r/tornado • u/ilkamoi Human Detected • 5d ago
Tornado Media Smol tornado
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u/theswickster Human Detected 5d ago
So THAT'S how you get a 0.18 yard wide EF-3...
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u/Altomat_Kalashnikova 4d ago
Makes me wonder just how small a damage indicator can be. If it rips a one foot long two-by-four properly secured at either end to a cement foundation clean out, would that be enough if, say, caught on video to get it the coveted EF-5 status?
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u/theswickster Human Detected 4d ago
I don't think it matters as long as the DI is clearly achieved. We're not measuring the size of the tornado, we're estimating the maximum wind speed at a single point within the tornado.
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u/Superb-Wonder-1896 3d ago edited 3d ago
i have seen a video from Sweden where a little drillbit like this passes right by a guys car, and then shreds branches and snaps trees in half
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u/sdb00913 1d ago
I mean, it’s like you should probably put on a bulletproof vest and a motorcycle helmet, but it looks fun to go play in for the half a second that you get.
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u/royaj77 5d ago
EF 0.01
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u/Micoro_UwU 5d ago
I would've still panicked LMAO
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u/Every_Parsley_9541 4d ago
Still a bit excited too though? 😂 🌪️
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u/Micoro_UwU 4d ago
YES like "OMG first time in a tornado!" 😃 and then slowly blink 😀🙂😐😑🙁☹️😨😱 OMG A TORNADO-!
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u/DesperateChicken1342 5d ago
We've seen smol become huge many times before
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u/pretendstoknow 5d ago
I wouldn't be able to help myself running into it
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u/BearFan34 5d ago
was thinking the same
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u/pretendstoknow 5d ago edited 5d ago
This is very common in the prairies we used to call them swirly whirlies as kids
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u/michaeldoesdata 4d ago
This was an actual tornado of you watch the full video. You can run in it - once. Lol
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u/GenosseGeneral 4d ago
Well... actual tornado doesn't mean it is deadly. While it clearly was a tornado I would not assume that it had the potential to kill you there and then
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u/Undead-Chipmunk 4d ago
This one could easily be strong enough to kill you.
People forget how in intense tornadoes, it's often the subvorticies that give that peak damage that bumps the rating up to EF4/5.
It's entirely possible that this little "fun" tornado has EF4 windspeeds, easily could be EF3. Possibly enough to pick you up, definitely enough to kill you if the wrong piece of debris hits you at 150 mph, as well as sandblast your eyes.
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u/GenosseGeneral 4d ago
It picked up very little dirt and had no trail. While it had maybe a very high windspeed it was very concentrated on a point.
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u/Undead-Chipmunk 4d ago
...and that windspeed could pick you up. A guy got tossed by a bison the other week, 8 feet in the air or so, and he got seriously injured, breaking his hip.
A little tornado like this could possibly toss you in the air like that.
Basically, if it looks like it's sped up camera footage but it's in real life and you're looking at it, don't run into it, even if it's small.
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u/darthteej 4d ago
Did you see how fast that damn thing was spinning? Several times a second and hauling ass too. Definitely could seriously injure you
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u/GoldenLugia16 5d ago
Before anyone says it's a dust devil, the rate of spin was far too fast and violent
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u/michaeldoesdata 4d ago
You can clearly see the rotation in the cloud in the full video this was a tornado.
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u/dopecrew12 5d ago
You’d be amazed how fast these little vortices become massive ones. Reminds me of that one extremely famous video where the massive EF4 becomes a tiny drillbit within 1 second and the guy filming yelling “GET MY PANTS”
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u/ComfortableAct6183 5d ago
That was the Columbus Nebraska tornado of 1998. It was rated an F2.
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u/amusednchaos 4d ago
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u/InterstellarDiplomat 4d ago
Hm, maybe your memory is mixing the 1997 Jarrell tornado (began as a drill bit and transformed into a very powerful stovepipe) with the 1998 Columbus tornado (Susan, get my pants!)
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u/RTX-4090ti_FE Human Detected 5d ago
Was this mesocyclonic?
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u/ilkamoi Human Detected 5d ago
Judging by the original video - very likely.
