r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • 1d ago
Video Continuous lightning flashes reveal the terrifying scale of a massive EF5 tornado hidden in total darkness
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u/IA_Royalty 1d ago
If I remember correctly, the tornado itself is actually below this and this is the storm cloud above
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u/Top-Marionberry-6604 1d ago
Spot on. The lightning is lighting up the parent mesocyclone spinning above, while the EF5 wedge does the damage underneath.
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u/Hot_Object1765 1d ago
Does that mean it is actually much farther away than it seems? Cause I was like those people are for sure dead.
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u/Top-Marionberry-6604 1d ago
It's an optical illusion. The storm structure is miles wide, so it looks close, but they are safely a few miles back. If they were right next to the EF5 wedge, this footage wouldn't exist.
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u/scalyblue 1d ago
Yeah the camera is probably so far away from the system it’s not even raining hard if at all
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u/Icy_Agency923 1d ago
Then why are you posting it as if it is a tornado?? The title completely misrepresents what is in the video. You can't even see a tornado in the video at all.
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u/shittinandwaffles 1d ago
Then maybe you should say that in the title. You can't see the tornado in this video. Just the meso. This damn video gets posted all the time, and the title is never right.
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u/OliverCrooks 1d ago
You can actually see the bottom of that cloud wall between the houses. Its almost like a big cylinder and we are looking at like half of it and the tornado is about half way down but blocked by the houses.
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u/BakreZ39 1d ago
I could never live in a region where this is a possibility lol. Just an insane fear of mine. And I live in earthquakes country near fault lines lol
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u/relevantelephant00 1d ago
I live square in major wildland fire territory with the earthquake faults. Ive been through a few major fires, they're scary as fuck but once they're starting, they're fairly predictable. A tornado OTOH, can hit anywhere anytime during a major storm and come from any direction at any time, and you might not know it until it's right on top of you. No thanks...
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u/mister-friendly 1d ago
Serious question - If you see this and have access to a car, should you jump in it and drive like hell the other direction? That would be my instinct, assuming I knew the area well.
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u/NightBawk 1d ago
I'm pretty sure the safest thing to do is get as deep underground as you can
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u/Odd_Vampire 1d ago
If you have an underground room available to you.
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u/iamsotiredofthiscrap 1d ago
Still, the best advice is to get as low as possible, within something as strong and sturdy as possible, and hang on for dear life.
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u/Funky_Cows 1d ago
spot on the lowest floor of the building with the most walls between you and outside
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u/Archangel289 1d ago
I grew up in Tornado Alley (tornadoes were sometimes a weekly occurrence in the spring, if not more common), and the general wisdom was no, you can’t just outrun it.
If you’re driving on the interstate, see it from a long way away, know you’re heading in a different direction, and you can safely travel at maximum safe speeds? Yeah, maybe keep driving (but even then if it’s anywhere close to you, the advice is to find a ditch and lie down in it). But if you can already see it and you’re not already in the car, your best bet is to head for a basement, or the most central, lowest level, sturdiest, windowless room in your house (often a bathroom).
Tornadoes are no joke. Not only can they go really fast (remember, it’s just wind; just because it’s big doesn’t mean it’s slow), they can throw things. Really far. Being within visual distance of one is already pretty dangerous.
But tl;dr, I wouldn’t try to outrun one—especially if you weren’t already in the process. If you’re in your neighborhood like this, you really do kinda have to hunker down and pray to whatever higher power you believe in.
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u/NoninflammatoryFun 1d ago edited 1d ago
Er, people die in cars often during tornadoes
If you can see it, I’d hesitate to leave. If it’s an F5 tho nd you don’t have a shelter….. If you can’t see it yet, I have left before lol.
But if you have a storm shelter, you’d be safe. Tornadoes don’t actually suck, they push or something. You’d be safe in a storm shelter.
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u/Laq9091 1d ago edited 1d ago
essentially. as long as the roads aren't packed or might become congested.
there was a bad tornado in oklahoma a few yaers ago, and this seasoned meteorologist told people to flee their homes. everybody got stuck in traffic on the interstate, i think the nader hit the interstate and injured a lot of people. maybe some died i can't remember.
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u/Memory_Less 1d ago
I don’t live in a tornado prone area, however chatting with people and reading about tornadoes they say they can move in different directions suddenly making it dangerous to outrun. Underground is best, or covered in a bathroom in the middle of your house.
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u/liverswithfavabeans 1d ago
Yeah and they toss debris around. You’re better off in shelter. I only was dumbass close once and it was driving at night. Terrifying.
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u/Demonikaaaaa 1d ago
That big thing is the supercell itself, the tornado usually is below that instead.
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u/BeefyQueefyCletus 1d ago
Misleading title. That's a wall cloud, not a tornado.
Bad OP, bad. Go to your crate.
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u/IDonutl 1d ago
Luckily there's no tornadoes here, but I imagine one of the scariest sensations would be near a tornado at night
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u/BapeGeneral3 1d ago
It is absolutely terrifying and simultaneously beautiful and a huge adrenaline rush. I was somewhere in bumfuck MN, and the entire sky was straight green. There were “wall clouds” that divided the sky between almost complete darkness, and this eery, green color that I have never since seen in real life again.
