For an amateur enthusiast, the crazy weather this spring and early summer has been nothing short of impressive. Maybe because I’ve thus far escaped the carnage of straight line winds, tornados, large hail, and flooding thunderstorms that I have this sort of fascination. Those that have suffered through the storm I’m sure think I have truly snapped a twig (no pun intended). Regardless, my “weather” folder in my “Favorites” has the largest collection of web sites of any other…and it continues to grow.

I’ve been close to severe weather this spring. I had egg-sized hail come through town in early May. My favorite son Tyler has a few hail dents on his car from a storm in Austin (Clothes, Hail, and the Second Coming). There were the tornados in north central Kansas while visiting over Memorial Day weekend (see Tornados-a-Plenty). Then the softball-sized hail storm that hit my once hometown of Manhattan Kansas the week of June 2, 2008, only to be followed up by a EF4 tornado hitting town June 11, 2008 causing an estimated $20 million to Kansas State University main campus, leaving path of mess on either side.

My Alma Mater is hurting right now as they continue to sweep streets, move sticks, pick up stones, start new chords of firewood for next winter, and patch holes in buildings. The Wildcat spirit is strong and true, and despite anyone’s collegiate affiliations I hope we all bleed purple for just a little while – until the Wildcat Nation gets back on its feet which won’t take long. I have college classmates and professor friends picking up tornado remnants at their homes in Manhattan. They were fortunate only having minor damage to their personal property. I owe them all another call this weekend. K-State has sent a couple email updates with a message of “all’s well” to Alumni living at a distance from Wildcat land. My good friend and classmate Gary has also sent a few emails with news – thanks Gary. You gotta love their spirit and attitude. Check out K-State’s update web site if interested (KSU Tornado News). Send them a few bucks if you have it.

Despite my interest in severe weather and desire to go storm chasing sometime in the near future, here’s an interesting real-world, slap-your-face perspective from Mary Knapp, an associate agronomist with Kansas State University Research and Extension, and also the state (Kansas) climatologist:

“The other factor that comes into play is that tornadoes get noticed when they intersect with populations,” Knapp said. A storm that destroys 30 center-pivot irrigators in the middle of wheat country won’t generate much news coverage, but the economic effects are considerable. Each destroyed pivot could halve the yield of an entire section of wheat, so at $9 a bushel, “very, very conservatively” a farmer stands to lose $250,000 per section, plus $100,000 for the lost equipment, she said.

Kansas leads the country in tornado outbreaks with 172 so far this year. Iowa and Missouri have had 134 and 127 respectfully.

Manhattan Tornado Path, KSU Aftermath Photos

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