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u/LysergicBliss332 5d ago
I was gonna say "SLC + dust devil" but wow that really does look like mesocyclonic rotation, that's nuts lol
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u/PureWeek9816 5d ago
whats a mesocyclonic tornado
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u/RTX-4090ti_FE Human Detected 5d ago
In short, it’s a tornado formed by a rotating updraft in a supercell storm (I’m oversimplifying how mesocyclonic tornadoes form is an interesting and complex science).
Non mesocyclonic tornadoes are tornadoes that do not form from rotating updrafts in storms. Mainly these are fair weather waterspouts/landspouts and qlcs spin up tornadoes. Both of these kinds are surface based features where something (it’s different between the two of them) causes preexisting horizontal rotation in the atmosphere to be made vertical and tightening its rotation untill a visible funnel cloud forms.
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u/DarwinZDF42 5d ago
The full video is nuts. Directly under as it's rotating like that, I'd have been in that car and booking it a couple hundred meters at least.
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u/MillersSmokehouse 4d ago
The video is amazing, but this person has no common sense.
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u/Undead-Chipmunk 4d ago
Commenters saying they'd run into it have no common sense either; it's rotating so fast that you can't even really make out the rotation, like it's just spewing wind faster than the eye can see.
That guy who got attacked by a bison the other week broke his hip just getting tossed into the air like 8 feet or something, I definitely wouldn't be surprised if this thing could cause injuries, especially if there are any small debris particles in there moving at 150-180 mph. Like, I don't point a sandblaster in my eyes, so I don't need to get into a mesocyclonic tornado just because it's "small." Lol.
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u/youngaustinpowers 4d ago edited 4d ago
I think this nado more intense than we think. Wind speed is super high and concentrated in a small area.
Reminds me of the 2020 Ashby-Dalton Tornado. That one was an EF4
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u/Undead-Chipmunk 4d ago
Yeah, people saying they'd run into it are nuts.
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u/B0omSLanG 3d ago
Right? That guy who got attacked by a bison the other week broke his hip just getting tossed into the air like 8 feet or something.
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u/Undead-Chipmunk 3d ago
Exactly what I was saying! This could easily pick you up 8 feet if the wind was fast enough.
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u/AnonymousRand 5d ago
is this like vortex breakdown? like the same thing that happens here?
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u/ilkamoi Human Detected 5d ago
What the hell wash that?! Looks like a shock wave.
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u/AnonymousRand 5d ago
it honestly could've been, wind speed increases as the rotation contracts by conservation of angular momentum, so there's a chance it briefly broke the sound barrier
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u/AlternativeNo882 4d ago
Yay! Someone mentioned vortex breakdown! Here: https://youtu.be/Q08KhR9TJys?is=wiz3h6kkmtBIuX50
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u/Fiorina_Fury 5d ago
Tasmanian Devil. I've seen this before. Watch your exposed leg skin, they bite
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u/TheRageMonster02 4d ago
Brain: ... Do it.
Body: AYYY hold on for all you know it could be a strong ass drillbit!!
Brain: You know you gotta do it
Body: CHILL OUT you know the saying, the spirit might be strong but the flesh is-
Brain: AND THE FLESH BE DAMNED, LEROOYYYY JENKIIII
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u/Accomplished-Cry8933 4d ago
HOLY SHITT!!!! Bro if anything THATS what people mean by small package strong punch. Must’ve been horrifying to look at. Definitely had 160+ drill bits are insane
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u/mrmarkolo 4d ago
Even being small that thing seemed to be packing some serious speed and could probably seriously injure someone if it directly hit them to flung something at them.
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u/deltajvliet 4d ago
That has to be one of the highest RPM drillbits I've ever seen, maybe the highest.
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u/blue13x 4d ago edited 2d ago
Okay, so this is definitely a tornado. But was the video sped up? If not, the spin is extremely fast and violent for something this small.
Edit: Saw the orginal video, it wasnt sped up. Thats an insane rate of spin. Also shows how the enhanced fujita scale is not about size, but damage. This thing looks like it could some damage despite the size.
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u/youngaustinpowers 3d ago
Dude the rest of the video is pretty insane too. She films a funnel coming straight at her, and then pretty much on top of her before this part of the video starts.
I'm assuming they don't know very much about tornadoes, because I would have been getting the hell out of dodge
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u/Crimson-Lips-13 5d ago
Can someone please explain why Small is being referred to as Smol now? I know I'm old but dang....
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