With the 1996 Fort Smith tornado very much on my mind, and having recently re-read my “tornado diary,” I thought I would offer one major factual correction. The Arkansas River really doesn’t do anything to deflect tornadoes. Not a thing. It can’t stop a supercell thunderstorm from crossing the river and then dropping a funnel right into downtown, or any other part of town. And in the case of the ’96 storm, every once in a while you’re dealing with a storm that’s just too big to be bothered by a little river in the way. Sort of like every once in a while you’ll see a hurricane that tops the levees. So I just wanted to get that correction on the record, before anyone thought it was a true thing – it’s a local weather myth, a meteorological old wives’ tale, and a dangerous one at that because it gets people to let their guard down.
She’s a strange lady, this mother nature.
You May Also Like
How’s the weather 30 years ago?
June 19, 2017
A Father’s Day rainbow
June 14, 2015
We’ve voided the warranty on the planet
August 22, 2014
The Albuquerque local myth has always been that it takes a mountain (like the Sandia mountains) to deflect a tornado. True, we don’t get many tornados here (in the past twenty years we’ve had maybe one tornado touch down and about four or five funnel clouds reported) but I think it has more to do with our distance from tornado alley than the presence of a 5,000 ft mountain.
One thing the local mountains are capable of doing, however, is make it much more difficult for the weatherman to predict the local weather. At least that’s the average complaint of many of the people here from out-of-state. Perhaps the mountains trap more rain clouds but I’m not complaining. With the drought we’ve been suffering under for the past ten years, I welcome the extra rain.
I live on the side of a mountain at present, and a somewhat tall one at that, and given the number of funnel clouds I’ve seen float over or near my property this spring, I’ve gotta say “it takes a mountain to deflect a tornado” is going to fall under the category of meteorological mythfits too.
Mythbusters could do a whole episode on tornadoes, in fact. At my place. Especially if they bring the redhead. But I digress.