Comments on: Leaves from the sky (Minneapolis Tornado) https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/ Wed, 25 May 2011 15:49:42 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 By: UPDATE https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503162 Wed, 25 May 2011 15:49:42 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503162 A family in a town also off the path of this tornado experienced this: Still air, steady rain, no wind, and out of the heights of the sky came a patio door crashing into their backyard.

Makes you wonder what happens in a region with few tornadoes, so no real knowledge of them (in the pre-modern era), and a tornado goes by undetected but does drop, say, a black bear or a giant fish or something on the village during a windless steady rain.

Suddenly, there is a god. Or, at least, a cult.

]]> By: Tamara Sellman https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503161 Wed, 25 May 2011 15:29:47 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503161 Greg, 14 or so years ago we woke up to the same kinds of leaves plastered all over the south-facing side of our 2-story house. They had to be power-washed off the siding. Also, gumball -sized hail in the flower beds that didn’t melt off for several hours. This was in August in the far NW suburbs of Chicago. I learned later that there had been microbursts in our area.

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503160 Tue, 24 May 2011 02:15:21 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503160 Update: In driving along north of where the twister crossed the river, but three or four miles from it’s central course, I observed quite a few pieces of house insulation, of various thicknesses, ages, styles, and colors (mostly pink or yellow) in fragments along the road. This material is not normally found evenly distributed along the road side for two or three miles. Almost anything can be found along the road, but not this, in this distribution. So there’s an “insulation zone” and a “ripped up leaf zone”

]]> By: Calli Arcale https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503159 Mon, 23 May 2011 18:25:35 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503159 Not to be too flippant in light of the tragedy in Joplin, but will anyone inquire if God or the tornado is in violation of HIPAA? (Laughter’s important in times like these.)

Only one fatality in Minneapolis, and it sounds like a bit of a freak accident. My heart goes out to their family. But my heart goes out so much more to Joplin, MO. What happened there is just shocking. Of all the things for a strong tornado to hit, a hospital….

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503158 Mon, 23 May 2011 15:10:06 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503158 Ana: Holy crap! So much for medical records confidentiality.

]]> By: Birger Johansson https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503157 Mon, 23 May 2011 14:40:44 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503157 I just got an idea to dispose of any future “End of the World” charlatans like Howard Camping.
The next time someone decides to trigger suicides and murder-suicides with talk of the imminent rapture, we should hurry to the US, meet Greg and his posse and go tie down the charlatan in front of one of these twisters.
The result will be literally heavenbound, thus making the prophecy true if only for one individual.

]]> By: luckmervil https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503156 Mon, 23 May 2011 08:32:20 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503156 Ya really great post

]]> By: Ana https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503155 Mon, 23 May 2011 08:27:04 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503155 From CNN: “Residents 70 miles away from Joplin in Dade County, Missouri, were finding X-rays from St. John’s [hospital hit in Joplin] in their driveways.” WOAH!

]]> By: scidog https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503154 Mon, 23 May 2011 05:53:32 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503154 in South Mpls not far from Ft Snelling the view to the north west was impressive.even with heavy black clouds and sirens wailing you don’t really think that a tornado could hit your city.we had blue sky to the SE as a thunderstorm had passed over our part of town a few hours before and it felt like it was clearing.huge rainbow around 7:30 or so to the east.

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503153 Mon, 23 May 2011 03:44:30 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2011/05/22/leaves-from-the-sky/#comment-503153 Greg, that was it.

Two more points, first a clarification. The line on the map is a composite of the track of the tornado on the ground (from it’s start in the south to just across the Mississippii) and the continued track of that part of the cell it came down from. That cell dropped a tornado along the northern part of that line at least once (caught on traffic cams).

Second, Amanda just drove to a point about two miles closer to the track and saw significant architectural debris hanging from power lines. So, still two miles or so from the line, big stuff was coming down.

Apparently there is a huge amount of debris all over North Minneapolis.

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