[Gllug] Tornado in London

M.Blackmore mblackmore at oxlug.org
Fri Dec 8 23:18:55 UTC 2006


On Thu, 2006-12-07 at 12:23 +0000, Jason Clifford wrote:
> I hope nobody here lives in Kensal Green - the area has just been hit by a 
> tornado that's done a fair bit of damage.

Coming from southern Ontario originally (looong time ago) we had more
than our fair share of tornadoes, they just didn't reach the sort of
scale one gets further south, where they are REAL killers on many
occassions.

So been through a couple at very close quarters and witnessed many at a
distance where one could take a much more, err, intellectual interest in
proceedings.

Weirdly enough, all the way out in the Cotswolds about half- 3/4 an hour
before the hurricane struck yesterday, I was out in the back garden
working on a new patio and drain with a baby digger whilst preschooler
was with little friends house (thus giving daddy some time for some
serious DIY).

This is about 12 miles norwest of Oxford as the crow flies, on the
eastern edge of the hills on the edge of the Evenlode valley.

The squall that came up was kinda weird for England - we're on edge of
valley up hillside. Seldom seen such low scudding cloud in multiple
layers with ragged downward elements, nor such variable gusts of wind,
some of which were coming down almost vertical, with intense bursts of
rain from different directions almost horizontal. Drove me in off the
digger (which with its hire price I am sticking it out with working
during the rain) simply due to being a spectacles wearer the rain was
driving under the brim of my hat and I could see sod all... Sort of
thought it unusual at the time and was expecting a nasty thunder storm
or something. 

In hindsight clearly a broad band of some unusual wind, rain and energy
conditions moving across the country, and in deeper hindsight sort of
reminiscent in a smaller scale of some of the patterns that would occur
during frontal movements in Ontario when tornadoes would touch down. I
have some vague memory of the tornadoes we got there being slightly
different in weather origination than the classic Kansas/Texas etc.
tornado alley killers, possibly more similar to the conditions that
pertain in the UK, the area being one of a weather transition/energy
transition zone with the lakes just south of the peninsula and the
prevailing winds passing over them off the great plains. Apparently
Ontario had many more tornadoes each year than the US in absolute
quantity and proportion to area, just like the UK, which surprises most
people. 

Just usually not so strong by many orders of magnitude, and thus not so
"noticeable".

I have a very early childhood memory of standing on the edge of the
cliff of "Scenic Drive" overlooking downtown Hamilton (300 foot or so up
on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment) seeing a bunch of waterspouts
tracking along Lake Ontario heading sort of Toronto wards. Very clear
air under the clouds which were all hanging down jagged, almost crystal
clear, few big "lakers" steaming along the coast turning abruptly to
head into the wind, must have seen them coming, Father explaining to me,
surprising amount of which still sticks! Would have been under 5 years
of age as family split up by then.

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