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Non-Road Boards => Off-Topic => Topic started by: wanderer2575 on June 10, 2019, 11:43:28 PM

Title: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: wanderer2575 on June 10, 2019, 11:43:28 PM
"The phone lines are open for your calls.  Sir, what's on your mind?"

"We didn't have tornadoes here until we started putting in the traffic circles.  'Cause, on account of – you want to know why?  When people go round and round in circles, it causes disturbance in the atmosphere, and causes tornadoes."

https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-man-says-rise-in-tornadoes-caused-by-traffic-circles/

This is almost as good as when a farmer once claimed that daylight saving time was harmful to farming because the extra hour of sunshine every day burned up the crops.

Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: NE2 on June 11, 2019, 12:05:45 AM
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgflip.com%2F335uzd.jpg&hash=2ef4b8921a9a83939fcd0e01c4f1e0569dd298e6)
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: thspfc on June 11, 2019, 08:21:10 AM
Also . . .
-The earth is flat.
-Birds are government drones.
-Australia is fake.
:bigass: :bigass:
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: kalvado on June 11, 2019, 08:39:52 AM
A thunderstorm in Sahara can become Cat V landfall in US. The atmosphere is a chaotic system, and any vortex has a chance to develop...
95% of tornadoes in the northern hemisphere are rotating counterclockwise. Roundabouts also move counterclockwise. A coincidence?
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: DaBigE on June 11, 2019, 08:51:47 AM
Then shouldn't anywhere with a major racetrack have been wiped off the face of the earth by now? Or does the oval throw the atmosphere into a wobble instead of a tornadic vortex?
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: kalvado on June 11, 2019, 08:55:23 AM
Quote from: DaBigE on June 11, 2019, 08:51:47 AM
Then shouldn't anywhere with a major racetrack have been wiped off the face of the earth by now? Or does the oval throw the atmosphere into a wobble instead of a tornadic vortex?
Just remember to switch directions to balance things out
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: froggie on June 11, 2019, 09:07:24 AM
Quote from: kalvado95% of tornadoes in the northern hemisphere are rotating counterclockwise. Roundabouts also move counterclockwise. A coincidence?

Yes.  Coincidence.

By this "caller's" logic, we should have a number of tornadoes in Vermont and had them for years.  We still average less than one a year.

The "caller" also clearly doesn't remember the 1985 outbreak, which was primarily in Pennsylvania.
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: ET21 on June 11, 2019, 09:14:11 AM
Illinois should build more, better chasing for me  :bigass:
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: 1995hoo on June 11, 2019, 09:46:13 AM
Quote from: froggie on June 11, 2019, 09:07:24 AM
Quote from: kalvado95% of tornadoes in the northern hemisphere are rotating counterclockwise. Roundabouts also move counterclockwise. A coincidence?

Yes.  Coincidence.

By this "caller's" logic, we should have a number of tornadoes in Vermont and had them for years.  We still average less than one a year.

The "caller" also clearly doesn't remember the 1985 outbreak, which was primarily in Pennsylvania.

There should also be thousands of clockwise-rotating tornadoes in the UK and Ireland if his "theory" were reasonable.
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: jeffandnicole on June 11, 2019, 09:57:13 AM
Told you it wasn't climate change.
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: kalvado on June 11, 2019, 10:33:49 AM
Quote from: froggie on June 11, 2019, 09:07:24 AM
Quote from: kalvado95% of tornadoes in the northern hemisphere are rotating counterclockwise. Roundabouts also move counterclockwise. A coincidence?

Yes.  Coincidence.

By this "caller's" logic, we should have a number of tornadoes in Vermont and had them for years.  We still average less than one a year.

The "caller" also clearly doesn't remember the 1985 outbreak, which was primarily in Pennsylvania.
I wonder if we plot number of tornadoes vs number of roundabouts, would there be any correlation? I wouldn't be surprised.
There is pretty well known correlation between worldwide average temperature and number of pirate ships in the ocean, for example
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: 1995hoo on June 11, 2019, 02:45:11 PM
QuoteThere is pretty well known correlation between worldwide average temperature and number of pirate ships in the ocean, for example

There was a study in the mid-1990s that found a striking correlation between the incidence of breast cancer and the wearing of a bra. Women who wore bras were something like 95% more likely to get breast cancer than women who didn't. (Of course, they failed to mention what percentage of women in Western societies wear those things. I'd guess it's more than 95%.)
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: kalvado on June 11, 2019, 02:56:12 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on June 11, 2019, 02:45:11 PM
QuoteThere is pretty well known correlation between worldwide average temperature and number of pirate ships in the ocean, for example

There was a study in the mid-1990s that found a striking correlation between the incidence of breast cancer and the wearing of a bra. Women who wore bras were something like 95% more likely to get breast cancer than women who didn't. (Of course, they failed to mention what percentage of women in Western societies wear those things. I'd guess it's more than 95%.)
Bra situation is more about reversed cause and effect; fun part is when cause and effect are non-obviously linked or totally unlnked (and you have to guess one way or the other).
Like vegetarians who thoroughly wash their food are more likely to have depressions.
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: 74/171FAN on June 11, 2019, 03:58:16 PM
Quote from: DaBigE on June 11, 2019, 08:51:47 AM
Then shouldn't anywhere with a major racetrack have been wiped off the face of the earth by now? Or does the oval throw the atmosphere into a wobble instead of a tornadic vortex?

