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Tim Samaras, a native of Lakewood, Colo., holds the Guinness World Record for the greatest pressure drop ever measured inside a tornado. Storm chasers should absolutely pull off the road and yield to emergency vehicles as well as people trying to escape. In the area of voting, the main problem seems to be the expenditure of great amounts of outrage and, which I've posted on before there are new developments, summarized at Inside Climate News: Thankfully, I got out of it with just a few minor injuries and broken windows, but if a monster tornado happens people will not be as lucky as I was. Please be respectful of copyright. They didn't happen to be overrun by a killer tornado at the time. Their car was found upright in a ditch with its wheels blown off and the engine a quarter-mile away. Those media outlets need to do a more professional job and take their responsibility as journalists rather than entertainers more seriously (generally, not just with respect to tornadoes). ScienceBlogs is a registered trademark of Science 2.0, a science media nonprofit operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. please note that I did not claim in my post what you claim I claimed. And we cannot "go to the sun" or other planets where it's abundant and "scoop it up and bring it back to earth". But, the idea of outrunning instead of staying home was on people's minds because of things that had been said earlier in various media. Flood waters up to 4ft deep hampered rescue attempts and frequent lightning roiled the skies well after the main threat had passed to the east. Samaras' Chevy Cobalt was traveling east down a dirt road with the tornado to his south. Samaras shows probes he uses to measure. The . More than 200,000 were left without power in the impacted areas. In fact, while writing this post I wondered what the three scientists were thinking as their car, and other cars, were hemmed in with a traffic jam that seems to have been caused by inappropriate reactions by a large number of people. The kitchen windows blew in and Pa slid across the kitchen floor and we hid down under the stairs! Scientists just confirmed a 30-foot void first detected inside the monument years ago. So, lets go back to the advice again. I've had several police hop in my car to look at radar and ask for opinions while chasing because they are not equipt with it. Please make a tax-deductible donation if you value independent science communication, collaboration, participation, and open access. Humans enjoy challenges that involve risk and admire those who "cheat death". But, I suspect I know why you proposed that idea. Another thing I noticed that was looked over in this article was the unique conditions that were present at the time that Tim and his crew were killed by the storm. But the main circulation was crawling with smaller tornadoes, some moving at speeds of 260 feet per second (177 mph), according to the report. I would say to such folks the same thing a fire chief would say to people who are not trained, qualified, or equipped to study burning office buildings but feel that somehow being close to one would help them provide insights about fire safety: "Move along, you're not helping but just getting in the way here. Oklahoma City has a similar population level to Cairns and Brisbane. This one didn't. It is not inforceable. Television cameras showed debris falling from the sky west of Oklahoma City and power transformers being knocked out by high winds across a wider area. The gas you'd save would easily pay for a shovel. 'Our hearts also go out to the Carl Young family as well as they are feeling the same feelings we are today. It's a valuable industrial & research gas. I'm not sure about your claim that there was not a traffic jam, that conflicts with everything else I've heard. 'The fact that it could happen to someone like Tim, it could happen to me, it could happen to anybody. Or was it a rotating thunderstorm (a supercell) with small- to moderate-sized tornadoes swirling about one another? There are some similarities to people doing volcano research, in that people doing it know they have a high risk of death if they happen to be on duty when the eruption occurs. The violent winds enveloped Tim Samaras, 55, his son Paul Samaras, 24, and his colleague Carl Young, 45, toppling their car like a toy in a breeze. I am not a believer in public shelters, so we need more people to take advantage of state and county rebate programs to get their own shelters. He almost certainly didn't know that the rain-shrouded vortex was hooking toward him, to the northeast, and that he had entered its circulation. >>> I support this 100%. Do not rely on others, including the T.V. The elder Samaras' body was still belted into their Chevrolet Cobalt, which was found on an unimproved county road parallel to Interstate 40. The Weather Channel's severe weather expert, Dr. Greg Forbes, knew Tim personally. Rather, his team would predict the path and drop machines on the ground designed to directly measure variables such as temperature, humidity, wind and so