Joplin+Tornado+(2011)

Colleen Moran

Article: Overview: The Joplin Tornado occurred on May 22, 2011. It was an EF-5 tornado on the Fugita Scale, had 200 mile per hour winds, a 1/2 to 3/4 mile wide base and traveled 13 miles between US Highway 71 an I-44 (Joplin). It killed 158 people and injured over 1,000. There was a lot of damage done to residential and "As a result, the Joplin Tornado was the first single tornado in the United States to result in over 100 fatalities since the Flint, Michigan, tornado of June 8, 1953," (NWS).

Before the Tornado/Cause: The cause of tornadoes is generally the same, no matter the location or strength. Storms that produce tornadoes are ones that are formed by warm, moist are is forced upward by cold fronts (Tornadoes). However, not every storm that is created in these conditions creates a tornado. Along with tornadoes; hail, strong winds and rain are also produced by such thunderstorms (Tornadoes). TheJoplin Tornado is no acceptation to this. Warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico came up over Missouri. Subsequently, cold, dry air came down from the Canada. Wind sheer are winds of different altitudes blowing in different direction. Wind sheer can create a large, spinning, horizontal column of air. The updrafts of the storm cause the column to be lifted to a vertical position. This can create the winds necessary for the rotation to create a tornado whose funnel touches the ground (Tornados).There are many tell-tale signs of a tornado, including a dark, and even greenish sky, large hail, a wall cloud, and a loud roar, similar to that of a freight train (Tornados).


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Green skies are often associated with severe weather, so if you see one, there is no point in waiting around to see what happens next (Knight). Frank Gallagher rode with a team of storm chasers called, VORTEX and measured wavelengths of light coming from the storms they found. He found that it was mostly green and did not have anything to do with the landscape below it. The same was true for other types of severe weather he studied, like hail storms. He discovered that the moister content of the air played a large role in its color. The water would bend and alter the appearance of the light. The water would absorb red, yet let blue pass through. However, blue was not green. Gallagher soon found out that it only appeared if it was set against a backdrop that was predominantly red a dark thunderstorm. The issue of the color of the sky is not the most important when it comes to tornado safety, so it does not receive much attention. There is still a lot unknown about this phenomenon.

The next tell-tale sign of a tornado is large hail. There are currently two theories on the formation of hail, however, scientist are not sure which is correct yet. The first theory is that supercoiled water-or water below 0 degrees C- collide and freeze on contact with any number of things. It can freeze onto ice crystals, frozen rain drops or dust. The strong updrafts will lift the hailstones up, where more and more super cooled droplets freeze onto its surface. Eventually, the hail will grow too large and heavy to be carried by the updraft and gravity will win as it falls to the ground. If the updraft is weak, the hail will be small, and if it is large, the hail will be large as well. This was the theory scientists formally thought was correct until the next one was developed. The second theory is that the nuclei start at the back of the storm and as they are forced forward, they cumulate super cooled droplets that freeze on contact. The hail will eventually reach a downdraft where it will be forced down to the surface. These are two theories on hail formation within a cloud. There are two processes that form hail, and it all depends on the temperature of the water. The first is the wet growth process. The temperature required for this is cold, but no super cold. In this process, a water droplet comes in contact with an ice crystal. Instead of freezing right away, it wraps itself around the entire crystal then freezes. This results in a clear layer of ice. The next process is the dry growth process. During this, the temperatures are super cold. When a super cooled droplet comes in contact with an ice crystal, it freezes immediately. This causes the hail to be cloudy. No matter what way the hail is formed, it always has layers. This can be caused by falling, melting, rising in an updraft and re-freezing the melted water. You can tell how much time the hail has been though the updraft by counting its layers (Hail).

On top of hail and a green sky, you can also see if a tornado is coming by looking for a wall cloud. A wall cloud is a low cloud that protrudes from the bottom of the cloud base and isn't producing any rain. In the wall cloud, there is a strong upward wind that prevents any rain from actually making it to the surface. This can result in highly visible tornadoes that are easy to track and chase. The air moving into the wall cloud is called inflow. Inflow is caused by "humid air being from near the ground is being drawn up into the storm cloud," (What is a Wall Cloud?). As the humid air rises, it reaches its lifting condensation level sooner than the air around it, so its cloud base forms lower than the base of teh original cloud. Although the wall cloud is formed by drawing air upward, to us, it appears as if it is lowering out of the cloud itself. On top of that, a wall cloud can have rapid rotation. A wall cloud with a lot of rotation can, but won’t always produce a tornado. It can be a good indicator that a tornado can occur. The smaller the wall cloud, the more rapid the rotation. This is similar to how ice skaters can spin faster is they pull their arms in. If it becomes rapid enough, the winds wan pick up debris like corn, dust and if they are strong enough, larger objects like cars and trucks. This helps a tornado form its deadly winds speeds (What is a Wall Cloud?).

The final sign of a tornado is the loud roar that it can produce. Some found like trains and others sound like jet engines and even large waterfalls. The sound depends on how strong the tornado is and how large the funnel is. It also depends on how the funnel interacts with the surface it is in contact with. "Tornadoes that are passing just above ground level may sound more like bees," (The Tornado Project's). This so-called roar has never been recorded without distortion of the wind that rushes into the tornado (The Tornado Project's).

