Devastation in Iowa City Tonight

Glad to hear things are fine, at least for you. I guess it's going to be
some interesting times in the near future, watching and helping with the
cleanup and rebuilding. You weren't kidding about having a foot on a banana
peel.

By the way, Mr. English Major:

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
[...]
It took my son and I...

What's up with that?



I hope you're wrong about the casualties. Guess we'll find out soon enough
about that.

Pete

Wow - great story! You convey the feeling very well.
Saw one of those in Minneapolis back in the early '80's. Right in the city.
As you say, the wind stopped - then it poured such a heavy rain - I've never
seen rain like that. The funnel went through several miles from where I was. I
remember an MTC bus ended up in an auto parts store - Inside the display
window - almost looked like they were selling it.

I'm amazed you're having 85 degree evenings in Iowa City in mid April.
Is this typical?

I'm amazed you're having 85 degree evenings in Iowa City in mid April.
Is this typical?

No! We beat the temperature record for yesterday by over ten degrees.

Very unusual weather, for April.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article . com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

I'm amazed you're having 85 degree evenings in Iowa City in mid April.
Is this typical?

No! We beat the temperature record for yesterday by over ten degrees.
Very unusual weather, for April.

Glad to hear to and yours came through it alright.

Look at the temperature difference before and after the storm. That is
what causes the rotation.
Remember that NEXRAD has a minimum eight-minute lag between the actual
weather and what is diplayed. Your local doppler radar displays the
actual conditions.
When the airport gets de-fodded, take Atlas up and photograph the damage
path. It will not be difficult to determine where it begins and ends.
(Please post if possible.)

The path of the tornado that hit the norther Cincinnati suburbs ten(?)
years ago was incredibile to follow. The industrial park behind my
sisters house was leveled. An industrial building 50 yards behind her
house disappeared, yet the trees on the fenceline and her house were
unscathed.
That storm prompted every member of our family to purchase weather
radios. Radio Shack had waiting lists for every model for over six
months.

"john smith" wrote

Look at the temperature difference before and after the storm. That is
what causes the rotation.

Not exactly. That is one factor, though, in the strength of the storm.
--
Jim in NC

That record-high teperature no doubt was a contributing factor to the
tornado.

AJ

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm amazed you're having 85 degree evenings in Iowa City in mid April.
Is this typical?

No! We beat the temperature record for yesterday by over ten degrees.

Very unusual weather, for April.
--

Those dewpoints in the mid and high sixties helped, too.

You might review the KIOW METAR for the past 36 hours...

.... and note that it, being a TSNO AUTO, does not quite provide the same
sense of the situation, when compared to your first-person observation.

("Greg Farris" wrote)
Wow - great story! You convey the feeling very well. Saw one of those in
Minneapolis back in the early '80's. Right in the city.


There are a lot of stories like yours because that '81 tornado made a path
right through BOTH cities, and a number of suburbs, too. It was a Saturday
or Sunday afternoon.

My brother-in-law's parent's house didn't even have a broken window, house
next door was leveled. (Roseville).

In '84 my gal came out of a health club very near Apache Plaza, with her
sisters, to find Beirut in the parking lot - her car spared. She said they
zigged and zagged around all of the destruction and upturned vehicles - and
got the heck out of there. There was a snowstorm the next day.
http://apacheplaza.com/tornado.html

I'm amazed you're having 85 degree evenings in Iowa City in mid April.
Is this typical?

Record High of 84 in Minneapolis yesterday (Thursday).


Montblack

There are a lot of stories like yours because that '81 tornado made a path
right through BOTH cities, and a number of suburbs, too. It was a Saturday
or Sunday afternoon.

Don't recall the year, but we were getting ready for a July 4th
"Show-n-Go" drag race/ car show weekend at Brainerd Int'l Raceway, just
north of Brainerd, MN.

(Obligatory aviation content: the raceway ("BIR") is also an airport
(MY55) see: http://www.airnav.com/airport/MY55 - the 1 mile long front
straight-away/ drag strip is the runway. Just be mindful of the ~3 foot
tall (came up to about mid-thigh on me, when I was working out there,
years ago,) solid concrete crash walls along both sides for the middle
1/2 mile or so. Gives a new meaning to "keep it on the center line.")

[we join our tonado story already in progress...]
I was out checking the PA system and what not as contestants were lined
up with their cars on/ in trailers, getting registered. Bright sun
shine, but some evil looking cloud off to the west/northwest, couldn't
see too far as the tree line gets in the way. Got word that a tornado
was on the ground (I know, its redundant, its not a tornado, until it
touches down) and had messed pretty severly with a campground to the
west. Tornado warning was issued and and we started around with the
ambulance warning people in the track's camp grounds to take cover.

We got back around to the entrance road and down on to the track with
the ambulances and fire truck hundled under the spectaor bridge
crossing the track, just as it came over the trees. This was before we
learned it was bad to be under bridges and such. We just shoved people
under and around the rigs and covered up best as we could. It went over
us, just off the end of the bridge and we were picking straw (crash
barriers on some parts of teh road course) and other debris out our
hair and clothes for some time after that. Still bright and sunny, you
could call it "isolated" almost, the cell was so small.

Got the people's fingers peeled off the running boards of the
ambulance, where they were hanging on with all they had and took off
around the track to check for injuries. Well, we were just a little too
eager and we had to slow down so we wouldn't over take the tornado.
They pull over about as well as some drivers do, in response to red
lights and siren. Anyway, no injuries found. Damage wasn't too bad,
porta-potties dumped over, several thousand feet of power/
communications lines down and poles snapped off or pushed over, and the
most amazing thing - In the long line of participants lined up to
register, which was just to the north of the bridge we hid under, was a
3/4 ton (?) pickup with a flatbed trailer hauling his show car,
attached. The pickup was perfectly fine, save for the trailer hitch was
twisted 180 degrees with the trailer and car still attached, only
upside down. I'll have to see if I still have any photos around.

The next day, Saturday, races were delayed until around lunch time, so
we could get the power back in action and some of the mess cleaned up.
But the souvenier vendors were not swayed, they showed up Sunday with
those little "tornado in a jar" thingies that you swirl around and form
a little whirlpool inside "I survived the BIR Twister" - sold out, if I
remember correctly. T-Shirts showed up at the next race.

Glad to hear all of you and yours are safe and more or less sound, Jay.
Always enjoy your write ups. You should do a book someday!

Randy

By the way, Mr. English Major:

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
It took my son and I...

What's up with that?

Hey, it was 1 AM when I finished that. No proof reading. Gimme a
break...

;-)

I hope you're wrong about the casualties. Guess we'll find out soon enough
about that.

Dunno yet. Last I heard there were injuries, but no fatalaties -- but I
just woke up. The front page of our newspaper is loaded with pictures
that look like London in the Blitz.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"