Dashcam Shows Intensity Of California Tornado

 The rare California tornado that struck the community Scotts Valley last Saturday was "only" and EF-1 with a brief path. Wind topped out at 90 mph, and it only traveled for about a third of a mile before dissipating. 

In a screen grab from a dash cam in a parked truck
in Scotts Valley, California last Saturday, a tornado
emerges from behind a 7-Eleven and in a couple
seconds, will flip the vehicle with the dash cam.

A dash cam video of that tornado which recently emerged shows the power and suction of even a modest tornado that pales in comparison to the monsters that sometimes roam the Great Plains and South. 

Television station KSBW aired footage from a dash cam in a truck parked in the Mt. Herman shopping center lot that was hit by the storm. The video is at the bottom of this post.

In the video, things initially don't seem so bad. There's increasing wind and rain, and some small branches zip by in the gusts. But soon enough a narrow but violent looking funnel appears from behind a 7-Eleven store

The debris-filled swirl hits the front of the truck, then goes over it, flipping it on its side, coming to rest against a white car parked next to it.  The funnel is so narrow that it didn't really hit the white car just a couple feet to the right. That white car stays pretty much where it was.   

The truck that contained the dash cam was totaled, said owner Myrl Wallace. 

This small tornado demonstrates graphically that it's always important to seek shelter in a sturdy building if you hear a tornado warning. Vehicles are not safe places in tornados. 

It doesn't look like anybody was in the truck with a dash cam. And in the Scotts Valley case, the twister formed so quickly there was no tornado warning. But you get the idea. 

To view the video, click on this link. Or, if you see the image below, click on the image below

Videos: What Not To Do In Tornadoes, And Some Remarkable Tornado Footage

 It really has been a season of tornadoes this spring.

Screen grab from dash cam video showing a tornado
destroying a large building in Lincoln, Nebraska
back in late April 

We just got through the worst outbreak of the year, with something like 21 deaths at last count. That brings the total number of tornado deaths this year to 36.  

That's terrible, of course, but still in a sense good given the huge number of tornadoes we had this year - more than 1,000 in the United States already in 2024. 

The last time a tornado season was busier than this was in 2011, when 543 Americans died in tornadoes through the end of May. 

This year's  activity is starting to die down, starting today, but tornado threats aren't going to entirely go away this week.  And you never know whether new swarms of big twisters will hit in June. 

Since everything is on camera these days, the tornadoes and storms have yielded some pretty wild, and some pretty head shaking videos.

The videos display the extreme power of the tornadoes, and in some cases, the poor thinking among some people in the face of these storms. Some examples are in this post. 

I'm not going to put the videos directly in the post. I'll put links that you'll click on. That way, the people who created the videos will get the views and the credit. These videos certainly are worth the clicks. 

Moore, Oklahoma

No fewer than 17 tornadoes have hit the city of Moore, Oklahoma since 1893. Some of them, like ones in 1893, 1973, 1999, 2003, 2010 and 2013.

So you'd think the fine citizens of Moore would be well-versed on what to do when a tornado warning sounds. Most people there are indeed smart about tornadoes. But there's always a few.

On May 6, Moore and surrounding areas were put under a tornado warning, and a twister did touch down close to Oklahoma City's Will Rogers Airport a few miles to the north. 

After the tornado, Live Storms Media posted an infuriating video showing cars taking shelter beneath a highway overpass in Moore.  First of all, underpasses are dangerous because they funnel already strong tornadic winds, easily blowing everyone away.  (Click on this link to view).

In this case, it didn't happen, but the cars parked beneath the overpass were blocking other cars from moving. That's important if anyone was trying to get away from an impending tornado by racing up the highway. Never mind any emergency vehicles that were trying to get through. 

Occupants of those cars parked there were the ultimate in selfishness.

Lincoln, Nebraska

On April 26, an intense tornado passed through the Lincoln, Nebraska area, obviously doing a lot of damage. The video in this section  (click on this link) shows the tornado crossing a road and hitting a train. 

Screen grab from video showing people being pelted
by debris from a tornado beneath a Lincoln, Nebraska
overpass. We don't know why these people got out of their
vehicle, and the video shows that they could have 
turned around on a wide street and driven away
from the tornado, 

As you can early in the video, there's cars wisely driving away from the tornado. As the storm chaser continues filming the tornado, you see three people near the pillar of another highway overpass.

Eventually they get pelted by debris, as they're not even really smart enough to get on the protected side of the pillar. 

The storm chaser at least got in his car for some protection. These other bozos had plenty of opportunity before this happened to get in their car, make a U-turn and drive away from the tornado like other motorists. I have no idea why they stayed out there like that.

Certainly, potential Darwin Award winners there. 

Did you notice the train in the video I linked to above? A couple of people were in the train when the tornado scored a direct hit on it. Click on this link to see what it looked like to them. 

Lincoln, Nebraska (again)

Click on this link to watch dash cam video of how fast the April 26 tornado wiped out an industrial building. Several dozen people were in the structure at the time, but they had fled to a tornado safe room ahead of the storm and escaped injury 

Temple, Texas

Teslas are equipped with a bunch of cameras, of course. So what happens when it records a May 22  tornado scoring a direct hit on it? Find out by clicking on this link.   The video shows different angles, including behind and in front of the car.

The occupants of the Tesla had fled into a nearby restaurant and were not injured. The dude who you'll see pull in with his truck during the worst of it must have had quite a scare. 

Valley View, Texas

Up to 80 people crowded into a busy gas station and truck stop along Interstate 35 as a tornado approached this past Saturday. Click on this link to watch a video taken inside the gas station and  convenience store as the tornado ripped it apart. Nobody inside the store was killed and none of them suffered life-threatening injuries. 

The May 25 tornado did, however kill seven people in an near Valley View.

Portage, Michigan

Somebody in Portage, Michigan used to have a lovely yard with fantastic old trees. That is until a tornado swept through on May 7. Click on this link to watch every tree in the yard sadly crash to the ground. 

Reportedly, the falling trees missed the house, and the home itself sustained only minor damage.