Late report from February 2002. tn. 0357 GMT 26th Feb. Enstone airfield. Church Enstone Oxfordshire. Two tethered light aircraft were reportedly dragged and spun around approx. 50ft from their original position and were found upright with no apparent damage. This seemed extraordinary when considering they were tethered by 100 weight concrete blocks. An anemometer reading of 153 kts was recorded from the control tower. No damage was reported around the location and no TORRO site investigators were available to survey the area. The lack of damage may be attributed to the fact that it was an airfield. The passage of a vigorous cold front with two trailing isolated cells were clearly visible via archive satellite near the time and location of the report. The anemometer reading seemed rather excessive and would suggest a strength of T5. In the absence of an on site investigation this event was recorded as 'possible'.
March 2002:
A typically uneventful month. Last year saw one funnel cloud and one possible tornado. This march we have just the one report of a tornado.
MARCH EVENTS:
TN 1600 GMT 21st March. Galvaghay. Dungannon N.Ireland. Apparently a landlord, to his horror stepped out of the rear of his premises to be greeted by a large tornado heading toward him. The sky appeared very dark and he could hear a load roar with a high pitched whistle. Customers sought shelter from a barrage of debris. Three cars were levitated in the car park. Roofs were damaged and several windows were blown out. This event received much interest from media within N. Ireland. There was an occlusion with acute veering of winds at surface running across N. Ireland. The air was unstable with 16 deg C recorded in the area at surface and -28deg C at 500mb. It should be noted that 500mb wind showed no veering and flowed directly over surface winds. This situation may have created high helicity values in a relatively small area for a brief time. Information and advice from TORRO was made available to Radio Ulster and BBC Belfast News the following day.
NO TORRO ADVISORIES, WATCHES OR WARNINGS WERE ISSUED IN MARCH.
COMMENTS:
March once again has proved itself to be a rather uneventful month for all aspects of TORRO work, including thunder, ball lightning or hail reports.
The advent of hourly radar imagery on the Met Office web site has been welcomed. Alas, certain other valued Internet weather sites no longer appear to be available and have since been withheld from public view. AVBrief offer of radar subscription remains open to those wishing to gain access to prompt imagery. Likewise, the need for better and faster Sferic (lightning) data remains paramount for most weather enthusiasts. There has been some talk regarding the availability of portable Sferic detection gadgets which are widely available within the USA. Little is currently known about the cost or availability here in the UK. Knowledge or updates of any progress in this area will be gladly welcomed by TORRO.
Hopefully the Spring period with the introduction of surface heating and the clash of seasonal temperature differences will progressively bring about the possibility of more thundery activity to research or chase. We look set for an 'El Nino' spring and summer period. This too may have a positive effect on future storm activity.
Best Wishes Tony Gilbert (Site Investigation Co-ordinator and Executive to The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation)