Violent Catastrophic Storms Wreaking Havoc

[turk]

So, here's the last time something similar happened:

The loss of life is the greatest from an outbreak of U.S. tornadoes since April 1974, when 329 people were killed by a storm that swept across 13 Southern and Midwestern states.

link That's 37 years ago aircooledchris. Just to put in perspective: prolly before you were a twinkle in yer daddy's eye.

[turk]

Here's some more information dismissing the global warming blame: link

And here's a graph for ya' from the NOAA (ya' know the folks whose mission is understanding the climate from the depths of the oceans to the sun, hehe) : http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/img/climate/re ... otrend.jpg

[ruckman101]

An EF-5 rating. Much worse and a new scale of measurement will be needed.


neal

[airkooledchris]

the weather is getting crazier and crazier every year, which isn't to say there is any one specific cause

yup, never said it was directly related to "global warming" - there just seemed to be some confusion on that part.

as to it the weather only seeming crazier from year to year in recent history due to the location of buildings - these appear to be structures and housing developments that have been situated in these less than ideal locations for a number of years already. though if we were talking about the mud slides down in so-cal, then you might have a valid point.

continue to defend an argument nobody is making in regards to the tornado's, that they are specifically happening as a result of Global Warming, which as we all know to be the single most interesting argument anyone can make on an internet message board made up of VW folks.

maybe I just don't remember all of the super crazy weather that was destroying communities across the USA in the early years of my life, but I was well past the twinkling eye phase in 1974. all I know is that every year seems to be a "record year" for extreme's when it comes to weather. Hottest on record, most snowfall since ____, more flooding, more violent hurricanes, etc. I have no idea what the cause is, it's probably just the natural ebb and flow of the earth we live on, but you'd have to be nuts to rule out anything lest you simply hate data or have some kind of agenda.

[turk]

Here's some interesting data on tornado deaths. What seems to be is the safety measures got better over 140 years. More mobile homes got destroyed but better warning systems saved lives. But bad seasons aren't new. link

As more technology and data is brought to bear there will be more "record events" naturally. So, as expected something like this involving tragedy and death is likely to be used as some kind of witch hunt against "deniers", and it already is. I heard somebody is already citing this as evidence that the states who suffered did so because they "denied" global warming legislation, and "science", at their own peril. Yet, as I linked to earlier, there is no causation connection of tornados and global warming in official science authorities like the government weather services. This isn't to say "global warming" isn't thought to be happening. It's to put the connection with tornados appropriately in context: there is none.

[ruckman101]

".... As the science stands today, we cannot identify any clear causal link between a warming climate and increased numbers or violence of tornadoes. ...."

To be clear, Bradley Smull didn't say that there is no connection to global warming, only that there isn't a clear connection evident based on today's science.


neal

[turk]

The most obvious thing is that there will be lots of activists who point to this as "global warming", or "climate change" , caused by humans of course. But the data doesn't support that. We have pored over other recent weather events and how they compare to similar past events: blizzards, floods, heat waves, cold snaps, etc.. If I'm not mistaken, the only real trend is claiming these are "unprecedented". That's always the response. And so, the implication is "ya' gotta be stupid", more or less, to not connect the dots. I reject this kind of thinking at once, not because I have an agenda, but because I lack an agenda. First of all, they aren't unprecedented. There is almost always a more severe precedent. If there isn't, such as the Russian heat wave last summer, there is usually an alternate explanation. In that case a high blocking of the air-stream in the weather pattern, which happens regularly in that region; and the peat bogs burning obviously had multiple circumstances : a hundred years of draining, and mining them, drying out combustible organic material would logically make them susceptible to wildfires. In Pakistan, the Indus River valley floods are not unprecedented either. Actually that goes back over 3,000 years (see the Harappan Civilzation). The blizzards in N. America, and cold snap? No, that is not unprecedented either. I lived through some bigger ones. Flooding in the midwest, Chicago? No, that is supposed to happen. Half the city is built over a floodplain. Reportage of these things is more widely dispersed. People all over the world see the damage and the disasters, and you know where I'm coming from.. People connect the dots and there you have it. Color by numbers and it's Climate Change. It's a great story to push. Look closer. It's not unprecedented. Everything about our re-telling of the narrative is not unprecedented either. It's an old story.
THAT is the most obvious thing about all of it. And the only real trend. Some things are real trends but not enough to warrant most of the jibber-jabber about catastrophes to come.

[turk]

I expect the next week we should see a major flood event in the area where the Mississippi and Ohio rivers meet. That is a beautiful area. I've paddle a tiny bit and hiked a tiny bit. Most of it is a huge floodplain. That's what is supposed to happen to it.. It's been levied and drained for agriculture and settlement in the past hundred and fifty years. Now, when it becomes a disaster zone, expect to hear about ya' know what. I don't wish that problem on the residents of that area. But that's the way it goes.
I do hope the water is high up around the Wisconsin/Iowa border though. I will paddle some of that in the second week of May hopefully. It's nice country. People there are used to floods.

[VWGirl]

Made out okay in Rossville. My house is in a Valley. My house is untouched, but trees that are on the property line between my house and the neighbors both fell on the neighbors house. If the trees are removed carefully there will still be no damage to my house. If they are not removed carefully they will definitely damage my house. Forecast calls for light insulation showers... some may be pink, some yellow, some brown. Clean it up once and it will just come back. Power has been out for 60 hours or so now. Projected to be back on at my house in about 9 days. Free toothpicks from the power pole remnants if you want them.

I bought my first generator. Didn't like what Lowes had to offer so went to Home Depot. This one has a Subaru engine in it! Purrs like a kitten. Bought it in Powder Springs GA, near my other house. It was the last one... all the stores here are sold out and a good hour from the closest damage.

I took the back way between the two houses so that I didn't have to drive through what was formerly the town of Ringgold. There were still semi's strewn across the interstate there, and I don't know if there was a building to be seen.

Power has been restored to some of the traffic lights in the surrounding areas of my house in Rossville, but with my powerline lying in my neighbors yard, no power in sight. All three of us in the valley were clear of any damage, all the houses surrounding us had trees in them.

I honestly thought that moving from FL where I was in hurricane central would alleviate some of the natural disasters... but I guess not. This was my first tornado.

[ruckman101]

Glad to hear disaster was narrowly averted.


neal