Incredible Tornado Footage!

Let’s take a look at some INSANE tornado footage from around the world! Why? Because SCIENCE! Here are 3 super exciting movies taken at ground zero:

#1 “Security Cam Catches Tornado Hitting Parking Lot”

Video Source: YouTube channel www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-Rz8iR1IGY

I’ve watched a lot of videos of tornados ripping through the built environment and what it would seem is that if you have absolutely no other form of shelter – the ideal shelter being a wine cellar – a car is the next best thing. In this awesome science video, a tornado tears through a parking lot, playfully battering the cars as it goes. While the rain “falls” horizontally and debris flies by faster than Britney Spears’ divorce proceedings, the wind never actually picks up a car and flings it as you might expect (or want, if you’re slightly sadistic like me.)

#2 “Amazing Tornado Footage”

Video Source: YouTube channel www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMsUQGL7j5Q

A news report from a Kentucky TV news station shows video footage gathered during a tornado in the town of West Liberty. The evidence left in the aftermath is chilling as heavy wooden beams are left sticking out of solid walls like flakey bars out of a soft serve ice-cream.

#3 “Crazy Guy Runs into Outback Tornado to Take Selfie”

Video Source: YouTube channel www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7aRR86VfTY

Your perfectly stereotyped outback Australian takes a picture with a raging column of air known locally as a “Willy-willy” and in South Africa as a “dust devil.” I suppose it could fairly be called a tornado, although it was probably an F0 or F1 at best.

I wonder if Jason liked his selfie…?

3 Incredible Videos of Hurricanes Behaving Badly

And now for a sampling of nature’s finest hurricane videos. Batten down the hatches, because it’s only in the bedroom that it’s fun getting banged like a screen door in a hurricane!

#1: “Hurricane Wilma Hits Southern Florida”

In this awesome science video, watch palm trees head-banging in the wind like a gathering of gangly punk rock kids as hurricane Wilma flattens South Florida in 2005.

#2: “Hurricane Sandy: Timelapse of the Storm from the New York Times Building”

Appreciate a far better vantage point than most New Yorkers had of the storm that caused the Big Apple a serious headache in 2012! Watch Hurricane Sandy roll in and over NYC  from the safety of the Times Building. It’s terrifyingly beautiful from this ivory tower.

#3: “Hurricane Katrina Satellite Timelapse”

Katrina’s fender bender with the southern states (2005): This is a must-see for a lesson in hurricane formation, from hazy blip over the Bahamas to a monstrous storm system that swarms and spins like your head after a night of tequila swilling!

Run For Cover: Hailstorms on Camera!

Hail is formed by severe thunderstorms and can range in size from super tiny pellets, which sound as though a mouse is tap-dancing on your roof, to massive grapefruits that plough straight THROUGH your roof. In this collection of three videos, we see just how large hailstones give tornadoes a run for their money in terms of the damage they can do.

For a more detailed account of hailstone formation, check out last week’s blog post: Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Ice!

Hailstorm Video # 1

This incredible video clip was filmed – mercifully – from the safety of a residential home. It records the deafening sound of massive hailstones slamming into the roof, as well as into the garden and pool. Note the huge splashes generated by the falling hailstones hitting the water and the size of the stones themselves as they accumulate on the grass.

Insurance companies in Oklahoma must have a very long and convoluted “Terms and Conditions” clause under the “Act of God” claim.

Video Source: “Hail Storm Oklahoma City” Uploaded by Beatlesfanxxl on May 16, 2010, YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFv2W7Duqiw

Hailstorm Video # 2

Just when you think it can’t get any worse than having large chunks of ice smashing into your roof, porch, pool and garden vegetation, the intensity of the hailstorm swells. Suddenly, it LITERALLY starts raining branches, leaves and torn-up vegetation as this colossal hailstorm shows off its mettle. According to the person who filmed this video, the hailstones ranged in size from peas to baseballs and actually halted traffic on the interstate highways.

Thankfully, the kind of large hail produced by these large thunderstorms tends to fall in narrow swaths and as such, they rarely last longer than a minute in any one area. Still, though, that’s all it takes to leave you with enough yard cleaning to do for weeks!

Video Source: “Incredible Hailstorm Phoenix, Arizona” Uploaded by ChiliDog1723 on October 28, 2010, YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XeTqp_HRIs

Hailstorm Video # 3

From beginning to end, this amazing hailstorm video shows the incredible damage done by hailstones the size of tennis balls as they smash into Woodson Texas soil, cars and even electrical cables. The guy filming it manages to pick up a couple of the hailstones to show us the size of these monsters in comparison to a quarter (US currency). Towards the end, an ambulance loads a patient who unfortunately got caught in the hailstorm and hopefully only sustained minor injuries. It just goes to show that, in storms the size and strength they are in the American Midwest, not even your car offers you sufficient refuge.

Video Source: “Very Large Hail” uploaded by Cld9trs on November 8, 2006, YouTube channel www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZr8jXo1Uso.