It Has Been A While

The chaos that ensues with the touchdown of a major tornado or three of them in the case of March 2, 2012 is a heartbreaking testament to the power of Nature.  Chaos pretty much says it all, nearly total disorder and the end of daily routines until lives and homes can be rebuilt.

That chaos ripples down to the weather office. Unlike the victims of the storms, for us of course, it is a matter of a minor inconvenience and catching up with tasks put off for storm coverage. This is one of  those tasks.

EF3, 4 and 5 tornadoes are classified as major tornadoes. There were three EF3s in the Cincinnati tristate region, 2 - EF2s, 2 - EF1s and 5 - EF0s for a total of 12.

High resolution Doppler radars like the TDWR (Terminal Doppler Weather Radar) often incorrectly called  - Turbulence Detecting Doppler Radar - were located near major airports to detect wind shear, wind shifts and turbulence so aircraft can avoid the dangers associated with these  on takeoff and landing. There is a TDWR in Kenton County south of CVG.

Here is what TCVG (the TDWR for CVG) saw at 4:29 PM Friday 2March2012.

The well defined hook echo is attenuated by heavy rain at  the radar site (big black dot north of Piner) so instead of showing up as a bright yellow and red hook it curls around in shades of green to a distinct yellow "ball" we call a debris ball.  Just what is a debris ball? It is parts of houses, trees, peoples memories and prized possesions abducted and pirated away by the 160 mph winds of the EF3  Crittenden-Piner-Fiskburg-Morning View tornado.