area due to all the buildings and pavement. Notice when storms move across the river to the IL side over the moist farm lands and rural areas they suddenly explode, or when they're moving in a south direction away from St. Louis county and towards southern Jefferson county they suddenly intensify too.

Dave Murray talks about it a lot and how thunderstorms seem to weaken as they near Stl and they reform as they move away.

Of course this doesn't happen all the time as we saw in 2010, 2011, 2012 with major tornadoes in the area but it seems the case a lot. While the rest of Missouri outside KC and Stl seems to get rocked with severe weather more.

This is generally the case with most major metro areas. Dallas, Wichita, Kansas City big storms seem to weaken around it too, same with Oklahoma city, the two big tornadoes they had in 99 and 2013 were south of the city, but also they're in the heart of tornado alley which negates that factor someone.

The heat island though has proven to have less rainfall as well. St. Louis usually has lower dew points than other nearby more rural areas where it is more moist. Especially in the summer the rural areas might be two degrees cooler, but the high dew points make the air feel a lot more steamy.


I wouldn't worry about big tornadoes living in St. Louis. I'd be more concerned with the New Madrid going and a big earthquake someday.

The Goody Friday Tornado, the one in St. Charles in 2012 and the Sunset Hills ones don't happen much. Usually the tornadoes in St. Louis area are weak like ef-0 to ef1 and not very wide. They're not like what you see down in Southern Missouri like the Joplin one or Moore Oklahoma.

[brushrunner]

You can be ready by having a shelter which we don't. But there is warning by days if you watch the weather. Warm nice Weather with a Strong Cold Front coming in.


Watch Dry Lines, and Hook Echoes on Radar. Worse one I had coming at us was F3 It killed two people before getting to us, then split into two Tornadoes, came back together after getting by us killed another Man. This was very rare, the worst I had see in over 60 years


Tornadoes hit in a narrow line. To me around here Floods and Ice Storms are worse because the hit such a large area.


We was living in the middle of no where, Ice Storm knocked out Electric for two weeks. Because of Camping Gear and our knowledge we did well. Our main thing was Boredom we found Board Games and Reading helped a lot. Thing with Electric coming back on it is best to have it shut off coming into the House. Have seen Houses burn because of the sudden surge going into the House.


brushrunner

[Mathguy]

OP, I'm familiar with statistical models predicting weather events (which are based upon past history).

In short, St. Louis is rarely more susceptible to where you are coming from.

More hail risk perhaps but for something killer like wind or in your previous case wind\rain there is really no comparison.

The only thing that is more of a unplannable risk is earthquake. (google st. louis eq if this is news to you).

If you're terribly frightened by unexpected risk then if you have moved to St. lou, you should have water and other provisions prepared as their main risks could happen within seconds.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by brushrunner

You can be ready by having a shelter which we don't. But there is warning by days if you watch the weather. Warm nice Weather with a Strong Cold Front coming in.


Watch Dry Lines, and Hook Echoes on Radar. Worse one I had coming at us was F3 It killed two people before getting to us, then split into two Tornadoes, came back together after getting by us killed another Man. This was very rare, the worst I had see in over 60 years


Tornadoes hit in a narrow line. To me around here Floods and Ice Storms are worse because the hit such a large area.


We was living in the middle of no where, Ice Storm knocked out Electric for two weeks. Because of Camping Gear and our knowledge we did well. Our main thing was Boredom we found Board Games and Reading helped a lot. Thing with Electric coming back on it is best to have it shut off coming into the House. Have seen Houses burn because of the sudden surge going into the House.


brushrunner

Wind aka Tornado risk is pretty minor. NOt that it's worth preparing for but still.

THe eventual St. Louis EQ is the big risk to anyone in the area.