Sixty
mile per hour winds caused the deaths of the two people attending the
circus in New Hampshire. That is not good news. Tents are used in many
areas of American life, including weddings and family gatherings. Winds
with that dynamic are completely undetectable in time to protect
people's lives.
August 4, 2015
By AP
LANCASTER, N.H. (AP) — Safety officials in New Hampshire (click here) are investigating the collapse of a circus tent during a severe storm that killed a father and daughter and injured about 22 others.
"We all this morning have heavy hearts," Gov. Maggie Hassan told WMUR-TV early Tuesday. "We lost two lives — a father and a daughter — at an event that was supposed to be fun."
Authorities were looking at how the tent was put up at the Lancaster Fairgrounds, about 90 miles north of the capital of Concord. They also were talking to survivors and witnesses.
Heidi Medeiros, who was at the circus with her 3-year-old son, said it suddenly went dark and she heard someone screaming, "Get out, get out."
"I see these very large metal poles that are in the ground and go through the top of the tent, I see them starting to come out of the ground and fly up, into the air toward us," she told WMUR-TV. She said 10 to 30 seconds later, the pole slammed onto the bleacher where she and her son had been sitting.
Fire Marshal William Degnan said it was the first time his agency had investigated a tent collapse. He asked that anyone with images or video of the event to contact his office.
The storm, packing 60 mph wind gusts and hail, blew through around 5:30 p.m. Monday, just as the first of two scheduled shows was beginning....
That is exactly what I heard following the storm that blew through Traverse City. I was talking to a woman and man that live outside Traverse City. The woman lives in Williamsburg which is east of Traverse City. The man lives on the Peninsula which is east but closer to Traverse City. They both saw the storm coming.
They
each said there was some rain. Which we knew in Traverse City. There
was mild rain before the storm. Then a few hours went by and then they said the white clouds ended and there was a definite movement of green
clouds over the area.They said it was moss green similar to the green in
the picture to the left. It was distinctive.
The woman stated she left her home and traveled to her mother's home in Traverse City. As she arrived she knew there was going to be a tornado. She said she was from Iowa and had seen and experienced a tornado before. When she arrived to her mother's home it was starting to hail. She gathered everyone in the house, including the her sister's two children and took everyone to a closet at the center of the house. She opened the windows to the house before joining her mother and niece and nephew. She said while in the closet she heard the wind and there were terrible creaking noises by the trees, but, they did not fall or come out of the ground.
The man on the peninsula saw the entire event. He said there was large amounts of rain that appeared to be parallel to the ground.
When I left Old Town Playhouse in Traverse City, the trees looked similar to the description of the circus tent poles. The trees at the base were about three feet across or more. They were not knocked over. Their roots were still in the ground. The base of the trees looked as though they were rotated and then thrown to the ground. They were twisted off their base. Get this. Usually the trees after a tornado are stripped of their leaves and are bare limbs. All these large trees were completely intact with their branches and leaves as they were before the storm.
There was a three hour tornado in Manitoba last week. This week the northern tier of states are having these strange and highly dangerous, including fatal, storms. In water vapor satellites, the water vapor is primarily in the neighborhood of 45 degrees latitude or more northern. These storms are highly volatile but they need significant water vapor to occur.
One other thing. Traverse City is known to be a heat island to the surrounding area. The circus tent did not appear to be at the heart of any city. But, the Manitoba tornado occurred in open areas.
The large Traverse City trees where down in about quarter mile areas with trees considered about ten years old still standing and intact. The larger trees have a higher canopy than the ten year old trees or younger. The younger trees were untouched except they probably bent during the storm.
August 4, 2015
By AP
LANCASTER, N.H. (AP) — Safety officials in New Hampshire (click here) are investigating the collapse of a circus tent during a severe storm that killed a father and daughter and injured about 22 others.
"We all this morning have heavy hearts," Gov. Maggie Hassan told WMUR-TV early Tuesday. "We lost two lives — a father and a daughter — at an event that was supposed to be fun."
Authorities were looking at how the tent was put up at the Lancaster Fairgrounds, about 90 miles north of the capital of Concord. They also were talking to survivors and witnesses.
Heidi Medeiros, who was at the circus with her 3-year-old son, said it suddenly went dark and she heard someone screaming, "Get out, get out."
"I see these very large metal poles that are in the ground and go through the top of the tent, I see them starting to come out of the ground and fly up, into the air toward us," she told WMUR-TV. She said 10 to 30 seconds later, the pole slammed onto the bleacher where she and her son had been sitting.
Fire Marshal William Degnan said it was the first time his agency had investigated a tent collapse. He asked that anyone with images or video of the event to contact his office.
The storm, packing 60 mph wind gusts and hail, blew through around 5:30 p.m. Monday, just as the first of two scheduled shows was beginning....
That is exactly what I heard following the storm that blew through Traverse City. I was talking to a woman and man that live outside Traverse City. The woman lives in Williamsburg which is east of Traverse City. The man lives on the Peninsula which is east but closer to Traverse City. They both saw the storm coming.
The woman stated she left her home and traveled to her mother's home in Traverse City. As she arrived she knew there was going to be a tornado. She said she was from Iowa and had seen and experienced a tornado before. When she arrived to her mother's home it was starting to hail. She gathered everyone in the house, including the her sister's two children and took everyone to a closet at the center of the house. She opened the windows to the house before joining her mother and niece and nephew. She said while in the closet she heard the wind and there were terrible creaking noises by the trees, but, they did not fall or come out of the ground.
The man on the peninsula saw the entire event. He said there was large amounts of rain that appeared to be parallel to the ground.
When I left Old Town Playhouse in Traverse City, the trees looked similar to the description of the circus tent poles. The trees at the base were about three feet across or more. They were not knocked over. Their roots were still in the ground. The base of the trees looked as though they were rotated and then thrown to the ground. They were twisted off their base. Get this. Usually the trees after a tornado are stripped of their leaves and are bare limbs. All these large trees were completely intact with their branches and leaves as they were before the storm.
There was a three hour tornado in Manitoba last week. This week the northern tier of states are having these strange and highly dangerous, including fatal, storms. In water vapor satellites, the water vapor is primarily in the neighborhood of 45 degrees latitude or more northern. These storms are highly volatile but they need significant water vapor to occur.
One other thing. Traverse City is known to be a heat island to the surrounding area. The circus tent did not appear to be at the heart of any city. But, the Manitoba tornado occurred in open areas.
The large Traverse City trees where down in about quarter mile areas with trees considered about ten years old still standing and intact. The larger trees have a higher canopy than the ten year old trees or younger. The younger trees were untouched except they probably bent during the storm.