// During the Tornado: // The Joplin Tornado touched down around South Black Cat Road at around 5:34 p.m. According to NOAA, a tornado warning was issued around 5:17 p.m. leaving residents 17 minutes to prepare before it touched down and 19 minutes before it actually entered Joplin. What was soon to come for these residents was an E-F 5 tornado with winds that exceeded 200 mile per hour and a 3/4 mile wide base. The tornado tracked nearly 6 miles, leaving a wake of devastation in its path (2011 Tornado Information). On its way, it hit "four schools, apartment buildings, megastores and even fire stations were severely damaged or destroyed," (Tornado Hits Joplin). On top of that, there was also damage done to St. John's Regional Medical Center. The hospital was fully evacuated, and all 183 patients were evacuated and 30 ambulances were sent to Freeman Hospital before the tornado reached there. Inevitably, the tornado also struck residential complexes, ripping through neighborhoods, destroying houses and reducing them to rubble in the blink of an eye. Many citizens followed the warning and took cover before the tornado hit. John Degraff, who lives across from St. Johns Hospital, took cover in a neighbor’s basement. The tornado hit that house and ripped the roof off, depositing it in the street. They could hear the iconic roar that sounded like a train as it barreled down on them, and after 45 minutes, they made their way out of the basement to find only rubble (Tornado Hits Joplin). One of the schools that were hit was Joplin High School, which sustained heavy damage. The other schools that were affected are Cecil Floyd Elementary School, Franklin Technology Center and the central office building. During the recovery, the other schools are being used as shelters (Tornado Strikes).

Below is a video of the Joplin tornado hitting a school, a video of the actual tornado and an animation of the tornado.

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After the Tornado/Effect:

As a direct result of the tornado, about 158 people were killed and over 1,000 were injured, according to a report that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and National Weather Service's assessment of the damage done by the tornado. Only the most rare and violent storms receive such a report that analyses warnings and forecasting services. The tornado affected both businesses and residential areas and had a very large impact on the economic part as well as the physical part. Many of the buildings were damaged and a lot of financial loss occurred.

The tornado affected about 7,160 businesses located in Joplin Missouri. In turn, the tornado affects 47,810 employees working for the effected companies. It is estimated that 3.3 billion dollars of sales volume was lost due to the tornadoes occurrence. 89 percent of the businesses affected were small businesses that had 10 or less employees. On top of that 11,469 employees that were affected belonged to a small business and 1.25 dollars lost in sales volume belonged to small businesses. Industries were also impacted by the tornado, including Retail, Construction, Wholesale, Transportation and other industries were greatly affected by tornado. These industries encompassed 3,519 businesses that employed over 30,000 people who were affected by the tornado. On average, 85 percent of these industry companies were also small businesses. Other services were 85 percent small, or 1,394 businesses. Retail was 79 percent small businesses, or 767 businesses. 383 or 88 percent of construction businesses were small. 85 percent or 220 businesses of wholesale were small businesses. And 189 or 87 percent of transportation businesses were small. All of the businesses combine created 2.56 billion dollars lost to the tornado. Other services lost 1.3 billion dollars, utilities lost 549.4 million dollars, retail lost 267.4 million dollars, transportation lost 240.8 million dollars and construction lost 200.1 million dollars in sales volume (2011 Impact). Besides the economic damage, many of the business locations may have been destroyed by the tornado, forcing them to spend even more money to rebuild.



Here is an article on the[| effect of the Joplin Tornado]. It shows the impact on certain businesses and its impact on the people of Joplin.

// The Damage: //

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// Conclusion: // The Joplin tornado was a rare and violent event that left many people homeless and in economic stress. This tornado was just like any other, with one exception, its strength and effect on the large community. The Joplin Tornado was an amazing phenomenon that is no fully understood, but when it is, it will help save many lives in the future.

// Power Point: //
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Works Cited "Tornados...Natures Most Violent Storms." Noaa, Sept. 1993. Web. 21 May 2012. [].

"NWS Central Region Service Assesment Joplin, Missouri Tornado-May 22, 2011." //US Department of Commerce//. NOAA, July 2011. Web. 21 May 2012. [].

"Joplin, Missouri Hit by E-5 Tornado on May 22, 2011." //City of Joplin Missouri//. Web. 22 May 2012. [].

Knight, Meredith. "Fact or Fiction?: If the Sky Is Green, Run for Cover—A Tornado Is Coming." //Scientific American// 14 June 2007. Print.

"Hail Basics." //Questions and Answers about Hail: Basics//. NOAA. Web. 22 May 2012. [].

"What's a Wall Cloud?" //Wx Savvy |//. NOAA. Web. 23 May 2012. [].

"The Tornado Project's Truths about Those Terrifying Twisters!" //The Tornado Project's Truths about Those Terrifying Twisters!// The Tornado Project. Web. 29 May 2012. [].

"2011 Tornado Information." //2011 Tornado Information//. 20 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 May 2012. [].

"Tornado Hits Joplin, Destroys Hospital; 124 Dead." //40 29 News//. 24 May 2012. Web. 29 May 2012. [].

"Joplin, Killing People, Causing Major Damage." //Ky3.com//. 2 May 2011. Web. 29 May 2012. [].

"2011 Impact Report Of Joplin, Missouri." D&B, 2011. Web. 30 May 2012. [].