NBAF Tornado Argument - Manhattan Vs. San Antonio
NBAF Tornado Argument - Manhattan Vs. San AntonioWIBW Blog Listing
NBAF Tornado Argument - Manhattan Vs. San Antonio
Topic Author: Jeremy Goodwin
Posted: 2:55 PM Apr 23, 2009
Replies Posted: 21 comments
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"What.... are they talking about?" That was my reaction when I read this statement quoted by the Associated Press on Wednesdsay.

 

"The Texas consortium’s chairman, John Kerr, said the Kansas site was improperly chosen because DHS ignored the high risk of tornadoes in the region, pointing to a tornado with 200 mph winds that struck the site last year. Damage to the facility could cause the release of deadly airborne pathogens, Kerr said.

“The selection of Manhattan, Kan., was grossly irresponsible, the equivalent of playing Russian roulette with Mother Nature,” he said."

 

Why should this concern you?  Because these folks intend to file a suit in an attempt to take the recently awarded $450 million National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility away from Kansas.  Part of the claim... is that Manhattan Kansas, is a bigger tornado danger than San Antonio Texas.  It's an interesting claim.  It's also quite false.

San Antonio, is in Bexar County Texas. 

Manhattan is in Riley County Kansas. 

According to the National Data Climate Center - US Department of Commerce... Bexar County has recorded 59 tornado touchdowns since 1950, and Riley County has recorded 22 confirmed touchdowns.  Discussion over?  Now, let's be completely fair to Bexar County... it is a larger county in area than Riley County.  Bexar is almost 1250 square miles, and Riley County is about 625 square miles.  That's about a 2 to 1 ratio.  Here is the math.

Apples to Apples...
Bexar County(San Antonio) has recorded 59 confirmed tornadoes since 1950.
Riley County(Manhattan) has recorded 22 confirmed tornadoes since 1950.
 
To make "Apples to Apples"... the same size of apple...
Bexar County is 2.02 times larger than Riley County.
 
Sooooo....  22  x 2.02 = 44.44(adjusted Riley County value to fairly represent tornadoes per square mile vs. Bexar)
 
And...
Bexar 59    /      Adjusted Riley County 44.44    =   1.32
Or... simply stated, Bexar County has recorded a 32% higher tornado frequency, per square mile over the past 59 years verses Riley County Kansas. 

It seems unfair to claim that “The selection of Manhattan, Kan., was grossly irresponsible, the equivalent of playing Russian roulette with Mother Nature".  Frankly, it appears that San Antonio, may have been a more dangerous choice in relation to tornadoes. 

The data follows.  You may also view this data by visiting:

http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~storms

 

