What a bad-a$$. Knew his name and his system, but remarkable story and some truly ground-breaking research. Mad props to you sir.
American Experience - Mr. Tornado...
- Thread starter SpokaneCY
- Start date
Thanks. I will have to watch that.
A tornado came through our town about that time (1974). A few years before that someone from town, the father of one of my classmates, snapped a photo of a tornado near our farm that was otherwise unrecorded. No one would otherwise have even known it occurred. It didn’t do any damage, but was clearly a twister on the ground on a pretty clear day, not like a wall cloud or something, .
Here is a link to the program at the AE website:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/mr-tornado/
A tornado came through our town about that time (1974). A few years before that someone from town, the father of one of my classmates, snapped a photo of a tornado near our farm that was otherwise unrecorded. No one would otherwise have even known it occurred. It didn’t do any damage, but was clearly a twister on the ground on a pretty clear day, not like a wall cloud or something, .
Here is a link to the program at the AE website:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/mr-tornado/
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I watched the the documentary on Thursday afternoon. After watching it, I looked up information from the 1974 super outbreak. There were 7 F5 Tornadoes recorded over that two day period.
On the Latest WeatherBrains podcast they had Dr. Greg Forbes on (from TWC), who worked with Dr Fujita as an undergrad, grad, and PhD student and he said that one of those F5’s was the strongest tornado that Dr Fujita had ever seen.
Great episode, great story, and less than an hour long.
And it seems possible that my buddy’s photo was reported, and eventually shown as such on the interwebs today, as an F1 on Mr. Tornado’s scale. I see one record consistent with the timeframe. I don’t believe there was anything like a tornado warning or watch, or any news report of it that day, so it was a surprise to see it in the photograph like that.
And it seems possible that my buddy’s photo was reported, and eventually shown as such on the interwebs today, as an F1 on Mr. Tornado’s scale. I see one record consistent with the timeframe. I don’t believe there was anything like a tornado warning or watch, or any news report of it that day, so it was a surprise to see it in the photograph like that.
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An original thinker, Fujita went against the grain of professional opinion and was ultimately proven correct on multiple issues — sometimes against heated opposition — as on downdrafts causing airline crashes.
In his native Japan, he studied and wanted to understand the micro level characteristics of storm systems, and learned of a like-minded fellow at the University of Chicago, who invited him to come work with him in the U.S.
He also theorized about how one house might be demolished and a neighboring house left untouched. Others disputed his theory, for lack of photographic evidence, but eventually such evidence was produced.
In his native Japan, he studied and wanted to understand the micro level characteristics of storm systems, and learned of a like-minded fellow at the University of Chicago, who invited him to come work with him in the U.S.
He also theorized about how one house might be demolished and a neighboring house left untouched. Others disputed his theory, for lack of photographic evidence, but eventually such evidence was produced.
