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View Poll Results: Which story would create the most JUNE news for its location?
June snow in Minneapolis 5 19.23%
Early season hurricane in Miami 1 3.85%
F0 tornadoes touching down in Times Square in NYC 17 65.38%
Los Angeles getting rain and thunderstorms 3 11.54%
Phoenix setting a new all time record high 0 0%
Voters: 26. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 05-18-2013, 11:39 AM
 
Location: HERE
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
Note that unlike the interior of the country, and like New England, most tornadoes were summer or early September, when thunderstorm activity is highest here and the most humid air available. (The early September peak corresponds to max sea temperatures).
Quote:
Originally Posted by AdriannaSmiling View Post
Could a tornado theoretically strike downtown San Francisco?
Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
Maybe, it sounds close to impossible. Some photos of tornado damage in New York City:

Deadly storm smacks city - NY Daily News

The EF0 tornadoes listed aren't really too different from a windy thunderstorm.
I did some more research on the subject and came up with some surprising findings in regards to tornadoes here.

Not quite downtown SF- but an F2 tornado has struck Sunnyvale (40 miles from SF) in 1998. Business | Tornado Rips Up Trees, Roofs In California's Silicon Valley | Seattle Times Newspaper
I was in second grade back then so I only paid attention to what happened in my immediate world (lived about 20 miles from where the tornado hit and never remember hearing about it).

Also tornadoes are not as rare as I thought in the SF Bay Area- Tornadoes in San Francisco, Calif. (1950-2011) - weather.com
13 tornadoes touched down since 1950- Note that they all happened in winter or spring.

Compare that to 11 tornadoes in the NYC area since 1950- all happening in summer or fall.
Tornadoes in New York City (1950-2011) - weather.com

How freaking weird!

Last edited by AdriannaSmiling; 05-18-2013 at 11:51 AM..
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Old 05-18-2013, 12:34 PM
 
Location: New York
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Wow, only 13 tornadoes (including the two in 2012) in NYC since 1950? That means 54% of NYC's tornadoes since 1950 have occurred within the past 5 years.

And San Francisco is one of the last major cities in the country that I would expect to experience a tornado, the climate just seems so stable.
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Old 05-18-2013, 12:49 PM
 
Location: Near the Coast SWCT
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
I wonder if all the skyscrapers would have an effect on tornadoes?



Since 1990, the greatest June daily rainfall in LA was 0.76 inches.

based on that stat, I choose D..... after I choose A. Snow in June would be news popping since they dont get any snow in June.

Snowfall Summary - 215435 MINNEAPOLIS WSFO AP, MN
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Old 05-18-2013, 01:53 PM
 
Location: HERE
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Infamous92 View Post
Wow, only 13 tornadoes (including the two in 2012) in NYC since 1950? That means 54% of NYC's tornadoes since 1950 have occurred within the past 5 years.

And San Francisco is one of the last major cities in the country that I would expect to experience a tornado, the climate just seems so stable.
That proves a point- When people say stuff like, "That weather event is impossible for the location," it's not necessarily true- it just means it's extremely rare or unlikely but NOT impossible.

There were some comments in another another thread I posted about a hypothetical freak heat wave in the Faroe Islands (which are an extremely stable maritime subarctic climate), saying that a heat wave of that magnitude was IMPOSSIBLE for that location; see- Which climatic event would cause the most consternation (FREAKING OUT) among its locals?- GLOBAL EDITION

If an F2 tornado can hit the SF Bay Area in May (one of our duller months in our already stable climate- our most "eventful" weather happens in January or February), a heat wave seems entirely feasible, even though unlikely, in extreme maritime climates such as the Faroe Islands, Aleutian islands of Alaska, extreme southern Chile.

Rare and unlikely does NOT mean impossible. Where do you draw the line between rare, extremely rare, a one time outlier event, unlikely, highly unlikely, and actually impossible?