Texas
Location or County Date Time Type Mag Dth Inj PrD CrD
1 BEXAR 04/28/1953 2100 Tornado F4 2 15 0K 0
2 BEXAR 04/15/1954 1500 Tornado F1 0 0 0K 0
3 BEXAR 07/12/1954 1750 Tornado F2 0 0 3K 0
4 BEXAR 05/15/1955 1930 Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0
5 BEXAR 05/03/1958 0230 Tornado F2 0 0 25K 0
6 BEXAR 05/02/1959 0350 Tornado F2 0 0 250K 0
7 BEXAR 05/10/1959 1600 Tornado F2 0 0 3K 0
8 BEXAR 07/20/1960 1200 Tornado F1 0 0 3K 0
9 BEXAR 11/22/1961 0730 Tornado F3 0 0 3K 0
10 BEXAR 10/26/1964 2200 Tornado F1 0 0 25K 0
11 BEXAR 06/21/1965 1830 Tornado F1 0 0 25K 0
12 BEXAR 04/17/1966 1845 Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0
13 BEXAR 09/20/1967 0528 Tornado F 0 0 0K 0
14 BEXAR 09/24/1967 1913 Tornado F1 0 0 3K 0
15 BEXAR 09/09/1968 1600 Tornado F1 0 2 3K 0
16 BEXAR 05/03/1969 0500 Tornado F2 0 0 250K 0
17 BEXAR 05/16/1969 0730 Tornado F2 0 3 250K 0
18 BEXAR 04/18/1970 1830 Tornado F2 0 0 25K 0
19 BEXAR 05/14/1970 1740 Tornado F1 0 1 25K 0
20 BEXAR 09/13/1970 1500 Tornado F2 0 0 3K 0
21 BEXAR 06/13/1971 2002 Tornado F1 0 0 0K 0
22 BEXAR 03/15/1972 1730 Tornado F1 0 0 25K 0
23 BEXAR 04/27/1972 1554 Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0
24 BEXAR 09/26/1972 1600 Tornado F1 0 0 3K 0
25 BEXAR 11/01/1977 1215 Tornado F1 0 0 250K 0
26 BEXAR 04/20/1979 2310 Tornado F1 0 0 25K 0
27 BEXAR 08/10/1980 0857 Tornado F2 0 2 250K 0
28 BEXAR 08/10/1980 0950 Tornado F1 0 0 25K 0
29 BEXAR 08/10/1980 1835 Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0
30 BEXAR 08/30/1981 1545 Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0
31 BEXAR 10/07/1981 0100 Tornado F1 0 0 250K 0
32 BEXAR 02/12/1984 0310 Tornado F0 0 0 25K 0
33 BEXAR 02/12/1984 0315 Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0
34 BEXAR 02/12/1984 0320 Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0
35 BEXAR 02/12/1984 0325 Tornado F0 0 0 3K 0
36 BEXAR 04/07/1984 1600 Tornado F0 0 0 3K 0
37 BEXAR 05/07/1984 1620 Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0
38 BEXAR 09/17/1988 0445 Tornado F1 1 1 2.5M 0
39 BEXAR 09/17/1988 0549 Tornado F2 0 3 25.0M 0
40 BEXAR 09/17/1988 0630 Tornado F1 0 3 25.0M 0
41 BEXAR 03/29/1992 1450 Tornado F0 0 0 25K 0
42 BEXAR 03/27/1994 0105 Tornado F0 0 0 1K 1K
43 Somerset 02/25/1998 09:23 PM Tornado F1 0 0 25K 3K
44 Leon Vly 03/28/2000 07:11 PM Tornado F0 0 0 0 0
45 Macdona 05/19/2000 06:41 PM Tornado F0 0 0 20K 0
46 San Antonio 05/19/2000 07:50 PM Tornado F0 0 0 40K 0
47 San Antonio 10/23/2000 02:35 AM Tornado F0 0 0 50K 0
48 Von Ormy 03/19/2002 07:15 PM Tornado F0 0 0 500K 0
49 Von Ormy 03/19/2002 07:17 PM Tornado F0 0 0 500K 0
50 Von Ormy 03/19/2002 07:17 PM Tornado F1 0 0 500K 0
51 Von Ormy 03/19/2002 07:19 PM Tornado F1 0 0 500K 0
52 Somerset 03/19/2002 07:20 PM Tornado F2 0 30 2.0M 0
53 Somerset 03/19/2002 07:25 PM Tornado F1 0 0 1.0M 0
54 Helotes 12/30/2002 02:37 PM Tornado F0 0 0 0 0
55 Von Ormy 11/16/2004 06:40 PM Tornado F0 0 0 0 0
56 Kelly Afb 11/16/2004 07:23 PM Tornado F0 0 0 0 0
57 Grey Forest 11/16/2004 07:27 PM Tornado F0 0 0 0 0
58 San Antonio 07/15/2007 01:30 AM Tornado F1 0 0 50K 0K
59 San Antonio 07/24/2008 08:20 AM Tornado F0 0 0 800K 0K
TOTALS: 3 60 60.261M 4K

 

 

 

 

Kansas
Location or County Date Time Type Mag Dth Inj PrD CrD
1 RILEY 05/09/1950 0001 Tornado F 0 0 25K 0
2 RILEY 05/24/1950 1730 Tornado F1 0 0 25K 0
3 RILEY 07/01/1950 1200 Tornado F1 0 1 25K 0
4 RILEY 05/30/1951 2250 Tornado F 0 0 3K 0
5 RILEY 04/22/1952 1730 Tornado F 0 0 0K 0
6 RILEY 03/18/1954 1200 Tornado F1 0 0 3K 0
7 RILEY 06/19/1956 1715 Tornado F1 0 0 0K 0
8 RILEY 05/18/1962 2110 Tornado F 0 0 0K 0
9 RILEY 06/08/1966 1800 Tornado F3 0 50 2.5M 0
10 RILEY 05/02/1968 1950 Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0
11 RILEY 07/09/1969 1530 Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0
12 RILEY 10/18/1979 1630 Tornado F0 0 0 3K 0
13 RILEY 06/21/1981 0300 Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0
14 Keats 06/22/1996 04:44 PM Tornado F0 0 0 0 0
15 Manhattan Arpt 10/08/1997 04:15 PM Tornado F0 0 0 80K 0
16 Ogden 09/07/2001 05:00 PM Tornado F0 0 0 0 0
17 Ogden 11/27/2005 03:12 PM Tornado F1 0 0 800K 0
18 Keats 11/27/2005 03:28 PM Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0
19 Riley 11/27/2005 03:32 PM Tornado F0 0 0 5K 0
20 Randolph 11/27/2005 03:49 PM Tornado F0 0 0 0 0
21 Zeandale 05/05/2007 21:34 PM Tornado F0 0 0 0K 0K
22 Ogden 06/11/2008 21:48 PM Tornado F4 0 0 0K 0K
TOTALS: 0 51 3.468M 0

 