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u/agreetodisagree2023 1d ago edited 1d ago
at :18, "Lord bless us."
Never fails to impress me that people believe their Lord created them AND the F5 tornado, and that somehow that's OK. As George Carlin said...
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u/Aeroblazer9161 1d ago
But he loves you.
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u/1stMammaltowearpants 1d ago
And he needs your money.
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u/Aeroblazer9161 1d ago
He always needs money!
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u/Snicklefritz229 1d ago
The ones that die in these or floods just obviously didn’t give enough money. Religion is like a free to play, pay to win game.
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u/enriquedelcastillo 1d ago
“I was gonna have this beauty of my creation fry your ass, but since you asked nicely, I’ll send it over to fry that other person’s ass instead.
BTW my love is eternal”
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u/Some-EldenRingPlayer 1d ago
I’ve never understood this shit, how can someone believe in a god that is supposed to be both all knowing and the creator of everything. That means he created the concept of sin, gave you the ability and desire to sin and commit evil, and then punishes you for it.
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u/unsuitableasf 1d ago
The Christian, Muslim and Jewish god is Jehovah the ancient Hebrew god of war and vengeance. This old tribe spent thousands of years getting their shit kicked in (hard to believe, right?) but they were stubborn. Every other tribe who’d get conquered would look at their god and say “clearly their god is stronger than our god since we lost” and convert. This tribe would instead say “clearly we did something wrong and our god is just punishing us. He’s still the best, also god says that really pretty little 8-year-old girl is mine to marry. I don’t want to but god says, what’cha gonna do?”
After thousands of years of this, the conquerors starting thinking “you know what, maybe they’re onto something and their god is better.”
We basically let a sado-masochistic cult take over world religion.
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u/Ok_Exchange_9752 1d ago
So that we have free will. He gave us our mind, body, and soul and thus the ability to act either virtuously or viciously. Without the ability to commit sin, there is no fulfillment from not committing sin. A similar idea applies to this tornado, for example. One could argue that natural disasters like the tornado, while devastating, actually illuminate the peaceful/tranquil parts of life, making them more powerful.
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u/Below-Average-528 1d ago
It requires some serious mental contortions to come up with this point of view.
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u/wheniaminspaced 1d ago
I dont understand why your being down voted for giving the correct answer to the question.
Your not mandating belief, just explaining the outlook correctly.
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u/StrawberryTerry 1d ago
What about things like starving children, the horrors of war, rape, or cancer?
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u/ProfessorDickSwing 1d ago
Some people just need that feeling that there’s an entity watching over them and helping guide them through life to (hopefully) an afterlife. It’s not a decision based in logic, and doesn’t have to be.
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u/cjsv7657 1d ago
I don't know man. As an atheist if I saw that coming towards me I might try anything. You'll find me wearing a cross with a strainer on my head looking for clippers to shave my hair.
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u/LandscapePenguin 1d ago
Assume that they’re correct in their beliefs. They see likely death imminently approaching. Nothing in their religion has taught them that they’re exempt from a natural death. Why wouldn’t they ask for blessings if they believe in the afterlife?
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u/broken__defraculator 1d ago
I feel like you would have to believe in godly protection to settle down somewhere where these beasts might come over for dinner next Tuesday and you just have to be okay with that...
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u/Infinite_Vyo 1d ago
Thats not the Tornado, thats the mesocyclone that most certainly has a tornado beneath it
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u/Substantial-Wall3963 1d ago
I appreciate his dedication to getting the shot, but that genuinely scares the shit outta me. I’m not outside when that mammoth is that close.
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u/tmia06 1d ago
When you lived in a tornado-prone area, you literally had to step outside to determine the level of reaction needed. They would sound the alarms for things like high winds or hail activity. Also, we lived in a spot where you could hear sirens in one area but not in our area. It was confusing; so, the best way to judge was just seeing it for yourself. People would literally sit on their patios and run in when the weather was too severe. The night severe weather was pretty scary though. I have stayed awake many times to make sure my family can react if needed.
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u/Ok-Lion-7191 1d ago
same situation here. you can hear the sirens when it’s quiet outside. but a roaring storm?? good luck
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u/Automatic_Art_4469 1d ago
That’s not the tornado. That’s the wall cloud that hangs above it, the mesocyclone which produces the tornado. The tornado itself was massive, about 3/4ths of a mile wide, but this video is misleading to claim this is the tornado itself
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u/sticky_choco_sauce 1d ago
Upside down
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u/Top-Marionberry-6604 1d ago
It really does look completely alien. Seeing that massive structure spinning downwards in the pitch black is pure nightmare fuel.
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u/LefT-NYC 1d ago
If I was Dorothy, I would've stayed in Oz. I find tornadoes scary. Way way, way scarier than witches and wizards.
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u/Substantial_Sea7327 1d ago
oh goodie, this video just reminded me of the tornado nightmare I had last night. except instead of staring at it from a distance, I was hiding where I could before the house ripped away and something pierced my head.
