Settle argument: Has a tornado ever hit a high rise building? If so...

[Rowdyboy]

what was the result?

[Worst Username Ever]

1. .

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/newton/askasci/1993/general/GEN018.HTM

[Rowdyboy]

4. Damn, you are good! Thanks...

That was exactly the information I was looking for.

:thumbsup:

[Heyo]

24. At first glance..

.. I though that link said newton.deep.anal.gov

:dunce:

Heyo

[nyhuskyfan]

2. Didn't One Go Through Salt Lake City a few years ago????

There was also one, in all places, Miami, but I think it missed downtown.

[nyhuskyfan]

5. Salt Lake City one...

Damaged the Delta Center and cut right through downtown, but I'm not sure if there was a high-rise involved...

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/1999/wtor811.htm

[Rowdyboy]

8. I could vaguely remember seeing a news story years ago

with a tornado in a western city, but I couldn't remember which one. You're absolutely right, it was Salt Lake City. Thanks much!

[asthmaticeog]

3. If you're referring to

"The Day After Tomorrow," it's incredibly rare for a funnel cloud to be able to touch down or form in a city. Even a little ditch will destabilize a funnel cloud, let alone a shit-ton of skyscrapers.

[Rowdyboy]

6. That was also information I was looking for...

Why do tornadoes set down on cities so (comparitively) rarely?

Actually, the question arose from a discussion on how stable high-rises were in various natural disasters. I remembered seeing film footage of one years ago in a western city, which appears to have been Salt Lake City.

[Zuni]

13. Because hi density areas break up the winds

all those buildings break up the winds.

[Wcross]

7. Nashville was hit a couple of years ago

Lots of highrise buildings lost windows and the traylor park a mile from the capital building was hit purty hard.

[Az_lefty]

9. why do trailer parks attract tornadoes?

[ironflange]

10. I don't think they do

It's just that when a twister goes through, it can pick them up and totally destroy the whole place. Houses are fastened down, so the damage is not as widespread. A wind that takes the roof and siding off a house will totally muck up a whole park full of trailers.

[slutticus]

14. It was 1998...I was there.

That thing went straight down West End Avenue towards downtown.

[Wcross]

18. I wasn't downtown....but

That was a rough day all over the state. I remember driving home from work that day and getting stuck behind some old geezer on a onelane road. It started hailing real bad and the sky was the oddest shade of green- and the geezer stopped! I was less than a mile from home and safety (storm shelter/garage for the truck) and this bozo stops. I finally got by him and home.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

17. I was there

I was less than a mile due south of downtown- I was able to watch it happening. Pretty freaky stuff.

[Robeson]

19. Yes it was

I was in an office building on 21st, and watched it go all the way into town. Very strange. In fact, the one that went through Nashville blew a lot of the theories out of the water that a tornado couldn't go through an urban city area.

I live in East Nashville, which is very close to downtown. When the tornados left the city, they bounced over the Cumberland River to here, and leveled to the ground the house right next to ours. It was splinters, and ours was basically untouched. Lost some shingles.

[slutticus]

22. I remember it also..

....knocked over a huge crane when they were building the Titan's Coliseum.

[liontamer]

11. Yes

When nashville was hit lots of highrises had boards up where windows were lost. It was pretty odd to see

[NashVegas]

12. Yes

the L & C tower in Nashville, about 6 years ago. Took out some glass - twisted two sliding glass door frames on floor 30, some observation windows on 31.

Many other downtown buildings got nailed, too.

[slutticus]

15. Miami

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wtmiami.htm

[Lars39]

16. In Nashville, lots of broken out windows on the tall buildings

when the tornado hit a few yrs ago. What is disturbing is that *I* was the alarm for the floor my husband was on. I called him to ask if they knew about it. They barely had time to hustle everyone to the basement. :scared:

[Robeson]

20. Hey, and I meant to add....

....I hope you were on the right side of the arguement!!:hi:

[Zero Division]

21. Downtown high-rise areas comprise such a small percentage of land

area that this is the main reason why tornadoes rarely hit a high rise building. It's simply not very probable given the frequency of tornado-to-land ratios that a tornado will hit a downtown high rise area. It's possible that very weak tornadoes may be hindered by the heat island effect of cities or the air turbulence generated between tall buildings. But it's highly improbable that anything like that could hinder strong tornadoes. Strong torandoes also happen to much rarer, as well: another reason why high rise buildings are rarely hit.

Contrary to popular belief things like ditches, rivers, and even mountain ranges probably don't effect mature tornadoes much if at all.

This website covers these ideas and more surrounding popular myths about tornadoes: http://www.tornadoproject.com/myths/myths.htm .

[Southpaw Bookworm]

23. Downtown Houston

Or somewhere in Texas a few years ago -- last I heard, there were building still standing empty.

[djeseru]

25. Fort Worth took a direct hit.

This last building shown had the sad nickname "Tin-can Tower" for sitting vacant so long afterwards. Just this past year they started renovations.