A video taken in a Fastrip convenience store in Joplin, Missouri. The video exposure is dark, but the audio tells an incredible story of waiting for the approach of the tornado and feeling its impact.
Huddled in the dark in a Fastrip convenience store/Conoco Phillips gas station while a tornado approaches, a crowd of people brace themselves and prepare — avoiding glass, etc. Then the tornado hits with noise of smashing glass and objects. The people inside are terrified and a lull occurs. Then louder sounds of destruction return, and the tornado finally passes.
It’s important to note that a supercell storm of that size can have multiple vortexes — in other words multiple tornadoes. Also a tornado is a rotating wind. Therefore, if this was a single vortex, it is likely that the people experienced the frontside rotation of the tornado, and then the backside rotation of the tornado as it passed — almost like a miniature hurricane.
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On February 1, 2011, Joplin was hit by the same blizzard that hit Chicago on February 2, 2011.
Interstate 44 west of Joplin and into the Oklahoma Will Rogers Turnpike was closed due to winter conditions from Tuesdays storm.
The blizzard dumped over 20 inches of snow in the Joplin area.