...one of the deadliest super outbreaks occurred here in the Southern United States, with 252 people killed in Alabama alone. 219 tornadoes tornadoes were confirmed to touch down within this day.
http://www.al.com/news/tuscaloosa/index.ssf/2016/04/james_spann_remembers_april_27.html
https://weather.com/storms/tornado/news/april-2011-superoutbreak-tornadoes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Super_Outbreak
http://whnt.com/2016/04/26/phil-campbell-tornado-survivor-shares-his-story/
http://whnt.com/2016/04/26/madison-church-marks-5th-anniversary-of-tornadoes-with-a-community-invitation/
http://whnt.com/2016/04/22/interactive-map-5-year-anniversary-of-april-2011-tornadoes/
http://whnt.com/2016/04/26/april-27th-before-after-and-five-years-later/
I can honestly say it was a rather interesting time here in Huntsville after the tornadoes. There was absolutely no power anywhere in the city (except for the places that had back-up generators, like my grandparent's house), so we had to go over to Decatur to get our clothes washed at a laundromat. There was also a curfew from dusk to dawn to prevent looting as well.
During the day, I was either reading a book by a window in my house, riding my bike around my neighborhood and the surrounding ones, or hanging out at my grandparent's house.
Anyone else have any stories from that day?
No school? Or were they shut down?
Quote from: froggie on April 27, 2016, 11:26:22 AM
No school? Or were they shut down?
Schools were closed after the storms came through until power here was restored.
If your asking about today, I posted this in my spare time in one of my classes.
Yikes. Living in the Northeast, one tornado is shocking, but 219 in a single day? Unreal.
Quote from: Zeffy on April 27, 2016, 06:54:06 PM
Yikes. Living in the Northeast, one tornado is shocking, but 219 in a single day? Unreal.
I can honestly say it was rather scary. In fact, here's a map on Wikipedia showing all of the warnings (with tornado in red, thunderstorm in yellow, and flash flood in green) issued on April 27, 2011:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/April_27%2C_2011_severe_weather_warnings.JPG)
You can't even see where Huntsville's supposed to be on there!
So, as long as you're inside I-285 in Georgia, you're safe, right?
Quote from: 1 on April 27, 2016, 09:48:15 PM
So, as long as you're inside I-285 in Georgia, you're safe, right?
Downtown Atlanta was hit by a tornado in 2008.
Quote from: Big John on April 27, 2016, 09:56:46 PM
Quote from: 1 on April 27, 2016, 09:48:15 PM
So, as long as you're inside I-285 in Georgia, you're safe, right?
Downtown Atlanta was hit by a tornado in 2008.
How did that go? I've always been morbidly curious as to what would happen if downtown OKC took a direct hit. I can't recall seeing examples of tornado damage to skyscrapers.
Quote from: Scott5114 on April 29, 2016, 06:09:13 AM
Quote from: Big John on April 27, 2016, 09:56:46 PM
Quote from: 1 on April 27, 2016, 09:48:15 PM
So, as long as you're inside I-285 in Georgia, you're safe, right?
Downtown Atlanta was hit by a tornado in 2008.
How did that go? I've always been morbidly curious as to what would happen if downtown OKC took a direct hit. I can't recall seeing examples of tornado damage to skyscrapers.
Parts of the convention center were damaged and could not be used. Several of the big downtown hotels had windows blown out; maybe some of the office buildings as well. I believe the Omni and CNN Center were spared, indicating the fickle nature of tornadoes hitting and missing.
Downtown Kalamazoo was also hit by a tornado several years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Kalamazoo_tornado
Edit: I stand corrected about the Omni and CNN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Atlanta_tornado_outbreak
That 2008 Atlanta tornado also hit the Georgia Dome, as the SEC men's basketball tournament was being played there.
Somebody recorded the TV coverage of the game and posted it to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9zM70jnRSc
Something else that might be of interest to fellow weather geeks: ABC 33/40 (the ABC affiliate in Birmingham, AL) has posted their coverage of the 4/27/11 tornado outbreak to YouTube. I've watched this whole thing more than once now; it's quite long, but I found it enthralling (and heartbreaking at the same time). It includes SkyCam shots of tornadoes tearing through Cullman, Tuscaloosa, and Birmingham.
Here is the coverage of the main outbreak, beginning in the early afternoon and lasting until nearly midnight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElZZNvNdhks
And this is the coverage of the line of storms that went through earlier that morning, which didn't get as much attention but was horrible by itself, killing five people and knocking out power to 250,000 people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftz5UL8S2Ms
I frequent the Storm Prediction Center's site to keep up with the latest on severe weather. You will always see these storm report maps for the current day, and if you type any day into the URL below (YYMMDD), you can check out any day in their records. This is absolutely insanely ridiculous how much red is on this map.
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/110427_rpts.html
This video, combined with the music, is both absolutely stunning as well as devastatingly heartbreaking: