mdvaden
Participating member
- Location
- Beaverton. Oregon
Just as I was headed down for hiking in the redwoods, I heard on a radio talk show a blip about a Tornado in Oregon. Minutes before Salem, I find out that it's a few miles SE of Salem in Aumsville, a small community.
The place was deluged with police cars, utility companies, etc.. Lots of onlookers too.
Anyhow, I'm glad I went, to get a few photos of tree damage. What surprised me, was that the tornado could take over a tree this size when it has no leaves on it, and the root system was in excellent condition.
When I first saw the roots from a distance I expected to see a bunch of little roots and some root decay. Because rainy weather wind in north Oregon takes over quite a few Douglas fir or other trees with lame root systems. Especially if they are conifers with all that extra sail.
But the roots on this hardwood had like zero decay, were rooted pretty deep, and were like 8" to 12" diameter. And I doubt this was more than an F1 or F2. Couldn't find the wind speed, but I think F2 is the strongest we see. This was the 99th tornado in Oregon since 1950.
It did have that sideways root on part of the side from which it fell away. But there were a lot of other big root which show to the upper left. More were growing downward too which are out of view.
The place was deluged with police cars, utility companies, etc.. Lots of onlookers too.
Anyhow, I'm glad I went, to get a few photos of tree damage. What surprised me, was that the tornado could take over a tree this size when it has no leaves on it, and the root system was in excellent condition.
When I first saw the roots from a distance I expected to see a bunch of little roots and some root decay. Because rainy weather wind in north Oregon takes over quite a few Douglas fir or other trees with lame root systems. Especially if they are conifers with all that extra sail.
But the roots on this hardwood had like zero decay, were rooted pretty deep, and were like 8" to 12" diameter. And I doubt this was more than an F1 or F2. Couldn't find the wind speed, but I think F2 is the strongest we see. This was the 99th tornado in Oregon since 1950.
It did have that sideways root on part of the side from which it fell away. But there were a lot of other big root which show to the upper left. More were growing downward too which are out of view.
