What the ...??? A tornado in Japan!

[Art_from_Ark]

About 3 hours ago, there was a tornado in Tsukuba, Japan (about 40 miles northeast of Tokyo) that damaged or destroyed up to 50 homes and injured at least 30 people. That was followed a little later by a hailstorm. While such meteorological events are not uncommon in the US, they are very unusual in Japan.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20120506/t10014918861000.html

[Art_from_Ark]

1. Here's a raw video taken of the tornado

http://channelz.blog118.fc2.com/blog-entry-1862.html

[ZombieHorde]

2. Japan has had a rough time lately. nt

[AsahinaKimi]

3. Honki desuka?

shinjirarenai!! Taihen! Saiaku da ne!!

[Art_from_Ark]

4. Ano tatsumaki wa

watashi no ie no chikaku wo tootta. Ano hi no tenki wa totemo okashikatta-- tatsumaki, to 2 jikan go, hyou to kaminari. Kono hen niwa, totemo mezurashii tenki datta!

[Art_from_Ark]

5. Update on the damage

More than 430 homes in the Hojo district of Tsukuba were damaged or destroyed. One person was killed, and 42 people were injured. There was also serious damage to cars and other property.

http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/ibaraki/20120508/CK2012050802000113.html

[ellisonz]

6. Dude, drive away from the tornado!

[Art_from_Ark]

7. ?

[ellisonz]

8. Dude in the video was driving toward it...

...to get a better view when he should have been driving away for safety.

[Art_from_Ark]

9. In Oklahoma and Kansas, the tornado chasers will drive up close to a tornado

to get as close a look as possible. Since a tornado almost always travels along a predictable trajectory (SW to NE), they can figure out how to stay out of its path, although sometimes they are caught off guard.

Since tornadoes in Japan are so rare, I imagine the tornado chaser in the video wanted to get as good a view as possible. The tornado wasn't too big across, and there are many roads and streets in that area that a car could turn into to avoid the tornado. It was traveling in the usual SW-NE trajectory.

It did take a couple of twists and turns along the way, however. I was talking yesterday with a guy who occasionally works at one of the research institutes that was in the tornado's path. The tornado struck the institute that was immediately to the southwest of his, and was heading straight for his when it suddenly veered and hit another institute across the street. His institute only sustained minor damage (mainly windows broken by flying debris), while the other two institutes suffered heavy damage.