View Full Version : towns protected from tornados



ziplock91
05-01-2012, 02:51 PM
watching the weather coverage yesterday april 30th I was wondering how many towns in oklahoma are suposeadly protected from tornados the only ones I know off the top of my head are bristow and walkita anybody got any more?

mmonroe
05-01-2012, 03:59 PM
what is the basis for this?

Easy180
05-01-2012, 05:05 PM
Protected from tornadoes how exactly?

Spells...Duh

ou48A
05-01-2012, 06:02 PM
There are stupid people in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and other places who believe that a certain city / town would never be hit by a tornado usually because of some old Indian legend.

Usually they involve a physical land feature like a river or ridge or they think that Indian burial grounds will protect them. We have Indians buried all over Oklahoma and it never seems to help. I have even been told by an SMU educated person that there is so much concrete at the DFW airport that it protects the area from tornadoes. LOL….

In Norman a common belief is that a tornado would never cross the river on the south and west side of town. That legend was put to rest just a few days ago when a tornado crossed the river entered the west side of Norman and traveled all the way through town. Fortunately it was not a strong tornado.

Norman has had 4 or 5 mostly weak tornadoes in the past 15 or so years

Just the facts
05-01-2012, 06:28 PM
Protected from tornadoes how exactly?

They passed local laws making them illegal. Have you ever heard of an illegal tornado? Me neither. :)

YO MUDA
05-01-2012, 08:27 PM
I heard that about Elk City years ago.

Midtowner
05-02-2012, 09:13 AM
Marietta has never been hit.

bandnerd
05-02-2012, 09:30 AM
Yes it has. At least, it wasn't a confirmed tornado, but sirens blew during one nighttime storm, and the football field scoreboard was never seen again, along with other damage.

kevinpate
05-02-2012, 09:35 AM
Until just the other week, if T and Norman danced, it was generally more to an outer fringe area and not near the core of town.
No real reason beyond that's where they seemed to track.

After this recent storm, a friend down the street dropped by and commented her understanding was that just did not happen in Norman. I smiled and opined it did not use to happen here, but that all seemed to change after she moved into the neighborhood. We both laughed, because she moved here from an area with a somewhat higher incidence of bad storms.
We decided her presence was as good an explanation as any of the other stories I've heard or told.

I have to admit, I'll likely pay more attention to storm monitoring now than I did in times past. Haven't had one slide this close to home in a very long time.

ziplock91
05-02-2012, 01:42 PM
sorry should have given more information. I am looking abouth myths about towns suposeadly protected by native american or other "spells" or some natural formation

ThomPaine
05-02-2012, 04:50 PM
There are stupid people in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and other places who believe that a certain city / town would never be hit by a tornado usually because of some old Indian legend.

Usually they involve a physical land feature like a river or ridge or they think that Indian burial grounds will protect them. We have Indians buried all over Oklahoma and it never seems to help. I have even been told by an SMU educated person that there is so much concrete at the DFW airport that it protects the area from tornadoes. LOL….

In Norman a common belief is that a tornado would never cross the river on the south and west side of town. That legend was put to rest just a few days ago when a tornado crossed the river entered the west side of Norman and traveled all the way through town. Fortunately it was not a strong tornado.

Norman has had 4 or 5 mostly weak tornadoes in the past 15 or so years

When I lived in Norman, I always heard the same thing "tornadoes have never hit Norman and never will." I also was told it had to do with "the river." But like everybody else, I always checked my watch on Fridays when the sirens went off, just to ensure it was noon.

Just the facts
05-02-2012, 08:16 PM
Marietta is one square mile. The odds that any one square mile plot of ground in Oklahoma would be hit is pretty small.

BB37
05-02-2012, 09:02 PM
Marietta is one square mile. The odds that any one square mile plot of ground in Oklahoma would be hit is pretty small.

Agreed. And yet, there are towns that have been hit multiple times (Woodward, Moore, etc.)

Questor
05-02-2012, 10:07 PM
sorry should have given more information. I am looking abouth myths about towns suposeadly protected by native american or other "spells" or some natural formation

The locals in Tahlequah believe that a tornado will never hit their town because it is in a valley and is surrounded by decent-sized hills. Of all the "it'll never hit here" theories I have heard, I actually wonder if this one might have some rationality behind it.

bandnerd
05-03-2012, 09:04 AM
Marietta is one square mile. The odds that any one square mile plot of ground in Oklahoma would be hit is pretty small.

I always think about that, and how if the May 3, 1999 tornado had hit the town, it would have been completely gone. :/

Bunty
05-03-2012, 11:01 AM
The locals in Tahlequah believe that a tornado will never hit their town because it is in a valley and is surrounded by decent-sized hills. Of all the "it'll never hit here" theories I have heard, I actually wonder if this one might have some rationality behind it.

Sounds like the same myth that lived on in Stillwater until it was struck by the Friday the 13th tornado, 1975. http://stillwaterweather.com/stwfriday13thtornado.html

ou48A
05-03-2012, 03:56 PM
Marietta is one square mile. The odds that any one square mile plot of ground in Oklahoma would be hit is pretty small.


The odds are pretty good that it will get hit eventually. When people say "never been hit" what they actually mean is in the last 75 years or so since the town was formed. In that span, mother nature really hasn't had the statistical shot at any one square mile. But with enough time, she will.

I believe it was Dr. Fred Carr who taught meteorology at OU who told his class that I was in (1979) that any given square foot in Oklahoma would statistically be hit every 250 years by a significant tornado.

If this is accurate and if you live in Oklahoma in the same home all your life this would give you about a 1 in 3 chance of being hit at some point in your life.

When you consider that certain parts of Oklahoma.... like the panhandle.... see fewer tornadoes than other parts of Oklahoma the odds are going to be greater than once every 250 years in the more highly populated areas of Oklahoma.

This is part of why I support stronger building codes and reasonable access to storm shelters for occupants of new construction.