A tornado hit Riverside CA about 4:22 pm their time. Saw first reports on the Weather Channel. Freight cars and tank cars on their sides.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20080522-1853-ca-socalweather.html
Rich
Tornado in California? Next thing you know, there’ll be an earthquake here in the Midwest!
Oh, wait a minute, we DID have one here a couple of weeks ago.
Actually, it seems like Indiana’s had more earthquakes than tornado watches this spring.
About 35 years ago, I saw a bunch of box cars on a siding in ??? Texas. All were obviously damaged - looked like they had been kicked by Godzilla - but not the kind of damage usually associated with derailment or collision. When I inquired, one of the locals allowed that they’d been blown across the nearby farmland by a tornado.
Went back that way a couple of years later. The cars were still there, just rustier.
Last time I passed that way (2004) even the rails were gone.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I presume the high winds experienced in central California are part of the same weather pattern. The winds have caused or made worse wild fires in the Santa Cruz mountains, Napa, Martinez, and probably elsewhere.
Mark
Crud! I’m going to have to watch for one!!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357283,00.html
I can’t find any pics of the train. They’re expecting a foot of snow out West in the mountains this weekend.[:O]
I was watching FOX this AM and they had some shots of both the Riverside, Calif and Windsor, Colo phenomena; they showed film of railroad cars - some cars were on their side while others had just been blown off the tracks.
Fair and balanced![;)]
Your chances of seeing another tornado in southern California are about the same as winning the lottery four times in a row.
Mononguy–
Don’t laugh, friend–tornadoes out here are not THAT uncommon. Over the past ten years or so, we’ve had quite a few here in the north Central Valley. Certainly not the size of the ones that wreak such terrible havoc in the Midwest, but enough to rip down fences and take the roofs off of houses. Funny thing, at first, the newscasters refused to call them ‘Tornadoes’ and referred to them as ‘Funnel Clouds’. Then they wised up. We had one out here in the Natomas area north of where I live a couple of years ago that did some considerable damage to a housing project. It’s becoming much less of an isolated ‘phenomonon’ out here in SunnyCal lately.
Tom
Tornadoes can be expected in ~any~ state in the lower 48, not to mention all the lower provinces of Canada. Some have more than others, but if the weather patterns get goofy enough (as they have been lately) it can happen.
As to earthquakes, a lot of folks don’t know that probably one of the most violent (if not the most violent) ones in the US occurred near New Madrid, Missouri in 1811. (close to the boot heel) I remember reading about this some years ago, & the one phenomenon that occurred during it was the Mississippi River actually flowed north! Actually, that area is just as earthquake prone as California, not to mention the Charleston, SC area.
I was reading the blog earlier on the Colorado tornado this week on the weather channel web site, & they showed photos of a train that was derailed by it, & the recovery efforts.
Here you go:
Since there was a post on one of these forums about what it takes to derail a train, I guess we can say a tornado works.
I just never like when people get seriously hurt or otherwise when this happens.
Oh yeah! I’ve seen railcars get rolled like dice!