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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
We Can Eliminate the Major Tornado Threat in Tornado Alley
2014-06-24
To eliminate the tornado threat for the entire Tornado Alley, we may need to build three great walls. The first one should be close to the northern boundary of the Tornado Alley, maybe in North Dakota. The second one should be in the middle, maybe in the middle of Oklahoma and going to east. The third one can be in the south of Texas and Louisiana.
As a proof of concept, we can build the 3rd wall first on the Texas/Mexican boarder. Yeah, that is the ticket. Get all the great plains states to join with the boarder states to get it done.

We are saving lives!
Posted by:Squinty

#18  start along the border
Posted by: Frank G   2014-06-24 18:45  

#17  A giant poo pond. Excellent !
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-06-24 17:57  

#16  Only if we then fill it up with water 49.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2014-06-24 17:53  

#15  Lets build it around the beltway...
Posted by: 49 Pan   2014-06-24 17:50  

#14  What I don't understand is why people ignore their own history. What about revetments (aka glacis)? After watching what was done to a OK school house how expensive would it be to put revetment facing north, west, and south around the schools? When men started to put horizontal energy against curtain walls with cannon about five hundred years ago, they figured out putting revetments around those walls cause the force to either die in the revetment or glance over the curtain wall, minimizing damage. Sure, you'd lose a roof or two, but basic building structures would remain rather than collapse on people. It's not like tornado dig canals in the earth they traverse.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2014-06-24 15:43  

#13  Something that I eventually learned about in Texas - after a long while - is the "Dry Line". It's basically a dry front moving east after the moisture is dried out pushing over the Rockies.

The combination of warm air from the south, cool air from the north, and dry air from the west causes a lot of instability at the south end of Tornado Alley. Plus causes a lot of other violent storms without twisters.

The Great 2000 Fort Worth Tornado occurred on March 28, 2000 and made the Bank One/Cash Pawn building (see #7) uninhabitable because it twisted the building on its foundation - like 1.5 degrees. I suppose no engineer would tackle the task of figuring out how to remedy that!
Posted by: Bobby   2014-06-24 14:28  

#12  I'd sure as hell hate to be the one doing the Phase I Site Assessments for these boondoggles walls.

On the other hand, it would guarantee work for a couple of lifetimes, particularly when the Greenies get involved and start sueing the Feds and all the state gummints involved.

We could call the authorizing legislation "The Full Employment for Lawyers and Engineers Act."

(All snark aside, this "idea" is boggle-worthy. But I agree - let's test it first along the Mexican-U.S. border.)
Posted by: Barbara   2014-06-24 14:27  

#11  Even better, we should begin instrumenting can shaped grain silos. instead of a pyramid.
Posted by: Skidmark   2014-06-24 14:01  

#10  SteveS, I'm beginning to get the 'Federal Grant' tingle. I'm thinking a Eco-study is in order.
Not to prove anything of course. Just to identify there is some(p<.05) data that might suggest, something. Maybe a Leyden Jar effect when the microwave and TV are on and the blowing wind wraps a negative static charge on the shell.
Posted by: Skidmark   2014-06-24 13:58  

#9  The Great Beeramid of WIC.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2014-06-24 13:38  

#8  But then what shall we call it?
Posted by: Uncle Phester   2014-06-24 12:36  

#7  Tornados have been recorded in every US state, all Canadian provinces, and most countries of the world. The anomaly in 'Tornado Alley' is repeat incidents and longevity, mostly caused by topography and prevailing weather conditions. Ground clutter does not stop them from forming, or even slow them down. (You haven't been through anything til you've shared a deep pine forest with a funnel cloud.)
About 15 years ago, a F4 went though downtown Fort Worth, and one of the buildings that took significant damage was the 'Cash Pawn' skyscraper, of whom the largest tenant was the FBI (stone serious here). The funnel blew out windows and sucked out filing cabinets, spraying a five mile long area with papers with 'Secret' stamped on them. They asked people to return the documents, but please don't look at them.
Posted by: ed in texas   2014-06-24 07:50  

#6  the propensity of trailers

Yeah, all that aluminum. Hey, what if we built a giant aluminum pyramid out in the middle of nowhere and used it as a giant tornado magnet to divert them from populated areas?
Posted by: SteveS   2014-06-24 03:57  

#5  Huh.
I thought it was the propensity of trailers mobile homes.
Posted by: Skidmark   2014-06-24 02:20  

#4  TA7166,
As I understand it, tornado alley is caused by a wobble in the jet stream which is in turn caused by the Rocky mountains. The jet stream goes almost due north. The walls would break up this flow.

In Philadelphia, there is one skyscraper building, Comcast Center, about 300 meter high. From the cost of Comcast Center, we estimate that to build one mile such wall, we need about $160 million. On the other hand, the damages caused by single tornado attack in Moore, Oklahoma on May 20, 2013 alone were multi billion dollars. Therefore, it seems that the cost for building such a wall is affordable.

The ROI is good. :-)
Posted by: Squinty   2014-06-24 00:53  

#3  Used to chase twisters. Watched them when they were over head funnel clouds spinning along up near the clouds. Watched them dance along the ground like little erratic dust devils, watched them move slowly along like a huge monster when they became a mile wide. They moved sometimes in one direction, sometimes in another, sometimes they skipped along for miles, other times they touched down for just a few feet, or never touched down at all but tore everything up that was 20 feet above ground and up.

The science of a tornado predictability is something I do not see man ever being capable of predicting unless they have a direct line of communication with Providence.
Posted by: Thineng Angailet7166   2014-06-24 00:34  

#2  THIS IS SELF SATIRE

It is not the reality that matters. It is how it makes you feel.

How else are you going to sell a boarder wall to the donks?
Posted by: Squinty   2014-06-24 00:24  

#1  '... the wall needs about 300 meter high and 50 meter wide."

THIS IS SELF SATIRE
Posted by: lord garth   2014-06-24 00:17  

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