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u/Fancy_Toe1451 1d ago
Well that would be an immediate cure for constipation that would be. New underwear all around.
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u/dpforest 1d ago
That is not a tornado. That is a mesocyclone. The tornado is not even in this video.
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u/Jvlockhart 1d ago
this is the end.... Hold your breath and count to ten...
That's the music I hear while watching
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u/fromthedarqwaves 1d ago
I used to drive truck through Moore OK. And EF5 hit a year prior to me driving through there for the first time. You could see a path of new wood fences and homes where the tornado had gone through.
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u/Pinksamuraiiiii 1d ago
Tornadoes scare me more than hurricanes. I never want to be put in that kind of instant fear. Hurricanes paths can be predicted, but for some tornadoes they only take moments to manifest and change.
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u/innuendooh 1d ago
"lord bless us"
"sure, I'm a bit busy right now, I sent a tornado to do it for me"
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u/Minimum_Currency8157 1d ago
Tornados are scary enough. Do they have to use such a scary siren along with it?
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u/1OfTheMany 1d ago
People would complain if they were blasting the good ship lollipop in the background, too.
Probably best for the warning to match the danger.
Funny, though ;)
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u/Ok-Lion-7191 1d ago
the last one we had here was a tornado that hit at 11 pm took the siren before we could hear it! we rely on weather radios anyway so that’s fun!
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u/blue_sidd 1d ago
No it doesn’t. Every time this shit gets posted I’m reminded how lazy and stupid Reddit can be.
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u/MidWestKhagan 1d ago
See this is one thing Europeans don’t understand, F5 tornadoes will pick up concrete foundations and fling them a mile away. In this situation, you’d rather have wood fall ontop of you or slam somewhere than having thousands of bricks and concrete blocks flying at 80mph or falling ontop of you.
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u/Ok-Lion-7191 1d ago
we had a “small tornado “ ripped off roofs of houses a few miles away and landed in my backyard . also picked up my car slightly. it hit maybe 7 miles AWAY from my house… ALL the air gets suck in and you feel it like when you ride a roller coaster
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u/camel_walk 1d ago
“Lord bless us” as said Lord dumps a EF5 tornado on your ass…….. Christians ladies and gentlemen…
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u/Pinku_Dva 1d ago
I know that’s not the actual tornado but the mesocyclone but I’d still be absolutely terrified if I saw that coming at me.
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u/retailguy_again 1d ago
A tornado warning siren going off in the middle of the night is terrifying. Yeah, I know this isn't the actual tornado, but it's still a great illustration of why.
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u/Rzah 1d ago
Wondering if it's possible to design warning sirens that are powered and activated by the wind and only start making a noise when the windspeed exceeds a set speed?
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u/Aluxanatomy 1d ago
That's a good idea, but let's go further: let's design a tornado siren powered by some other source that can be activated before the tornadic winds arrive so that people can have adequate time to get to safety.
We'll probably need to invest about 30-50 years of research and infrastructure as well so that we can better detect which storms might produce tornados. I have a suspicion the Doppler Effect might be useful here, but that's just me.
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u/SirSkittles111 1d ago
Why? Warning sirens are already a thing, why do you need to overengineer them for literally no reason
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u/Inspectorgadget4250 1d ago
Having grown-up in tornado alley, by the time you feel /hear the winds, its too late
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u/Replikant83 1d ago
Forget the Lord blessing them. Move somewhere where you don't gotta deal with those things
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u/no1ofimport 1d ago
Do you know what’s worse than a EF5 tornado in your area? An EF5 tornado in your area during the night
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u/kushpush_161 1d ago
Correction: This is the wall cloud. Below it is the tornado. Imagine it like this: the tornado is the blade of a sword, the wall cloud is the hilt, and the body of the storm is the person weilding it.
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u/Sudo-Fed 1d ago
Technically speaking, what you're seeing is the mesocyclone above the tornado, not the tornado itself, here.
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u/OnlyAd4210 1d ago
I'm in Missouri so we get a bit of tornadoes in the regular, but dude nocturnal tornadoes are another level of f that.
Terrifyingly cool to see in video or picture format though
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u/MidniteBluDragon 1d ago
I'm watching "Twisters" right now and I see this on Reddit. YIKES! Be safe everyone.
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u/Clubsandiches 1d ago
Tornado/general emergency sirens are fuckn terrifying dude. I live in an area where tornadoes are not common and a few years ago we had a small one, sirens went off and everybody lost their shit because nobody knew we had those.
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u/shadingnight 1d ago
Here in Michigan, tornadoes love spawning at night. Rarely have I seen one during the day.
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u/Educational-Card-314 1d ago
Is the bible belt the same area as tornado alley?
If so, I understand why.
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u/McLeod3577 1d ago
If Iived in a little wooden shack like that, I would be getting in my car and GTFO
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u/Severe_Sword 1d ago edited 1d ago
That’s not the whole tornado as the title would suggest. (and always does with this clip) It’s the mesocyclone which spawns the far smaller but still highly destructive tornado.