F0 tornadoes may touch down in rural parts of Northern California but the F2 touching down in the heart of heavily populated Sunnyvale was clearly an outlier event as so could a freak heat wave in the Faroe Islands potentially happen as another "outlier event." Is that a fair comparison or not?

Last edited by AdriannaSmiling; 05-18-2013 at 02:11 PM..
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Old 05-18-2013, 02:22 PM
 
Location: Leeds, UK
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But there is absolutely nothing that would cause temperatures in the mid-90s to occur in the Faroe Islands, such heat is almost always restricted to large landmasses. Even getting such high temperatures is very challenging for many tropical climates that experience more-or-less constant temperatures annually.
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Old 05-18-2013, 02:33 PM
 
Location: HERE
2,043 posts, read 3,874,973 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dunno what to put here View Post
But there is absolutely nothing that would cause temperatures in the mid-90s to occur in the Faroe Islands, such heat is almost always restricted to large landmasses. Even getting such high temperatures is very challenging for many tropical climates that experience more-or-less constant temperatures annually.
San Francisco has average summer highs in the 60s F and is often foggy and windy with temperatures in the mid 50s on July evenings while it is sunny and 85 F only 40 miles inland. Yet, even San Francisco has a freak heat wave every few years-their all time record high is 103 F. So why can't something like that happen in Torshavn? Even Anchorage, Alaska has an all time record high of 92 F.
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Old 05-18-2013, 02:51 PM
 
Location: Leeds, UK
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San Francisco is located on a continent. Ditto for Anchorage, Alaska, which has much warmer summers than Torshavn.
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Old 05-18-2013, 07:24 PM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

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Location: Western Massachusetts
46,009 posts, read 53,324,806 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AdriannaSmiling View Post
San Francisco has average summer highs in the 60s F and is often foggy and windy with temperatures in the mid 50s on July evenings while it is sunny and 85 F only 40 miles inland. Yet, even San Francisco has a freak heat wave every few years-their all time record high is 103 F. So why can't something like that happen in Torshavn? Even Anchorage, Alaska has an all time record high of 92 F.
Right along the coast the record is 99°F. And interestingly, both June and July have never recorded above 90°F, perhaps the months when the onshore influence is strongest.

SAN FRANCISCO RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA - Climate Summary

Then take a station that sticks out more in the ocean.

POINT REYES LIGHT ST, CALIFORNIA Period of Record General Climate Summary - Temperature

Only thirty years of data, but never recorded more than 90°F.
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Old 05-19-2013, 11:14 AM
 
Location: HERE
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
Right along the coast the record is 99°F. And interestingly, both June and July have never recorded above 90°F, perhaps the months when the onshore influence is strongest.

SAN FRANCISCO RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA - Climate Summary

Then take a station that sticks out more in the ocean.

POINT REYES LIGHT ST, CALIFORNIA Period of Record General Climate Summary - Temperature

Only thirty years of data, but never recorded more than 90°F.
Thanks for the link- interesting tables- Even I didn't realize how much cooler the immediate coast is than downtown SF and I go up there a few times each summer. I find that site very interesting for looking at historical data, getting averages, and looking for outlier events.
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Old 05-23-2013, 09:01 PM
 
Location: New York
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Infamous92 View Post
Tornadoes in NYC aren't exactly unprecedented, the city has had 7 of them since 2007.

EF1 (Staten Island) - August 8th, 2007
EF2 (Brooklyn) - August 8th, 2007
EF1 (Bronx) - July 25th, 2010
EF0 (Brooklyn) - September 16th, 2010
EF1 (Queens) - September 16th, 2010
EF0 (Queens) - September 8th, 2012
EF1 (Brooklyn) - September 8th, 2012

Even still, a tornado striking Times Square would definitely make the most news, since it's Times Square. Although, to me, June snow in Minneapolis would be the most impressive from a meteorological standpoint.
I forgot one, an EF0 touched down in Queens on August 28th, 2011....during Hurricane Irene.

So NYC has seen 8 tornadoes in the past 5 years, which is an impressive figure for any municipality, let alone a major city that's outside of tornado/dixie alley.
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