EXTREME WEATHER: "The Mothership" - Massive Supercell Thunderstorm Drops Two Tornadoes On Tulsa, Oklahoma!

A tornadic supercell wreaks havoc on Tulsa, Oklahoma last week.
© Lanny Dean, Extreme Chase Tours

April 9, 2016 - OKLAHOMA, UNITED STATES - This, ladies and gentleman, is what we call a "mothership" supercell.

Meteorologists and storm chasers refer to a select few supercell thunderstorms as "motherships" for a simple, very non-meteorological reason: they resemble spaceships. To be considered a mothership supercell, the whole structure of the storm must typically be seen from top to bottom and end to end.

They often have a striated appearance (also known as "frisbee stacks") spiraling up and resembling a barber pole to altitudes higher than where planes fly. These striations are a visible cue the storm has a strongly rotating updraft, the prerequisite needed to be considered a "supercell" thunderstorm. These storms can be striking to those in the path, resembling UFO's over typical thunderstorms. Need more convincing. Check out this photo that was snapped of the same supercell. "Mothership," right?

This storm produced two EF-2 tornadoes confirmed by the Tulsa National Weather Service office. It was a long-lived and discrete supercell that crossed northern parts of the Tulsa metro just before sunset. Storm chaser Lanny Dean of Extreme Chase Tours and photographer of the first picture, chased the mothership supercell that day and collected some unprecedented and potentially revolutionary data on the storm. It's called "infrasonics" which analyzes the acoustic and pressure perturbation properties generated by supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes. In other words, it captures the "sound" frequency (or noise signatures) emitted by thunderstorms and tornadoes between 0.001 and 20 hertz — frequencies that are below the human ability to hear.

Supercell that passed just north of Tulsa this evening… photo by Ashleigh Webb #okwx pic.twitter.com/2kt2cdMelP

— James Spann (@spann) March 31, 2016

Tulsa area tornado earlier looking from Tulsa Airport. Pic from Danny Fritsche. #okwx @NewsOn6 @NewsOn6 pic.twitter.com/kihWdbMvyh

— Lacey Swope (@LaceySwope) March 31, 2016

Beautiful view of the Tulsa tornado on the News OK 6 stream pic.twitter.com/3bUBxjNeMT

— Chad Cowan (@stormtimelapse) March 31, 2016

WOW! Tornadic storm seen last night near Tulsa, Oklahoma. Photo: Daniel Tolson. #Storm #Tornado #OKwx pic.twitter.com/4D01n5XPP1

— Mark Tarello (@mark_tarello) March 31, 2016

March 30, 2016, the day of the Tulsa tornadoes, marked one of the most successful intercepts for Lanny and his team documenting the entire life cycle of Tulsa area supercell's infrasound, equating to more than forty minutes of acoustic sound data from the storm. His preliminary research showed several acoustic signature spikes just prior to tornadogenesis as well as large frequency spikes when the tornado was on the ground. While his research is still preliminary, the goal is to use this perhaps revolutionary technology to study the before, during, and after acoustic behavior of supercells and tornadoes, which could aid in improving and increasing warning lead time in the future.

So not only was the Tulsa "mothership" supercell an impressive visual display of Mother Nature's fury, but also a perfect case study for tornado researchers aiming to more fully understand these types of magnificent yet violent storms.


WATCH: Time-lapse of the supercell thunderstorm.

The Tulsa tornadoes marked the first real photogenic tornado event of the severe season for the Plains. Now that it's April, storm chasers and weather enthusiasts will be flocking to big sky country in pursuit of supercells and tornadoes, including the chance to see breath-taking storm structure like what was seen around Tulsa last week.

Here are a couple more looks at the mothership supercell and the two tornadoes it produced during its life-cycle through the Tulsa area. - The Washington Post.

GEOLOGICAL UPHEAVALS: Sinkholes Keep Popping Up Across The United States - Large Sinkhole Forms In San Diego Causing Landslide Near Homes

A house appears to be compromised after land slides into canyon in the College Area. © Fox 5

April 9, 2016 - CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES - A portion of land slid down into a canyon behind a house in the College area after a large sinkhole formed Wednesday morning, officials said.

"They saw a large portion of the earth give way behind this address," said Captain Joe Amador, San Diego Fire & Rescue. Captain Amador described the slide as 30 to 40 feet wide and about 150 feet up the ravine. He said crews were called to home 5600 block of Dorothy Way just after 9AM.

"Reportedly some of the neighbors heard noises last night even up to 2 or 3 nights ago," said Amador. "There was no hazards, no body was hurt , we sealed off the area with bannered tape."

No one was hurt, but the slide has neighbors living on edge. "I hope it doesn't come on my side," said Julia Bain, neighbor.
Bain is one of the original residents in the neighborhood. "We built here in 1954, my father built the home with a contractor," said Bain.

Julia said she's pretty sure her home is stable and safe. "There are pillars that go down some 20 feet under the house itself, my house should be safe," said Bain. "I'm a little nervous with the rains this week. I am a little concerned."

City engineers red-tagged the pool and shed of the home, late Wednesday evening the main house was declared safe. Julia hopes the landslide will not grow. "This is my home of 60 years and I don't know what I'd do if I have problems here," said Bain. - Fox 5.

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: Earthquake Strikes The Bardarbunga Volcano In Iceland - Around 15 Aftershocks In Just A Few Hours!

Bárðarbunga volcano. © Rax / Ragnar Axelsson

April 9, 2016 - ICELAND - There was a major earthquake on the northern edge of the Bárðarbunga volcanic craters at around midnight last night.

The quake measured 4.2 on the Richter scale and is therefore the largest quake to have hit the famous volcano since it stopped erupting in February last year.

According to Bjarki Fries, a natural disasters specialist with the Icelandic met office, the earthquake emanated from 3.5 kilometers underground.

Around 15 aftershocks have already been measured, the most powerful of which was a 3.5 quake at 01.00 this morning.

Met office earthquakes specialist Martin Hensch told RÚV that there is no evidence of lava movements or of any eruption activity connected to the earthquakes, but that the situation will be monitored carefully.

There were two quakes in the same location on April 3, measuring 3.4 and 3 on the Richter scale.

The recent eruption at Bárðarbunga, often known as Holuhraun, lasted from late August 2014 to late February 2015, and despite not affecting aviation or physically threatening any human settlements, it caused dangerous levels of pollution around Iceland and produced more new lava than almost any other eruption in Iceland since the Vikings first arrived. - Iceland Review.

 

MASS BIRD DIE-OFFS: Migratory Patterns And Disaster Precursors - Storm Kills 5,000 Birds In Jessore, Bangladesh!

Dead birds.

April 9, 2016 - BANGLADESH - Roughly 5,000 birds of different species were killed as a nor'wester wreaked havoc at Tirerhat village in Jessore Sadar upazila on Wednesday night.

Locals said they found around 5,000 birds, including Doel, Shalik, Masranga, Bulbuli and Ghughu, lying dead at different places of the village after the storm on Thursday morning, according to a news agency report.

Later, they buried the dead birds at the village.

Dr. Saibur Rahman Mollah, dean of the Environmental Science Faculty of Jessore University of Science and Technology, said the death of such a large number of birds will certainly have a bad impact on the biodiversity of the area. - Financial Express.