Mulvane KS tornado 06/12/04 information??

[Larry J. Kosch]

Does anybody know how I can get the damage survey for the Mulvane KS tornado from 06/12/04? I don't recall what the SPC rated this tornado at? (F3?). I'm interested in seeing if this tornado had a typical SW-NE track or if it went NW-SE.

It seems like I've seen a lot of storm chase videos that shows the tornado from the south. The one exception I know of, Jason Pollite/Scott Blair, had a video that seems to show the tornado from a western perspective. In the later stage of that particular video (found on "Storm Chase 2004 Timeless Journey"), you can see the chasers tracking the tornado while driving thru the damage path of that storm.

Any information you can give me would help a lot. Thanks. 8) LJK.

[cedwards]

Here you will find information on the 6/12/04 tornadoes. Mulvane was rated F3

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ict/cgi-bin/vuesto...MBER=2004061400 (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ict/cgi-bin/vuestory.pl?STORY_NUMBER=2004061400)
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ict/wxstory/2004061400_Mulvane2.jpg

[Shane Adams]

I'm interested in seeing if this tornado had a typical SW-NE track or if it went NW-SE........It seems like I've seen a lot of storm chase videos that shows the tornado from the south. The one exception I know of, Jason Pollite/Scott Blair, had a video that seems to show the tornado from a western perspective.

My perspective changed throughout the event, as we shot the entire Mulvane tornado lifecycle from one spot. We started SE of the tornado looking NW, and as it moved by, eventually we wound up WNW of it looking ESE as it dissipated.

The track was generally NW to SE, and the tornado was rated F3. However some chasers (including myself) believe it was F4.

[Gabe Garfield]

It's highly likely that this tornado was a violent tornado (even though it was quite small width-wise). A tornado that is able to toss a car >150 yards in the air is usually evidence of winds > 200 mph.

F-Scale ratings are inherently subjective, and I've noticed a tendency in recent years to (apparently) underrate tornadoes (especially particularly violent ones) due to doubts about the integrity of the structures that are impacted (and other variables). This may have been a "when in doubt, underrate it" type of situation.

Gabe

[David Drummond]

Here is the "informal" survey that myself, Graham Butler, Shane Adams and Philip Flory did. We plotted the path be connecting points where we marked some sort of damage by GPS as well as we were able to relate by viewing the ENTIRE life cycle from one location as it passed by us.

http://wx5tvs.com/chasephotos/2004/061204M...4MulvaneKS2.htm (http://wx5tvs.com/chasephotos/2004/061204MulvaneKS2.htm)

[Scott Currens]

Excellent survey guys!
Your survey seems to match up with what we all shot in our videos. I would bet that you guys spent more time doing your survey than ICT did. Their surveys appear to be done very hastily. Their survey (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ict/cgi-bin/vueimg.pl?STORY_NUMBER=2004051418&IMG_NUM=1) from the May 12th F4 south of Harper is way off. They have three separate tornadoes instead of one. I conducted both ground and aerial surveys that clearly show one continuous damage track from what they called two F2's and the F4. They seem to think that tornadoes don't occur in open fields. Each house or set of houses that were damaged are considered to be damaged by a different tornado.

I'll try to get my survey online soon so others can judge for them selves.

[Jeff Snyder]

Scott, speaking of May 12th... I STILL don't see the after-dark tornado that occurred north of Anthony and that crossed Hwy 2 / Hwy 14 between Harper and Anthony documented anywhere (PNS, StormData, etc). They do show two different tornado tracks that cross near this location, but both are during the daylight hours... We watched the after-dark tornado from the north-side of Anthony in the 9:15-9:25pm period (I believe)... My pics of this tornado are at http://www.tornadocentral.com/chasing/2004...4/anthony.shtml (http://www.tornadocentral.com/chasing/2004/051204/anthony.shtml) ... I emailed the WCM at ICT a couple of times regarding this tornado, and he said that it was included on the track map and in Storm Data, but, from the track map I've seen (above) and the NCDC database, it is not... Here's a video still of the lightning-illuminated tornado:

http://www.tornadocentral.com/chasing/2004/051204/AnthonyCone11.jpg

Sorry to take this off-topic a bit...

Regarding Mulvane... I do wish NWSFOs would make public more detailed justification for a particular damage assessment rating. PNSs are fine, but perhaps something a little more technical and detailed... Surely the WCMs and damage assessment teams take loads of notes before coming to a determination regarding the F-scale...

[Scott Blair]

The Mulvane, KS tornado generally tracked ESE through the majority of its life. During the latter half, the tornado abruptly shifted southward due to influences of outflow. During this stage, the tornado struck the house. Shortly after this significant damage, the tornado began tracking back to the SE and finally dissipated.

For those interested, I will be presenting a highly detailed case study of this tornado at the National Storm Chaser Convention next Saturday.

Take care!
Scott Blair
http://www.targetarea.net/