by Dam0cles » Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:43 pm
good mornin, red!
thanks for the response! Actually, city heat doesn't keep ALL tornadoes out, but it does discourage most of them, or so the local newscasters have said, and i think i also read about it somewhere.
yeah, saint louis has had a couple tornadoes in the past, and just a couple years back we had a huuuuge storm that knocked out power to a majority of the city, it was like our own mini-catrina, we had fema shelters and a state of emergency declared and everything. although that storm didn't quite reach tornado level, it did spawn tornadoes i think out in the suburbs, which may lend support to the city heat theory. although like i said, it doesn't keep ALL tornadoes and major storms at bay in urban areas. and, o-fallon is a big city, but its not in the main industrial hub of saint louis, which might also explain why it picked up a tornado recently.
the funny thing is, tornadoes usually bypass st louis, but then some small town in illinois across the river gets beat up. i live right by the river now, so I actually get to watch this phenomenon.
thing about the city heat phenomenon is, for years i've always wondered why big cities like st louis and chicago and new york hardly ever get tornadoes, but their suburbs get hit and small towns as well (i grew up in south missouri on the arkansas border).
I used to sort of jokingly suspect some sort of secret government weather control system, but then I heard on the news that dense urban areas, because of the constant hot air rising from factories, cars, cooling system output, etc, kept most tornadoes from forming, although there are exceptions where some get thru. I'd much rather believe in a weather control system though, lmao!
As for the faultline, yeah, heh, I am kind of living on the biggest ticking timebomb in the world. well, except for that supercollider they just built in europe, aka the black hole factory. that thing i think is just about to go operational, but anywho, back to the earthquake thing. there was like a mild earthquake in our area back when i was growing up in rural southern missouri, and i always remember it, because before the quake, there was this flat area leading off to the neighbor's farm, but after the quake there was a slight hill, lol! our house was already in some geological peril, as the slope we were on going the other direction was somewhat unstable. after i moved, i wonder if that house is still there? havent had the opportunity to go back. probably wouldn't be a good idea for various reasons.
yep, as for safe places to live, missouri is not a good idea, new madrid fault line, tornado alley, various strategic missile silohs and army bases. i've always thought maybe the northwest would be better, but i don't like cold climates, but heck, if it meant not being swallowed up when new madrid decides to blow and not getting carried off by an F-5, i think I could adjust, lol!
Anyhow, good talking to you, boy can I ramble.
Spam0cles