 
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  • by KellyRENA34 Location: http://www.bestfinance-blog.com on Sep 4, 2010 at 06:45 AM
    If you are willing to buy a car, you will have to receive the personal loans. Moreover, my mother all the time utilizes a college loan, which is really rapid.
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by William Location: Lawrence on May 24, 2010 at 11:52 AM
    I have to confirm what Jeff said about the June 30, 1993 tornado that not only wiped out a farm in Keats, I remember as I got home from the chase, it was reported 1 injury, broken arm to a man who had just bought a new truck as he pulled into the garage. Also reported were 30 sheep killed. This storm also previously produced a touchdown in Ogden, KS prior, had a nasty rotating wall cloud with two funnels on either side. I was chasing that day...I noted during a weather service presentation here in Lawrence, they had a picture similar to mine of this wall cloud which eventually formed into the large tornado which hit Keats. I was searching for the records of this event today and found this site and was glad I wasn't going crazy by the confirmation of the same date and size of tornado, a search of 10pm Topeka, television stations will indeed show this event. Needless to say, I was quite surprised to see that a Gov't site didn't have this information.
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by Deanna Location: Kansas on Aug 19, 2009 at 10:20 PM
    Why have this facility located in a heavily populated area in the first place where tonadoes are, plus earthquakes?
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by jacqueline on Aug 8, 2009 at 09:43 PM
    Jeff from keats is correct. the one that hit keats was also reported as a f4 and the bad thing about it was that it started jumping all over the place from manhattan to olsburg
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by Royce Location: Alma, KS on Jul 13, 2009 at 12:32 PM
    Interesting that number 22 on the Kansas list states Ogden when it actually hit the Kansas State University Campus and the west side of Manhattan (Amherst) on 6/11 last year. When it was reported on the weather that night it was stated that it was touched down near the Manhattan airport and you were picking up debris and people in Manhattan should take cover. I don't remember any comments about Ogden. A bit misleading don't you think?
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by justin Location: manhattan on Jun 14, 2009 at 07:22 PM
    i still would rather have it in texas i mean kansas has the most cattle in world and they might be studing hoof and mouth i mean whats up the manhattan city officials
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by Josephine Location: Gridley, Coffey County, KS on May 27, 2009 at 05:46 PM
    Last year around this time, GW county was under a tornado warning. You no more said, is it going to be extended to Coffey Co. and WHAM! We live in 2 trailer houses, put together in a T. We were sitting at the kitchen table, which is located at the bottom of the T. My husband said, if we'd of been standing up, it would have knocked us down. We left home in a hurry, and went to a safer place. When we got home, later that nite, our headlights revealed, the antenna pole was severely bent. We didn't notice anything else, because the lights were still out. The next morning, we discovered, that the extention we took off the top of the T, the fall before, which we left it lying in the pasture about 20' to the West, had been picked up, turned 45 degrees, and shoved into the NW window. It hit us hard enough that it cracked the drain on the tub, among other leaks, around vent pipes, etc. If GW county goes under a warning again, you can bet we'll be loaded up and leaving home then and there!
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by sherrell Location: 1312swpolk on May 19, 2009 at 04:21 PM
    thank you for your help jem
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by sherrell eldridge Location: 1312swpolk street on May 19, 2009 at 11:22 AM
    what is between a f4 and a reg tormadoes jeremy goodwin email me back my email addren
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by Barry Location: Topeka on May 15, 2009 at 12:35 AM
    GO JEREMY GO! Gotta love having Jeremy Goodwin, God of Weather, on our Side!
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by Bruce Location: Manhattan on May 9, 2009 at 02:01 PM
    Jeremy,thanks for pointing out you know how to do math. However, why don't we move the NBAF to Topeka and let you live with the danger of a release of deadly airborne pathogens from a tornado. Everyone wants Manhattan to have this "waiting to happen disaster" but the people who live in Manhattan. This was jammed down our throats so the town and university bigwigs could profit from the pay offs. Please take the NBAF someplace else. If not then it is time to move from this place before we are all killed from a release of deadly airborne pathogens.
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by Kent Location: Manhattan on May 6, 2009 at 01:04 PM
    Russian Roulette involves people.... Manhattan's population has topped 50,000. San Antonio has more than 1,000,000. It makes no sense to have a location that has a higher frequency of tornadoes and could possibly effect a population that is more than 40 times as large......
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by jeff Location: keats on Apr 30, 2009 at 08:05 PM
    In june of 1993 a tornado destroyed my farm and several houses just west of keats. I don't see it listed on this list. Wibw was there for a report on it. Why would it not be listed? I believe it was june 30 around 6:45 p.m.
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by ernie Location: south of burlington ks on Apr 30, 2009 at 12:18 PM
    If you would keep out of the way [of the weather map and radar] and not block the view and not put up silly stuff about your self .people could see more about [about our area] . we matter to not just topeka, We might start watching another channel so we can see what's going on in the south part of the area also.Give us a break sometime ok?????
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
  • by Lois Location: Topeka on Apr 27, 2009 at 11:00 AM
    You go, Jeremy!! If the court comes up Manhattan sure wants you there to testify for them!!! I love it when someone 'big' makes a 'smart' remark and then someone like you proves them wrong as can be!! Thank you for all the work you do.
    Reply [ Report Abuse ]
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