Transcript Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak

Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak
Presented by: Catherine Smith, Colleen Smith,
Trevor Smith, Andrew Smith
Overview
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February 5-6, 2008
87 tornadoes, 9 states, 15 hrs.
57 fatalities in 4 states (AR, TN, KY, AL)
Largest fatal outbreak since May 31, 1985.
Meteorological Synopsis
February 3, 2008
• Favorable tornado conditions began developing
• Low surface & air pressure system consolidated
over Rockies, and a surface high pressure
moved toward east coast.
• southerly flow off of Gulf of Mexico
• Dew pt. near 65°F
• unstable air mass
• Midday
• low-level jet stream
• Gulf of Mexico and MS Valley
February 4, 2008
• Surface low pressure and cold front over
Rockies
• moved to E. Oklahoma by February 5 afternoon
February 5, 2008
• Unstable atmosphere
• isolated supercell T-storms formed ahead
of cold front
• Southerly low-level jet stream
• ~ 70 mph
• Westerly winds
• ~ 90 mph
• Strong vertical wind shear conducive to tornado
development
• Surface low-pressure and cold front = warm
sector
• area between cold front and warm front
• great distance storms, long track
tornadoes, multiple tornadoes along
path.
Notable Tornadoes
North-Central Arkansas
• EF4 tornado, 122 mile track
• 13 fatalities, 139 injuries
• Longest single tornado track in
Arkansas since tornado records
began (1950).
• ~200 homes and businesses
destroyed
Memphis Metropolitan Area
• EF2 tornado from 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm
• Warehouse collapsed killing 3 people
Jackson, Tennessee
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EF4 tornado
Directly hit Union Campus
– 51 injuries
– 2009 NOAA assessment of tornado credited the National Weather Service
with a timely warning, and the university’s “detail, practiced plan” for
preventing any loss of life.
Damage
• Damaged estimated to be around $520 million.
• All fatalities occurred within a 12-hr period.
• All tornadoes producing fatalities were preceded by
tornado warnings with a mean lead time of 17
minutes.
• 55 mph forward motion presented challenges for
warning forecasters.
• 126 reports of large hail & 267 reports of wind damage
• Union University
• Oakdale Dam
Who Did What
Catherine: Aftermath information, damage
Colleen: Meteorological synopsis information
(February 3-4), slideshow
Andrew: Meteorological synopsis information
(February 5)
Trevor: EF Scale and Notable tornadoes