Just after lunchtime yesterday, I was transfixed (as were many in the NWC) by live video of tornadoes near the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. I did not chase yesterday because (a) it was a work day and (b) every time I’ve tried to chase in the DFW metroplex, it’s been a spectacular failure ending in traffic gridlock. But the supercells riding the warm front meant business. I’ve heard enough nightmare scenarios about a DFW tornado strike from the emergency management community to pass my hand over my brow and be grateful that nobody was killed.
Anyway, I’ve been fascinated by this now-famous video – shot from a helicopter – of the tornado flinging tractor-trailer rigs (or “articulated lorries”, as the BBC calls them) through the air near Lancaster, TX. I don’t know how much these rigs weigh or whether they were empty or full, but I think it’s safe to say that they weigh more than my little Corolla, a substantial SUV, or a pickup truck. I hope some of the “yahoos” watch this video and remember it the next time they consider brazenly driving into tornadoes as though they were little more than glorified dust devils.
But … but … but … how can a chaser prove to his buddies how insanely stupid he is about chasing if he doesn’t drive right into a tornado? Stupid actions, repeated enough times, can be a capital offense …
Looked up some numbers and posted them to A Popular Social Networking site the day of the storms.
o Trailers were reported to have been empty.
o National Semi-Trailer lists their 53’x102″x13’6″ dry van tare weight at 14,500 lbs. The GVWR is 68,000 lbs (which would be much more impressive if airborne!).
o Tare on a 40′ ISO box appears to be around 8000 lbs (59k lbs loaded). I expect a 53′ domestic box would be between this weight and that of the trailer above, but probably closer to the low end.
o Curb weight of a Chevy Tahoe is about 5600 lbs for comparison.
So an empty 53′ dry van is only worth about 1.75 Tahoes with no correction for the much larger surface area of a dry van (because I don’t have the foggiest how to do that!)