on, but with the team and their vehicles getting out of the way before the tornado comes. El Reno Mayor Matt White said that while his city of 18,000 residents suffered significant damage including its vocational-technical center and a cattle stockyard that was reduced to a pile of twisted metal he said it could have been much worse had the violent twister tracked to the north. Also my brother was forced to move to Oklahoma for a job just last week only days after the tornado in this article struck Oklahoma city. Alliteratively, if you are in a car and hit by the vortex of an F3 or stronger tornado, your chances of survival are much lower. He also starred in the Discovery Channel series Storm Chasers. I've been reading Jeff Masters' blog regularly. North Atlantic hurricanes sometimes do unexpected things as well, such as acquire a forward speed of nearly 100 km/h (the 1938 "Long Island Express" hurricane) or cross Florida twice (I'm forgetting which of the hurricanes in the last ten years did this). Hopefully, that lesson will be learned immediately. I am hereby referring you and all readers to the comments. A finite resource. With the severe weather knocking out power to nearly 120,000 customers in Oklahoma, according to electricity provider OG&E. I do not understand the need for 'storm chasers' when we have the 503 WRS that routinely punches holes in tornados and drops sondes. When told to seek shelter, many ventured out and snarled traffic across the metro area - perhaps remembering the damage from May 20. A man's body was found about 1 p.m. on Saturday in a creek just east of Dobbs Road in Harrah, said Mark Myers, a spokesman with the Oklahoma County Sheriff's office. Another example of this on a NATIONAL level and not just a local level is Season 5 episode 6 of Storm Chasers (The discovery channel show that followed three chaser groups) where Joel Taylor, Reed Timmer, and Chris Chittick all call friends and family on their cellphones advising them to drive away from Yukon, OK and Norman, OK. Actually pointing those in Yukon into the path of the Pidemont, OK tornado. In his twenties, he began to chase tornadoes for the science and humanity's safety every spring all over the United States until his tragic death. When the amateur storm chasers descend upon the same area they create a real hazard for the professionals by blocking escape routes. I remember my wife telling me a few years ago about her retail stores tornado policy which was contrary to everything I knew about safety during a storm. Skip Talbot makes this point. Amy Williamson, who lives just off I-40 in the western Oklahoma City suburb of Yukon, said when she heard the tornado was heading towards her home, she put her children, baby sitter and cats in her car and drove away. If you want to walk down Main Street, in downtown America, you can do that, because it is America. Now they've got cameras that take a picture showing the red light, showing your car going through the red light, and showing the license plate on your car going through the red light. Probably not. It isn't just the clouds that appear smooth, but aren't if you zoom in close. 'That's a very unwise thing to do because it's the absolute worst place you can be during a tornado.'. I don't know all that much about chasing so I recognize that there could be some logistical problems with my above statements. Thanks for contacting us. Also, we all have to take responsibility for our own safety and try and do what's best for you. In many cases, a law is unenforceable at face value, but when something goes wrong it suddenly becomes part of the equation. Obviously it's hindsight now that Tim and his crew were not caught up in any traffic jam and in fact the opposite. In Missouri three people died in three counties after rivers rose to dangerous levels, and in Arkansas a sheriff was killed by flooding in Scott County on Friday. It will NEVER happen. Roughly speaking, this is the equivalent of driving down the highway at several tens of miles an hour and suddenly flipping, three or four times. That would stop several people right there. That was the sound of nuance rushing by your libertarian ear. -Benoit Mandelbrot #2. the storm went from a mile wide wedge to a 2.6 mile record breaking monster in an extremely rapid time, usually people 1 mile away from the storm would be safe or even 2 miles away but in this case it dropped on people 2 miles away, more so i don't believe it was a traffic jam as opposed to the rapid size increase and the sudden change in course. At the same time, many helpful comments have been added to the post. My humble opinions: Tim Samaras of Storm Chasers 5 7 (1.70 m) Born November 12, 1957 Lakewood, Colorado, USA Died May 31, 2013 El Reno, Oklahoma, USA (tornado) Spouse Kathy Samaras? And, as I think I've said several time, Tim and his crew were professionals, making an important contribution. Emergency officials reported numerous injuries in the area along I-40, and Randolph said there were toppled and wrecked cars littering the area. