Active front, North Island 15th May

[jamie]

it really makes my blood boil. blatant selling of the storey. The facts and only the facts....please! i dont understand how the media are able to get away with calling any strong wind that lifts a trampoline a 'mini tornado'

sorry rant over

[Manukau heads obs]

but it could have been a small tornado
only way to know would be to survey the damage done...TimS, have you had a chance to do that?

[Paul Mallinson]

but it could have been a small tornado
only way to know would be to survey the damage done...TimS, have you had a chance to do that?

I agree with you Brian, It could have been a tornado and the only way to confirm it is to take a look at the damage. This damage occurred about 2 or 3am I recall, so a tornado would be pretty hard to see. They probably wouldn't have seen one. The damage could have been from gust front winds.

I recall the conditions were there for tornadoes. We had them in our convective outlook for the Nelson area and other areas at times in the last few days.

Paul

[Michael]

Maybe theyre tornadoes that dont quite reach the ground and an updraft instead???? Only sumising what some of these "small" tornadoes,I have seen not much ofcourse willies moving leaves on rooves in violent circles but cant see any clouds going round.

it really makes my blood boil. blatant selling of the storey. The facts and only the facts....please! i dont understand how the media are able to get away with calling any strong wind that lifts a trampoline a 'mini tornado'

sorry rant over

[jamie]

i was not referring directly to the nelson story. it was more just a general statement. Im happy to admit im a hater of the term mini tornado.

[NZstorm]

trampoline v. power-lines = mini-tornado'.

People with trampolines need to anchor them down. I saw three of them smashed on the side of the road at Albany.

[Manukau heads obs]

when we had a trampoline we turned it upside down when strong winds were forecast
that stops it getting blown away (which it did once)

[Tim S]

I haven't had a chance to have a look at the damage as of yet but hope to tomorrow. Though going by the people I talked to today it does sound like it was a weak tornado as they all described the damage being in a distinct line. One work colleague I talked to at work today even described how they were woken by pebbles being smashed against there window from one of their garden paths, so fairly decent wind speeds were obviously involved, although not 200 miles/hour as quoted by someone in this article posted by Nev earlier! http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news ... reak-havoc

Resident Ted Walsh said: "The wind was about 200 mile an hour. It was pretty frightening and pretty intense." He did not realise the extent of the damage until the morning, with the tornado pushing in a large roller door of the three-year-old workshop and lifting off the roof.

I don't think there would be a workshop left if it were in fact a 200 mile an hour tornado!

But the article does confirm what I heard about there being a distinct line of damage:

"It sounded like a train and I braced myself. I was scared." In the daylight the path of the tornado was clear, ripping its way from the flat land by the Wakapuaka sewage ponds to their two-storey house, picking up their outdoor table and chairs throwing them 15 metres, tearing around the house to a builder's shed where it ripped off three sheets of corrugated roofing then headed up the valley, she said.

[Nev]

Speaking of trampolines...

'Flying trampolines become new hazard' - Taranaki Daily News
Last updated 05:00 19/05/2011

Flying trampolines are becoming a new neighbourhood hazard in times of unpredictable weather and lighter construction materials.

Ron and Judy Hall, of Stratford, say they are sick of their neighbours' rogue tramps smashing up their property. High winds on Sunday morning picked up a trampoline from two houses away and blew it onto their property, Mrs Hall said...

Insurance companies told the Taranaki Daily News claims from trampoline damage were a common occurrence. "The newer circular trampolines are made from aluminium instead of steel which means they fly away pretty easily in strong winds," AA Insurance marketing and communications manager Melodie Vickars said.