I just read this article about recent tornado deaths of people in vehicles. We're accustomed to seeing video of ripped up homes and think that that's where most people die, but I guess a large proportion of people are actually dying in their vehicles. Anyway, just a reminder that being inside a passenger vehicle, no matter how large, is not a good place to be when a tornado hits you.

A car can at least drive in the other direction, a mobile home just sits there and gets ripped apart.

Mobile homes have this substance in them (trailermonium) that acts like a magnet to tornados, it draws them in from miles away.

Not if there's no road it can't, and it doesn't do any good if the road turns into the tornado's path.

And even if there is a road it might have other traffic with other panicked motorists, debris, etc. And if all else fails the tornado can always just outrun you.

"...if the road turns into the tornado's path..."

In that case I would do a "dynamite turn" and haul in the other direction. I know that might not save you, but ya gotta try something. A freeway overcrossing would probably be about the only place you might be able to sit out a twister in a vehicle. Personally, I will take the CA earthquakes any day over a tornado. And in about a year we will be heading into that part of the country...

The only way you are even remotely safe in your vehicle when a tornado is near you is if your vehicle looks like this:

Tornados don’t move that fast, maybe 30 mph. (most time slower then that) every spring we get several of them here in NW Ohio. And the Sky-Warn people (my brother being one of the storm chasers) go out and follow them and report on their position. They can easily get away if needed

Any car can outrun a tornado and you can easily turn around. It’s not hard to keep out of their path while in a car. In the country, every mile there is a cross road to turn on if you need to. In a city it would be much more difficult because of limited visibility, but they don’t seem to hit in towns much, almost always they are out in the country.




A freeway overpass is actually more dangerous then laying down in an open ditch. There is a vortex action that happens under overpasses that can make the wind stronger and also reverse direction almost instantly. You would need to tie yourself to a pole to keep from being pulled away. At least that’s the way it was explained to me at a Sky-Warn meeting one time.

The tornado in Newton county (Oklahoma/Missouri) was moving 50-60 mph. A thunderstorm passed 20 miles south of me last night moving 55 mph according to NWS radio, and any embedded tornado would move at least as fast. The funnel can "wiggle" even faster than these average speeds, especially if it's on the "fast" side of a supercell thunderstorm.

The real problem is the roads. You can't always drive 60 mph on a narrow country road in a thunderstorm with other panicked drivers trying to do likewise. It's not the same as trying to do it under ideal conditions, especially if the country roads just aren't maintained for those speeds (potholes) or not flat & straight enough.

I have a CB/NWS weather radio in the car and if I must be out in bad weather I tune into NWS. Were a tornado spotted near me and no other shelter available I'd probably look for a culvert to crawl into and a stick to "ask permission" from the culvert's residents, and crawl in if the tornado got within a few hundred yards.

Any car can outrun a tornado in optimal conditions. The edges of supercell thunderstorms usually produce very heavy rain and large and dense hail. Driving 60 miles per hour in such conditions can be dangerous. Counting on the roads being clear enough for you to drive this fast is also a bet I would not hedge, as there may easily be people on the road ahead of you not going as fast as you would like to go.

Another problem you may have is the formation of tornado clusters. Not everyone is a weatherman, so not everyone can predict the safest direction to evacuate. There have been several cases where people in vehicles have been stuck on the road in between two tornadoes that are a few miles apart. Add this to the fact that roads in the central United States can stretch for several miles without a good turnoff, so there are only two directions you can go.

And then, let us think about simply trying all of this at night where the sky is basically invisible.

Storm chasers are a different story. They know the risk, and they have equipment, knowledge, and information resources to help mitigate these risks. They have the capability to look up into the sky and see exactly when and where a tornado is likely to appear. Even such, many of them get in hairy situations all the time. A regular person putting themselves in the same situation is much more dangerous because they do not have the same equipment, knowledge, and information resources that storm chasers do.

That's weird, I just clicked to that AP article again this morning and the content seems to have changed considerably since yesterday...unless I read a different article but linked to that one...???

One point which I remember reading (which doesn't appear in that linked article) is that some people were rushing to take refuge in parked vehicles. So, they were out in the open and there weren't any buildings around so they headed for a vehicle. I remember a couple different people mentioned in the article took refuge in junked cars, thinking it would shield them from the wind driven debris. They probably would've been better off staying in the open and trying to find a ditch or culvert or even just laying flat where they were.

Anyway, so being caught in a vehicle doesn't necessarily mean that they were driving around when they were hit by a tornado, so let's not get too focused on this idea of being able to outrun a tornado. Sometimes a parked vehicle is seen as shelter when in fact, it is more dangerous than being in a ditch, out in the open. Same warning about being in the open and running to the nearest mobile home, thinking that it provides shelter.

You can get away in a car only if the roads are not jammed with traffic or debris.