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman predicted a slight chance of severe weather in the Northeast on Sunday, mainly from the Washington, D.C., area to northern Maine. [sic] I look at it that he is in the 'big tornado in the sky'. Hail and high winds were the chief threat, though a tornado could not be ruled out, forecasters said. 'Mile Wide Tornado' originally aired Sunday and focuses on the May 20 tornado that devastated a wide swatch of Oklahoma. A new book chronicles his harrowing last days Maya Wei-Haas April 4, 2018 The tornado that touched down near El. Like wadded up,' he told the Washington Post. People who chase storms need to back off a little bit. But seriously, I'll be talking about the story of the current, In every area of life, but especially in the overlapping realms of technology, science, and health, misunderstanding how things work can be widespread, and that misunderstanding can lead to problems. With the regulation that you are proposing, what would you suggest to someone who doesn't have the tools or money to contribute their chasing to science, but simply would like to witness the beauty of mother nature, and is educated enough on storms to make smart decisions to not pose a danger to others? The people who drove away did find shelter after what sounded like a very fearful drive. Officials described parts of Interstates 35 and 40 near Oklahoma City as 'a parking lot.'. I also think its called natural selection. Pay attention to what he says. The officers had to contend with hail and strong winds as they worked to help motorists. At the time that Samaras, his son, and his colleague, were crushed to death inside their tornado-chasing car, which was apparently rolled by the force of 200-300 mile an hour winds over a distance of a half mile or so, it was said by numerous news sources that this car had been trapped by a traffic jam caused by looky-loos who wanted to see the tornado and/or people sent out on the roads by a local weather reporter to "escape." This is an enormous loss for his family, his wide circle of friends and colleagues and National Geographic.'. I remember Pa wearing this Civil Defense helmet and he was chirping on this big ol' walky talky! Here's the before photo, of Mr. Samaras' car. Common sense will tell you to collect the data that meteorologist have had for years about how tornado's form and come up with an idea that makes these conditions less favorable maybe even do tests on a smaller scale. Or, amateurs could get to a good viewing area well ahead of anticipated severe weather, and then stay put and off the road. In fact, one could argue that a new law is not needed and this power is already available to police and emergency response agencies. Bart, the fact that the tornado was extreme is certainly the biggest factor, but I did not overlook the fact that this event (these storm chasers getting killed as well as three others luckily surviving a badly rolled over car). Tim was a couple of miles south of interstate. One minute you're sitting there watching TV, the next minute your whole neighborhood looks like it was jammed through a meat grinder. The fact of the matter is, you just never know where they're going to hit. Drivers were encouraged to stay off the roads on Saturday, as emergency crews started to repair the flood-damaged roads and bridges, and began clearing trees and other debris from roadways to make it easier for first responders to get to the areas hit by the tornadoes. Officials in St. Charles County also reported that local schools suffered some damage. 'I started seeing power flashes to the north, and I said "screw this." He turned and saw at me peering up from the basement steps! They can't have this, because the traffic is a factor, but yes, Samaras and his crew were not killed this way. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin told CNN that motorists faced great danger when stuck on any freeway in the path of a twister. Old cells hang around as we age, doing damage to the body. Many of us were fortunate to have worked with them and have great admiration for their work. You shouldnt be allowed to do that. Police have a hard enough time now dealing with emergencies, the last thing they have time to do is stop to write tickets. Furthermore only a tiny handful of "trained" spotters have ever been killed either and the only two I know of was back in 2011 on a single tornado. The interstate was shut down due to the storm, with multiple crashes and injuries. It's not safe to get out and drive, but I can tell you from having lived in Oklahoma for 37 years, people drive away from tornadoes on a regular basis. As the author admits early on, tornadoes change course and skip. "We're trying to collect as many observations as possible, both from outside and from the inside. Three veteran storm chasers were among the 10 people killed following Friday's EF3 tornado in El Reno, Okla. 