Blowin’ In The Wind……
What the heck is up with the Weather?….. Has someone came up with a weather control device and attacking the World, or, have we just finally ruined our Planet?….. There were 170 tornadoes in the U.S. just yesterday alone…… We only have two seasons in Oklahoma now – Winter and Summer….. We’re 15-20 degrees warmer than normal right now…… Any theories out there?…..
May 27th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I’ll apologize for this before I say it….. It’s just one of those things that pops in your head, you know…… One of those tornadoes hit a pig farm in NE Oklahoma and turned it into bacon bits…… I know that’s in poor taste (unless you like bacon)….. Like I said, it just popped in my head like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters…..
Speaking of tornadoes – I saw on the weather this morning that we have had a total of 981 tornadoes so far in 2008….. The previous 3-year average is 539….. Things are not right in the atmosphere……
May 27th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Seems the jet stream is out of wack.
May 27th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
A wacky air stream, eh?….. What would cause the wackiness and how do we unwack it?……
Update on the tornado count – As of today, we’ve had 1,055 of them this year….. That’s right at double the 539 3-year average….. We definitely need to do something about that wacky jet stream or start moving into caves……
May 29th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
HuskySooner is the best to comment/interpret all this. My guess is that these are more in the F2 or smaller category than F4s.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Yeah, HS is the one….. The latest I heard is that 2008 – right now – is second only to 1998 in total tornadoes, and, this is only May….. They are predicting that 2008 is going to be a new all-time record…… …… And, it’s still 15-20 degrees above normal here with lots of humidity….. A nice outdoor steam bath, and, I’m sorting out stuff in an enclosed storage shed….. Pass me a towel please…..
May 30th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
It’s most likely related to the fact that we’re in the La Nina phase of ENSO, and the general consensus is that this makes the overall conditions (mainly the jet stream) more conducive for strong thunderstorms and tornadoes.
Keep in mind that we can’t really compare tornado totals from this year with, say, those from 1965. Only recently have they been sampled completely enough that the total number is anywhere near believable.
To me, 2008 just looks like a very busy year. Keep in mind that 3-4 April 1974 sets the standard:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Outbreak
(Writing from sunny and dry Phoenix)
May 31st, 2008 at 9:32 am
…I meant that the super outbreak sets the standard for a single day.
May 31st, 2008 at 12:27 pm
So, an El Nino year has less tornadoes????
May 31st, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I think that’s generally accepted.