Secrets of the City

I’ve lived here my whole life and seen one funnel cloud. Ever. You’ll be fine.

I’ve been through a few, actually. However I’m from “up north” and am under the (possibly ignorant) impression that they’re pretty rare down in the TC area.

Yeah, they can be really terrifying. As far as taking precautions go, you can’t do a whole hell of a lot in advance. My best advice? Listen to the weather man. When stuff gets real grizzly, you’ll hear sirens. Hit the basement. Hide under heavy furniture. Stay away from windows.

And:
Tornado watch: Conditions are ideal for tornadoes.
Tornado warning: One has been spotted.

They’re pretty generous with issuing these. Soon enough you’ll be able to distinguish the difference between being cautious and actually trying to find cover. The likelihood of a funnel cloud coming out of nowhere with absolutely no signs anywhere of one is slim to none.

kwatt- you’ve only seen one funnel cloud? I’ve seen lots.

The rule we had growing up was if there was a Tornado Warning, get on the roof. That’s the best place to look for one.

And seriously, do you drive your car or are you afraid of dying in a car accident? I hope you aren’t flying here, because planes crash. And we get cold weather here. Every winter someone dies because of the cold or the ice. Better be careful. You should probably stay in LA, it is safer there.

Born and raised here. Never seen a live tornado. I am going to take the safe bet and state you will die of cancer or a car accident before you ever see a tornado.

Dodged three of the bastards today.

One funnel, it was probably about 10 miles away from my house when I was a kid. That’s as close as I’ve ever been.

Like heb said, get as low in your house as possible, preferably the basement, and as close to the center as you can. Stay away from windows.

They’re rare around here, but more common in the sparsely populated areas. Growing up in SD, I only had to get in the basement once in the 22 years I lived there. You’ll be fine, like Kwatt said, unless you live in a trailer in the outlying areas or something. Plus, tornado season is only, like 2 or 3 months long.

I personally have never seen one, but before i was born my parents were lifted up in their car about ten feet off the ground by a tornado near the state fair.

Actually seeing a tornado here would probably be less likely than the mudslides, earthquakes and multi-acre fires you’ve already lived through in the LA area. And being affected in some way by a tornado is less likely than seeing one.

Hey Isaac – I grew up in San Diego, and believe that tornadoes are far less freaky and unsettling than earthquakes. And I, like many of the others here, have never seen one (I’ve lived here full-time since 1996, and spent all my childhood summers here).

You usually get plenty of warning – I often think the weatherdudes are rather alarmist. If you move in to a trailer park, you’re pretty much SOL, but every where else you’ll probably have access to a basement or a stairwell with no windows. Most public spaces have special emergency shelters, too, in case you’re out and about.

All in all, don’t let tornadoes harsh your SoCal mellow.

Point to consider: Tornadic storms are not cyclonic. They do not spin destructive winds over large areas for any great length of time. A tornado is not a hurricane. And tornadoes in this part of the country are rarely the F-5 giants one reads about in OK, TX, and KS.

A person can live somewhere and be entirely unaffected by a tornado-producing storm less than 10 miles away. A co-worker lives less than a mile from the F-3 that hit Hugo in May. Her home suffered several broken windows, damaged siding, etc. But that was about the extent of the damage to her house while neighbors a mile away lost entire homes.

Really, tornadoes are nothing to freak out about … if you know the safety rules.

Where are you from?
I am from LA from Hancock Park and tornados don’t attack angelenos.
But you know what is worst….be prepared my friend for something worse than earthquakes. Mosquitos! Ha..good luck!

This is a totally reasonable question. If I wasn’t from here, I’d be freaked about tornadoes too. That said, I’ve lived here most of my life and have never seen a funnel cloud. We can have some massive, scary storms, but they really aren’t that bad; they move through very quickly. I get scared, but am easily comforted by reminding myself the odds are HEAVILY against being hit by a tornado.

In recent years, what I do is turn on the TV. They usually preempt programming so you can watch the storm on radar. They blather away with interesting tidbits, which is pleasantly distracting, and as you’re watching, you’ll see the storms move really fast here on the prairie. I can see the center of the storm pass over my neighborhood on TV, and before you know it, it’s off to the east of me. In your face, people to the east of me!

A lot of people are scared by these big storms, myself included. And when the sky turns green… ooh, it’ll still be calm, but yikes, the sky is green… yeah, time to be wary. Still, thunder is f***ing amazing.

Oh, and tornadoes basically only happen and are a threat in the late afternoon. (Mostly.) So if you are sleeping and you hear a thunderstorm, do not fret, just enjoy. That long, slow, rolling thunder, BOOM boom boom boom boom… it is one of the best things about living on a prairie. It totally rocks.

I’d be more worried about mosquitos. They are REALLY ANNOYING.

Who are you people who have never seen a funnel cloud? You all need to get out of your houses and start looking for them. They are so cool.

Can’t. Watching weather on tee vee.

Not to freak anyone out or anything.

However, a few years ago, I was in the Boundary Waters. It had been a pretty nice day, but a storm was rolling in. We were eating lunch, and one of the other campers remarked, that is a pretty cool cloud, someone should take a picture. The storm was going to strike soon, so we started battening down the hatches. Getting our gear so it wouldn’t get rained on.

My brother put a tarp over our packs that were between two trees. When he was doing this the wind really started to pick up. I hear a snapping sound across the lake. I wonder to myself, what could that be? There is a brief calm, and I see a swirling action in the lake.

At that point, it all came together. The cool cloud? Wall cloud. The snapping sound? Trees being snapped off across the lake. The swirling in the water? Tornado!

Those trees where my brother was standing, were toppled. Several other trees were damaged, but everyone in our party was fine.

See? Scary, but everyone was fine.

Yeah! No basement to hide in. Relatively out in the open surrounded by trees — and no injuries.

seen a funnel descend within a 1/2 mile of where I was sitting (in Michigan) and then retreat before touching down. must have been a she-tornado. also experienced that last 5.4 earthquake in LA last month. the earthquake wasn’t as scary in the moment becuase you couldn’t really see it and it was over by the time you realized what was happening, whereas the tornado was clearly a tornado. but for about the next 20 minutes after the quake i was uncomfortable with the ground beneath my feet.

I’d say straight line winds are more common in the city proper than tornadoes and can be just as damaging to property.

When I lived in Tulsa, OK and its surrounding suburbs during the mid 1980’s, the weather warnings weren’t as good as they are here–no doppler radar and never heard a siren going off, despite having tornadoes hitting real close. In Oklahoma, you can assume any severe thunderstorm is capable of producing a tornado. Every tornado and severe storm I experienced, occured late at night. That very rarely happens in the Twin Cities, although I saw one at midnight when I lived in St. Cloud during the mid 1990’s. I swear by my weather radio–I keep it plugged in during spring, summer, and fall. When it goes off, I immediately turn on the tv so I can see what it looks like on radar. I’ll also go outside to get a feel of the atmosphere, and search for rotation in the clouds. This is not recommended for amateurs–it’s always best to stay on the safe side especially if you have kids. If you hear crashing, shrieking winds, or the sound of a freight train, head immediately for the basement, interior bathroom, or hallway. Bring with you flashlights, battery operated radio and flashlights and all household pets. Our severe weather season is mainly in June and July, but lately we’ve had more instances in August and September. The other months are too cool for tornadoes.