'I'm not sure why people do that sort of stuff, but it is very dangerous. Most tornadoes in the United States are relatively small. National Geographic storm chaser Tim Samaras gave an interview on the day of his deathspeaking to National Geographic radio host Boyd Matson from the road on May 31 about his attempts to study . Run them through the DMV and send out those tickets. We have strong public service announcements for months before and during fire season about making a fire safety plan for your household and how to listen for public safety messages on high fire risk days - and those announcements for the duration of the fire are very cautious about advising people to get away only if it is safe to do so. Since I wrote this post, I've received many emails telling me that the premise is wrong, that traffic from too many storm chases did not contribute to the death of Samaras and others. That is a real problem and has increased over time. The EF5 storm that hit Moore decimated neighborhoods. 2) "But the hundreds, or even thousands of non-professional storm chasers are probably not contributing to the science of tornadoes and tornado safety." Well before Oklahoma's first thunderstorms fired up at late afternoon, the Storm Prediction Center in Norman was already forecasting a violent evening. When the winds were at their most powerful, no structures were nearby, said Rick Smith, chief warning coordination meteorologist for the weather services office in Norman. If you want to make this about Tim Samaras, how about you contact his family, colleagues, or friends and ask them what he would have wanted. The National Weather Service said the severe weather threat would shift into neighboring Illinois and Missouri, where Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency on Friday. Long-time friend of Tim Samaras, meteorologist Mike Nelson, told the Denver Channel: 'I have known Tim for over 20 years, he was the most brilliant and most careful severe weather researcher of them all. 'Use a telephoto lens for gosh sakes. Keith: I know, I hate words! I think it's exactly as you said; these are bona fide emergencies and thus are precisely the situations that they should already be empowered to act in. I think this tornado did some stuff we didn't expect. As you come closer to a cloud you don't get something smooth, but irregularities at a smaller scale." from a major non profit, click through the the X Blog to read the press release. The roads need to be kept open and clear for the REAL scientists out there gathering data and for the safety folks to do their job. It was over in just minutes, when we climbed the stairs half the house was gone but nearly all the houses on the street in back of us where gone! Then he yelled "get your ass back down there, boy!" Mr West guessed the experienced storm chasers were attempting to parallel the storm on the county road and it either changed course or another vortex appeared. Nine were confirmed dead in the Oklahoma City area on Friday evening, though the death toll has since risen, and flash floods in Arkansas caused additional fatalities, including a sheriff trying to rescue people from rising waters. Several parents in the group I was with decided to drive south, away from the storm. Your analogy regarding the burning building is wrong as well. Second, the point is still valid. Along with his son, Paul, and storm chaser Carl Younghis longtime. There is no certainty. I can't imagine the trauma of living through a tornado strike. Too many words! Rick Smith, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Norman, said that while the storm packed a powerful punch, it wasn't as strong as the Moore tornado. I doubt that the new law would save lives. How a zoo break-in changed the life of an owl called Flaco, Naked mole rats are fertile until they die, study finds. The storm was headed toward Oklahoma City, which has more than a million people in the metro area. I'm reminded of Grand Island, NE in 1980, when the tornadoes defied everything we supposedly know about them. The American Meteorological Society has released a preliminary version of its after-action report on the El Reno, Oklahoma, tornado, which killed noted storm chaser Tim Samaras, his son Paul and chase partner Carl Young. Like diving into the bath tub with a mattress on top for cover. This was the case with Mt. Apply that technology to license plates instead of faces. Samaras was killed along with his son Paul and storm chaser Carl Young in Friday's tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma. These conditions being a tornado being the widest in history (with only one other tornado in recorded history coming close to the same size) and the abnormal path the tornado took. Also, believe it or not, people do follow "unenforceable" laws for the simple reason that they want to be law abiding citizens. Our hearts also go out to the Carl Young family as well as they are feeling the same feelings we are today. It's your life so guard it like you own it. 'We're scrambling around,' said Lara O'Leary, a spokeswoman for the local ambulance agency. What if we could clean them out? But let us not let the fact that Samaras and his crew were killed in a manner that did not relate to traffic obviate further consideration of the "drive to the fire" problem. 