Tornado Maps

Feb 14, 2009 22:18



(Click on the image to see a larger version.)

Above: This is a regional map showing the approximate path of the tornado as determined by National Weather Service investigators. The annotation in the upper left corner provides a timeline of the storm. I personally suspect the tornado near Spanish Fort was actually the beginning of the large tornado, just that the ground track disappeared as the storm crossed the Red River valley and due to the lower topography, the bottom of the vortex was no longer in contact with the ground (funnel cloud). Petersburg and Spanish Fort are not much more than spots-in-the-road, and northwest Love County is so sparsely populated as to be nearly uninhabited rangeland. Thus the tornado had reached 30% of its journey before it was spotted by people.



(Click on the image to see a larger version.)

Above: This is a local map of Carter County and the Lone Grove area showing the path of the tornado. The homes of family and friends are shown on the map. Lone Grove was hardest hit; a large portion of the town was destroyed, and 8 people were killed there. Environmental and structural damage was also reported in northwest Ardmore and near Springer. Electricity was disrupted in Wilson, Lone Grove, Ardmore, and Springer, but not at The Farm. Large, damaging hail was reported in Springer (experienced by relatives) and Wilson. The roar of the tornado was audible at The Farm, eight miles from the tornado track. The Johnson home was undamaged despite the tornado passing over it. The post office lost its roof (your check from Publisher's Clearing House was on its way to be delivered, unfortunately) but the high school only lost two windows. Smaller homes and businesses weren't as fortunate.



(Click on the image to see a larger version.)

Above: A news report on the TV briefly showed a map of Lone Grove depicting tornado damage and the tornado path. I took a screen capture of it, rubbersheeted it to real world coordinates, and created this map. You can see just how wide this tornado was.
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