This thread makes me appreciate Darrell Waltrip's vortex theory about the cars racing at full speed around the track keeping the rain away.  :-D
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: Revive 755 on June 11, 2019, 05:54:06 PM
Quote from: ET21 on June 11, 2019, 09:14:11 AM
Illinois should build more, better chasing for me  :bigass:

Considering the number proposed or under construction in Illinois already . . .
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: plain on June 11, 2019, 11:00:33 PM
Damn. The whole time I thought this guy was the cause of all of the world's tornados

(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190612/98d1728b34e24bcb8a0f9277d9a7fddf.jpg)

SM-S820L

Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: hbelkins on June 12, 2019, 04:27:23 PM
Quote from: 74/171FAN on June 11, 2019, 03:58:16 PM
Quote from: DaBigE on June 11, 2019, 08:51:47 AM
Then shouldn't anywhere with a major racetrack have been wiped off the face of the earth by now? Or does the oval throw the atmosphere into a wobble instead of a tornadic vortex?

This thread makes me appreciate Darrell Waltrip's vortex theory about the cars racing at full speed around the track keeping the rain away.  :-D

That was my first thought upon hearing about this, as well.
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: SectorZ on June 13, 2019, 02:35:23 PM
What about full-throated rotaries? Massachusetts should be getting a 1953 Worcester tornado event weekly if this had merit.

Also, as someone who has a science degree (specifically meteorology), I never fail to be amazed at how scientifically illiterate some people are. I fear it's getting even worse...
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: MNHighwayMan on June 13, 2019, 03:00:34 PM
I'm not sure it's getting worse, but it definitely is getting more visible. People have always been stupid; now we just see it more.
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: Rothman on June 13, 2019, 03:02:04 PM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on June 13, 2019, 03:00:34 PM
I'm not sure it's getting worse, but it definitely is getting more visible. People have always been stupid; now we just see it more.
^This.  The Internet has given the Crazy and the Stupid a worldwide megaphone.

At least back when I was a kid, they were restricted to CB radio...
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: GaryV on June 13, 2019, 06:17:51 PM
My wife says it would only have an effect if it was a bunch of house trailers in the roundabouts.  Because tornadoes are attracted to trailer parks.
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: ET21 on June 14, 2019, 09:13:13 AM
Quote from: GaryV on June 13, 2019, 06:17:51 PM
My wife says it would only have an effect if it was a bunch of house trailers in the roundabouts.  Because tornadoes are attracted to trailer parks.

The greatest bait for any tornado
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: frankenroad on June 14, 2019, 11:16:23 AM
So let's harness all that energy from the roundabouts and then we can get rid of all those cancer-causing windmills!!

/sarcasm off
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: kalvado on June 14, 2019, 01:16:58 PM
Quote from: frankenroad on June 14, 2019, 11:16:23 AM
So let's harness all that energy from the roundabouts and then we can get rid of all those cancer-causing windmills!!

/sarcasm off
On a serious note... I saw a few projects where they propose to harves energy dissipated by passing cars to feed some road infrastructure. For example, solar panel powered pedestrian flashers are already installed; but in snowy winter panel can be less than efficient. Supplementing that with windmill spinned by car vortexes, or compressible pavement area to feed piezoelectric drives can in principle be used for same purpose. IMHO this would end up more pain than gain at the end of the day...
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: D-Dey65 on June 20, 2019, 02:17:08 AM
Quote from: DaBigE on June 11, 2019, 08:51:47 AM
Then shouldn't anywhere with a major racetrack have been wiped off the face of the earth by now? Or does the oval throw the atmosphere into a wobble instead of a tornadic vortex?
The Bridgehampton Race Track should've spawned loads of them between North Sea and Sag Harbor if that was the case.


:biggrin:

At the same time, I saw turn of the century photographs of floods in places like Patchogue and other coastal towns and villages on Long Island, that weren't necessarily from hurricanes.



Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: CNGL-Leudimin on June 20, 2019, 03:34:07 AM
I said elsewhere that if this was true my hometown would have been wiped out of existence by an EF5 tornado years ago. And basically many places in Europe.
Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: Brandon on June 20, 2019, 03:38:50 PM
Quote from: wanderer2575 on June 10, 2019, 11:43:28 PM
"The phone lines are open for your calls.  Sir, what's on your mind?"

"We didn't have tornadoes here until we started putting in the traffic circles.  'Cause, on account of – you want to know why?  When people go round and round in circles, it causes disturbance in the atmosphere, and causes tornadoes."

https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-man-says-rise-in-tornadoes-caused-by-traffic-circles/

This is almost as good as when a farmer once claimed that daylight saving time was harmful to farming because the extra hour of sunshine every day burned up the crops.

The only proper response for this caller:

Title: Re: PA man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic in roundabouts
Post by: D-Dey65 on June 21, 2019, 12:41:09 PM
Quote from: Rothman on June 13, 2019, 03:02:04 PM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on June 13, 2019, 03:00:34 PM
I'm not sure it's getting worse, but it definitely is getting more visible. People have always been stupid; now we just see it more.
^This.  The Internet has given the Crazy and the Stupid a worldwide megaphone.

At least back when I was a kid, they were restricted to CB radio...
That and Ham Radio operators.

I read some comments about this, and I see people saying that guy is both smarter than and dumber than Trump.

You people know I don't advocate putting traffic circles everywhere, but I have to ask; How many tornadoes and/or water spouts have turned up in Jones Beach, Robert Moses State Park, and Smith Point, since the traffic circles were installed there.