3) "I suggest that law makers in tornado alley states consider legislation making it a violation to intentionally drive into or near the path of known or likely tornados." In a tribute, Mr Samaras' brother Jim wrote on Facebook: 'Thank you to everyone for the condolences. The unqualified version of that advice is If there is a tornado coming your way now, get in your car and drive away fast. That is also bad advice. 2006-2020 Science 2.0. Another two or three miles east and we would have been looking at a death toll in the hundreds. 'I'm wondering if the tornadoes from a couple of weeks ago didn't frighten people so badly that this time they were taking no chances and trying to evade it by car,' said Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. After seeing last month's tornado also turn homes into piles of splintered rubble, Ms Black said she decided to try and outrun the tornado when she learned her southwest Oklahoma City home was in harm's way. What's eerie is that the subvortex becomes stationary on the road, like it chose to stop right on top of them. A total of five tornadoes struck the Oklahoma City metro area, the National Weather Service said. The amateur storm chaser who was killed mentioned, in the cell phone conversation he was having with a friend (who was in a safe location and urged the storm chaser to get out of there), two local TV news vans passing him. This in the super rare category because we dont deal with things like this often.. Police urged motorists to leave the crosstown Interstate 40 and seek a safe place. I'm not saying these circumstances are sensible or humane, but they are the case nonetheless. In St. Charles County, at least 71 homes were heavily damaged and 100 had slight to moderate damage, county spokeswoman Colene McEntee said. He had a road map spread across the kitchen table! Were looking at extremes in the rare EF5 category. The scale is based on observable destruction, and little was damaged as it tracked through the remote, relatively featureless farm country. Hail and heavy rain pelted the metro area to the point that emergency workers had trouble responding to 'widespread' reports of injuries. Tim Samaras, 55, his son Paul, 24, and crew member Carl Young, 45, died in El Reno on Friday They were heard on Oklahoma Highway Patrol radio screaming before they were killed The elder Samaras was. Terry Garcia, executive vice president of the National Geographic Society, said: 'We were shocked and deeply saddened by the news that longtime National Geographic grantee Tim Samaras was killed in a tornado in Oklahoma on Friday, along with Tim's son Paul and their colleague Carl Young. Friday night's victims included a mother and a baby sucked out of their car as the EF3 hit near El Reno. But if the Acme Office Building, on Main Street, is on fire, broken glass is blowing out of windows and fire trucks and other emergency vehicles are trying to gain access to the building and nearby fire hydrants, and ambulances are trying to get in to pick up injured, and out to bring them to hospitals, you cant walk down Main Street. I did not make the argument that storm chasers cause cars to fly through the air and hurt people (though that could happen) I made the argument that amateurs who are just out to see the tornado jam traffic this is not something I've discovered, it is something that professional storm chasers have claimed to be true. Pre-school teacher, 29, who lost one of her legs in Boston TIM SAMARAS: THE VALUABLE LEGACY OF A STORM CHASER, Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Dozens stuck in car park as staff refuses to open gate for woman, Incredible footage of Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russians in Bakhmut, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' Regarding emotional tragedy and responding to the thing that caused the emotional strategy, no, you've got that wrong. Turner High School, Texas Bill Would Make Illegal Voting a Felony, City Council To Discuss Allowing Neighborhoods To 'Opt-In' for Short-Term Rentals in Dallas. He knew where not to be and in this case the tornado took a clear turn toward them," he said. Tornado warnings were also posted Friday night near Tulsa and near St. Louis. For example, the requirement to hold a permit to chase could be limited within a certain radius of a city or residential area, where congestion is more likely to create a danger to public safety. would have made the storm hard to recognize up close. Trump is trying to appoint him to be assistant administrator for air and radiation. He deployed one of these in the path of an F4 tornado that destroyed the small town of Manchester, S.D., on June 24, 2003. I have a feeling that Scienceblogs will not last long without me. Paul (1925-2005) was a photographer and model . I have heard that some professional storm chasers offer package tours. We've received your submission. Even if we could predict hours in advance that the storms would hit a particular county (and as you correctly point out, this is not true--there may be several distinct tornadoes in a single outbreak, so it's quite possible that Oklahoma City and Enid could both be hit the same day), this would not help in a major metro area like Oklahoma City.