How Super Tornadoes Are Born

Super tornados are born when a father tornado and a mother tornado love each other very much.

There were four storm chasers who died in El Reno 2013, not three. Samaras and team TWISTEX were 3, but the 4th was a gentleman named Richard Henderson. He may have been an amateur chaser, but he mattered.

As some one who was born and raised in Kansas I can attest when there's a tornado on the horizon we just watch it from the porch until it's too close.

Storm Chasers are some of the absolute craziest yet most bad-ass people in the world. You can not help but respect their dedication and passion for science.

Hi, Storm Chaser here! Love the video and that you’re trying to educate people on everything tornadoes, but as someone who studies them and chases dozens of tornadoes a year, I have a few things to say about this video. The United States see’s on a couple to a few violent tornadoes every year, with typically 2-4 tornadoes a year being violent. Violent tornadoes are usually classified as any tornado that is EF-4 to EF-5 strength, and in 2023 we have only had (so far) 2 violent tornadoes. Forecasting for tornadoes can sometimes be as accurate as 8 days in advance, not an 8.4 minute lead-time. That is tornado warnings you are referring to. Just to add context onto the mesocyclone part, a mesocyclone is not a tornado, but is apart of the rotating part of the thunderstorm. Typically you see a mesocyclone in the lower to middle/upper levels of a thunderstorm, which will then sometimes form a wall-cloud which then develop a tornado. The EF (Enhanced Fujita) scale is based on damage a tornado does, however, you can have a completely slabbed house and it only be rated EF-3. Why? Because it was poorly built. Structures swept clear off their foundation isn’t necessarily indicative of an EF-5 tornado. The Bridge Creek-Moore Oklahoma tornado was classified as an F-5, not an EF-5 as the EF scale wasn't released until 2007. I have never heard of any documentation stating that scientists at the time saying the Bridge Creek-Moore Oklahoma tornado should’ve been classified as an F-6, I would love to see any documentation you have for that. Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young (may they rest in Peace) were certainly not the first storm chasers to be killed by a tornado. Tornado warnings issued by NWS WFOs (Weather Forecast Offices) that don’t develop an actual tornado are not false alarms. They issued that tornado warning because rapid rotation was either radar indicated, a rapidly rotating wall-cloud was spotted, or a funnel cloud was spotted.

Perfect!!! Time to restart my tornado obsession and find a bunch of storm hunting videos and terrify myself with them

El Reno was absolutely wild because of the paths and directions it would take being so unusual when compared to others.

I live just Southwest of Birmingham, AL., nearly halfway between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. We call this our Tornado Alley. During the 2011 outbreak, I stood on my porch and watched massive funnel clouds pass narrowly to the north and south of us - some less than a mile away. It was both a scary and wondrous sight. I have also had the experience of being in my house and watching my roof and ceiling disappear into the dark sky as what sounded like several locomotives going overhead. It was the most terrifying night of my life. I am 63 and a lifetime resident of Alabama. In those years, I have seen uncountable destruction cause by tornadoes - both large and small. Unlike the plains of the Midwest, we have hilly, forested terrain that doesn't allow us to see tornadoes approaching from miles away. In the past, we had to rely on sirens that usually gave us but moments of warning. Now we rely on much more sophisticated Doppler radar that has been strategically placed along the usual tornado paths. Knowledgeable, well-trained Meteorologist now can give us street-by-street information and minute-by-minute warnings. However, when an F4-5 tornado comes your way there is very little you can do. A "Finger of God" EF5 tornado leaves nothing in its direct path but barren ground that looks as if it has been churned by a large plow. I would not wish the experience on anyone. In our state, nearly everyone has been touched by tornadoes in some way.

DO NOT stop your vehicle under or near a bridge to use it for shelter from a tornado; the bridge funnels the air through, making things WORSE , and wind speed is faster with height so sheltering up under the bridge beams is doubly worse. Crowding at bridges also blocks traffic. Caught on the road you should pull the vehicle over, get far away from it, and lie flat in a ditch. Also, not all tornadoes form visible funnels. Sometimes the only clue there's a tornado touching the ground is the dust cloud it kicks up. Just sharing this info for any who might not know. Cars clogging bridge underpasses near tornados is a big problem, and it's a worse place to be anyway.

I used to wanna become a storm chaser as a kid lol

Tornados are so normal to those of us in the Midwest, but by just description, they sound eldritch. The storms that spawn them often the kind that turn the sky green, they strike almost arbitrarily, with detection difficult considering they appear during massive storms that tend to include heavy rain. Like the finger of some angry god coming from the skies to destroy.

I survived the 12-10-2021 Mayfield KY tornado, The Quad State Tornado Outbreak working at the candle factory , we went to the bathrooms area, the strongest part of the building ! 9 people die. A high end EF4 in the darkness of night was a nightmare !

I lived less than a quarter mile from the path of the 1999 Bridge Creek/Moore tornado. I will never forget the sound of that vortex as long as I live. Two streets over there was nothing but foundation slabs as far as you could see.

North East Ohio just got hit with 5 tornadoes over a single night. I consult for the power company in the area and it is a hell of a mess to clean up. Meanwhile I live an hour area and didn't get much more than some rain. These storms are crazy. I also forget the rest of the world really doesn't deal with these storms.

Eh, minor issue: the 1999 Bridge Creek tornado was rated F5 as it was before the Enhanced Fujita Scale was designed and implemented. I believe it was the 1999 Bridge Creek tornado that helped push the need for improvement to the Fujita scale, although I think the efforts to make improvements to it began with a previous tornado that I can't remember the name of at the moment (it leveled a poorly-built suburb in Texas, I think). I think it was the measured wind speeds in combination with the damage that really pushed the need for a better and more inclusive scale. As it is, there's arguments over whether or not we need to refine the Enhanced Fujita Scale further. IDK, I think ppl tend to put too much emphasis on what rating the tornado got. An EF2 can be deadly if it hits a mobile home park. How deadly the tornado was often has more to do with its path (and specifically what and who is in that path) than the actual rating/wind speeds. I know, ppl like "big numbers" and that's why they like to make a big deal out of the ratings. And when they see a tornado that was very deadly or caused a ton of damage, naturally ppl want it to be seen as a major tornado and hence want it to be rated very high.

Ginger Zee is one of my favorite Scientists. She lost a band of Tornado Hunter friends to one of these monsters. 💔 The videos in this are fearful and disturbing, but also deceivingly beautiful. ❤ Thank you, to all of you for your really great work on this!

Respect to all news reporters ❤ I'm a meteorologist but I never left the office. You're the heros who brings us what's going on outside 👍🏼 thank you

If you're not from a tornado-prone area and visit us in tornado alley in the spring, beware you'll often hear an air raid siren around noon: this is a test, don't worry 😅

Highly recommend the book “The Man Who Caught the Storm” by Brantley Hargrove. Tells the story of Tim and gives an excellent look into the history and development of storm chasing.

Tim Samaras is not the only meteorologist killed in the el Reno tornado. Carl Young was a metrologies. Also, Tim Samaras always pronounced his own name Sa-mare-us. Mare as in female horse. Tim’s son was also killed. He was a chaser and photographer. A fourth amateur storm chaser was also killed.