Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sunday's Tornadoes
The Metro Area was struck by two confirmed tornadoes last Sunday. The best news is that there we no serious injuries. The tornado that hit Saint Charles, in Charles County, was an EF0. Saint Charles is located just north of La Plata and ironically we are fast approaching the six year anniversary of the La Plata tornado. The twister touched down shortly after 2PM on Sunday afternoon. The National Weather Service has estimated the winds at 80 mph with this tornado. The storm tracked north after it first touched down at the intersection of Renner Road and Route 5. Several larges trees were downed on cars and houses.
The other tornado was an EF1 with winds of 100 mph. At 2:37 PM this tornado struck the town of Chillum, which is just west of Hyattsville. One section of the roof of George Peters Adventist Elementary School was lifted off. The length of the path of the twister was about one third of a mile. Debris was carried across Riggs Road. Debris is what causes the injuries and fatalities. Everyday objects become deadly projectiles in tornadoes. When a tornado warning is issued you should take shelter immediately in the basement or an interior room. Always stay away from windows. You might want to sign up for our 9 CustomCast. (wusa9.com) In addition to four neighborhood specific forecasts it also offers severe weather notification all for free.
Enhanced Fujita Scale
From 1971 until February 1st, 2007 we have used the Fujita Scale to rank the severity (wind speed) of tornadoes. We now use the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Engineers and meteorologists have studied damage from tornadoes over the years and it was concluded that the Fujita scale rated wind speeds too high for its correlated damage. It is now believed that lower wind speeds cause the same amount of damage. No tornado on or before January 31st will be re-categorized to the new scale. This sort of reminds of grade inflation. Now we will hear about more EF3’s thanks to a reduction in the criteria wind speeds from 158 – 206 to 136 to 165. For example, an F0 tornado should produce winds up to 72 mph. The Enhanced scale defined an F0 with winds between 65 and 85 mph. An F1’s winds are 73 to 112 while on the new scale the winds are 86 to 110 mph. Not too different so far. An old F2 winds are 113 to 57 mph while on the new scale it is 111 to 135 mph. An F3’s winds were 158 – 206 are now 136 to 165 mph. The old F4’s winds were 207 to 260 are now 166 to 200 mph. The F5 was anything over 260 mph is now any tornado with winds over 200 mph. ¶ 4:51 PM
The other tornado was an EF1 with winds of 100 mph. At 2:37 PM this tornado struck the town of Chillum, which is just west of Hyattsville. One section of the roof of George Peters Adventist Elementary School was lifted off. The length of the path of the twister was about one third of a mile. Debris was carried across Riggs Road. Debris is what causes the injuries and fatalities. Everyday objects become deadly projectiles in tornadoes. When a tornado warning is issued you should take shelter immediately in the basement or an interior room. Always stay away from windows. You might want to sign up for our 9 CustomCast. (wusa9.com) In addition to four neighborhood specific forecasts it also offers severe weather notification all for free.
Enhanced Fujita Scale
From 1971 until February 1st, 2007 we have used the Fujita Scale to rank the severity (wind speed) of tornadoes. We now use the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Engineers and meteorologists have studied damage from tornadoes over the years and it was concluded that the Fujita scale rated wind speeds too high for its correlated damage. It is now believed that lower wind speeds cause the same amount of damage. No tornado on or before January 31st will be re-categorized to the new scale. This sort of reminds of grade inflation. Now we will hear about more EF3’s thanks to a reduction in the criteria wind speeds from 158 – 206 to 136 to 165. For example, an F0 tornado should produce winds up to 72 mph. The Enhanced scale defined an F0 with winds between 65 and 85 mph. An F1’s winds are 73 to 112 while on the new scale the winds are 86 to 110 mph. Not too different so far. An old F2 winds are 113 to 57 mph while on the new scale it is 111 to 135 mph. An F3’s winds were 158 – 206 are now 136 to 165 mph. The old F4’s winds were 207 to 260 are now 166 to 200 mph. The F5 was anything over 260 mph is now any tornado with winds over 200 mph. ¶ 4:51 PM
