"TORNADO ON THE *GROUND* IN WINSLOW, AZ.!"

[azsnowman]

Can you BELIEVE this, a ACTUAL, REAL LIVE tornado was on the ground for OVER 15 MINUTES, a CBS affiliate had the homevideo of it this evenin! This was NOT A FUNNEL COULD, it was REAL! No damage reported, thank God!!

Dennis

[azsnowman]

Here's the AFD for the area, THEY even mentioned the tornado! Glad no one was "Standin' on the Corner in Winslow Az!"


FDFGZ

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ
300 AM MST WED SEP 29 2004

.SYNOPSIS...A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS THE
REGION THROUGH THURSDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS
NORTHERN ARIZONA THIS EVENING AND ON THURSDAY...THEN DECREASE FROM
THE WEST. MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES AND WARMER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED
OVER THE WEEKEND.

&&

.DISCUSSION...BUSY AFTERNOON WITH A TORNADO EAST OF WINSLOW AND
SEVERAL SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THE WEAK UPPER LOW WILL CONTINUE TO
MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN UTAH AND INTO COLORADO BY THURSDAY EVENING.
PART OF THE TROUGH BRAKES OFF AND MOVES OVER CENTRAL CA ON FRIDAY.
AT THIS POINT...HAVE DROPPED MOST POPS AFTER THURSDAY EVENING. THE
TRACK AND STRENGTH OF THE PIECE OF TROF OVER CALI WILL NEED TO BE
WATCHED. IT MAY PRODUCE SOME PRECIP OVER WESTERN AZ ON SATURDAY.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE EXTENDED SHOW ANOTHER SHORT WAVE MOVING ACROSS
THE 4-CORNERS ON MONDAY. AT THIS POINT...WILL NOT ADD POPS. TEMPS
WILL BE NEAR NORMAL.

MAS
&&

.FGZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE

[frankthetank]

story here
http://www.kpho.com/

[riverratmike]

not a cloud in the sky here in Lake Havasu on Wed. Anyone have any photos of that tornado in Winslow?

[Brent]

[weatherlover427]

Hope you guys stayed safe up there Dennis. I saw some rain echoes on the Flagstaff radar the other day but I never thought they looked tornadic.

[Aslkahuna]

Most tornadoes in AZ are of the landspout variety and not the meso cyclone type-the latter being the ones that show those nice radar signatures. Landspout type tornadoes and the weaker cold air funnels don't show up well at all on radar which is why when one chases storms in AZ you have to go on the visual and forget the radar data. Only a few of the about 1 dozen AZ tornadoes I've seen have ever shown on radar.

Steve

[weatherlover427]

Which parts of Arizona are more prone to tornadoes? I would have thought that the southwestern or southeastern parts would have the highest frequencies of tornadoes since they are relatively flatter than other areas of the state.

[Aslkahuna]

The highest frequency of tornadoes in AZ occurs in an area SE-S of Phoenix. However, they have been reported in all parts of the State and the only tornado fatalities have occurred down around Tucson.

Steve

[weatherlover427]

That's what I would have thought - either there or out by the Yuma - Gila Bend area (due to it being flatter in those areas).

[azsnowman]

This is second such sighting near Winslow this past summer (gee, sound funny saying past summer lol), actually, one was just a funnel cloud, never did touch down.

Dennis

[Aslkahuna]

Last April, two funnels were reported in Tucson and I videotaped two others that were visible from Sierra Vista-one which may have touched down.

Steve

[Derecho98]

(due to it being flatter in those areas).

It has nothing to due with how flat an area is, is all about the dynamics. You can get tornadoes at 10-12 thousand feet if conditions are right.

[Aslkahuna]

True, there have been tornadoes reported around Flagstaff and even in the Rim country west of Show Low and I have even observed funnels over the Huachuca mountains. The area southeast of Phoenix is a convergence zone set up by the surrounding terrain and thus the low level flow when added to the dynamics of an approaching winter system can result in tornadoes if there's enough instability for thunderstorms.
Around Cochise County and Tucson, tornadoes are more likely during the end of, and the transition period out of, the monsoon and when a trough picks up tropical remnants out of EPAC (best example of this happened in 1995).

Steve