1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. And 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: as the title suggests, on this episode, who we're talking 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 1: about two types of LORDI sees. We're talking about the 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: fire tornado, this giant pillar of flame stretching from from 7 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 1: Earth to heaven, burning up everything in its path, pitching 8 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: flaming debris out in front of it. And then we 9 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: also have the sharknado, a a tornado, a more or 10 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,279 Speaker 1: less traditional tornado, but instead of having a bunch of 11 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,879 Speaker 1: you know, bits of houses and broken trees and garbage 12 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: and dirt caught up in it, it has great white 13 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: sharks throwing them all over the place. Uh, you know, 14 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: You're trying to just go about your daily life and 15 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: then bam, white shark it's you, starts eating your leg. 16 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: Then a hammerhead shark falls on you and crushes Yeah. 17 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: I mean it's pretty exciting, and we are bringing you 18 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: both or all of earth, wind, fire, rain and sharks. 19 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: Yeah spoiler. One of these is a little more sciences 20 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: than the other. But by the end of it, we 21 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: will we will put the question to you, because right 22 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: now you don't have enough information to really say what 23 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:21,119 Speaker 1: would win in a fight sharpnado or or or fire tornado. 24 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: But by the end of this podcast, you will know 25 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: and you'll have an informed opinion you can share with 26 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 1: your friends. All right, let's get to it. We'll start 27 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: off with the idea of the fire tornado. Now, just 28 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: the idea again of a pillar or column of fire, uh, 29 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: swirling up into the sky is a pretty old image, 30 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: I mean for starters is we'll discuss it is a 31 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 1: natural phenomenon. So in all likelihood, people have been seeing 32 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: this sort of thing occur or and then hearing about 33 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 1: it since time out of mind. But it's also factored 34 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: into this symbol of its factored into into our our 35 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: religious views and our spiritual views of the world. For instance, 36 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: if you go digging around in the Old Testament, you 37 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: will find accounts of Yahweh taking on the form of 38 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: a pillar of fire. Exodus one and the Lord went 39 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: before them by day in a pillar of a cloud 40 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: to leave them the way, and by night in a 41 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: pillar of fire to give them light to go by 42 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: day and night. I mean, this is really impressive, right, 43 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: This is an impressive talisman to have at your disposal. Yeah. Yeah, 44 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: and this is yeah, this is the you know, the 45 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 1: the old school uh God here, this is the pretty 46 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:28,519 Speaker 1: terrifying one that it does things like appear as a 47 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: pillar of fire. And then there's another really cool account 48 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:33,959 Speaker 1: of of a deity as a pillar of fire that 49 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: you'll find in Hinduism and according to one Hindu narrative, 50 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 1: and you'll you'll see this reflected in sculpture and painting 51 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: as well. UH, Brahma and Vishnu are arguing over who's 52 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: the most powerful of the gods. Uh. Now, Brahma and Vishnu, 53 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: they are part of this uh a form of kind 54 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: of the comal kind of trinity with Shiva. Um. They 55 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: stand for world creation in the form of Brahma, world 56 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: maintenance in the form of Vishnu, and then a world 57 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 1: destruction in the form of Shiva. So Brahma vision near. 58 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:02,959 Speaker 1: They're standing around who's the most powerful to gods? I 59 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: don't know, it's it's an argument. But then this huge 60 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 1: column of fire appeared right between them, burning straight down 61 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: into the earth and searing up through the clouds high up. 62 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: So they decided to investigate. Right, they're curious, so Vishnu, 63 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: in his boar incarnation, digs down into the earth and 64 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: attempt to find the column's base. Meanwhile, Brahma flies into 65 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: the sky on his vehicle, the Hamsa bird to seek 66 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: the columns top show off. Yeah, well the other one 67 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:28,919 Speaker 1: turned into a boar. Yeah that's pretty cool too. So yeah, 68 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: they both take on their their godly bowers and they 69 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: seek the the end or beginning to this column of fire. 70 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: Neither can find anything, so they fly back down to 71 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: where they started and they say, I don't know, I 72 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: can't figure this out. And then the column of fire 73 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: opens up and Shiva uh steps forth, and then they 74 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: both have to agree, Yeah, she is probably the most 75 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: powerful of the three of us. That's right, because Shiva 76 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: is the great destroyer, particularly of the ego. Yes, so 77 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: it would make sense that Shiva would roll it out 78 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: like that. So there you go. There's a little religious, 79 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: mythical spiritual fluff to sort of flavor uh, this idea 80 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: of the fire tornado, which does exist in real luck. Now, 81 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: to talk about what a fire tornado is, we need 82 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: to also discuss what tornadoes are and what what a 83 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: tornado isn't I also want to mention before we go 84 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: into fire tornadoes that this was something that was a 85 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 1: standout at of course, the Burning Man Festival, Yes, just 86 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,280 Speaker 1: put on in the in the desert in California to 87 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: search for two thousand twelve fire tornadoes. Burning Man mesmerizing 88 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 1: videos of the smoke devils just marching out one by 89 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: one in front of the audience. Yeah, with some it 90 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:39,919 Speaker 1: was hard to tell from those videos to what extent 91 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: they have fire in them, because they're clearly the gleaming 92 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: of the of the flat of the fire, of the 93 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: huge blaze is is illuminating them as they roll outward. 94 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: I think the I think they're mostly smokes actually, yeah, 95 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: but they are impressive nonetheless. So these are also known 96 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: as fire whirls or even fire devils. Uh. Again, they're 97 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,840 Speaker 1: swirling columns of fire and they surge forward to consume 98 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: new fuel, sometimes heaving flaming logs through the air. That's 99 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,559 Speaker 1: been reported now, to a lay person, any funnel shaped 100 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: column of air is a tornado, right, it's a twister 101 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: or whatever. But meteorologists tend to be a little more 102 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: discriminating about this kind of thing, and they classify twisters 103 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 1: into two broad categories. Their super cell and their non 104 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: super cell and it's it's all based on how they 105 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: form and how much DAMA they inflict. Uh. For a 106 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: storm to be called a supercell tornado, it must have 107 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: had it must have three characteristics. Okay, it must form 108 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: within a massive thunderstorm and be penned it or suspended 109 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: from that storm. Okay. Number two, it must come in 110 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: contact with the surface of the Earth. And number three, 111 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: it must have winds in excess of sixty five or 112 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: a hundred and five kilometers per hour. Any other tornado 113 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: that fails to meet these standards would fall into the 114 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: non super cell category. And that includes, for instance, water spouts. 115 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 1: Water spouts they look like they might just be like 116 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 1: a tornado in the ocean, but they're not. They form 117 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: a different way, arising from cumulus clouds that haven't become 118 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: thunderstorms that may never become thunderstorms. And then it's sucking 119 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: up water and you know, marching across the ocean looking 120 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: like some sort of giant Titanic water creature. Uh. Then 121 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: you have land spouts, you have gust nadoes, and Uh. Finally, 122 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,280 Speaker 1: whether scientists recognize a third class of tornado like storms 123 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: known as whirlwinds Okay, now this is key. Um. These 124 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: common types of atmospheric systems occur when the sun heats 125 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: dry terrain and causes a column of warm air to 126 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: rise rapidly. As it does, the column of air will 127 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: whirl rotate around a vertical access, much like water draining 128 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: down in the bathtub, you know, becomes visible when they 129 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: pick up debris from the ground, and are often named 130 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: to reflect the nature of the debris. So you have 131 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: this little little vortex and picking up some dust. That's 132 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:49,160 Speaker 1: a dust devil. It's picking up sand. You call it 133 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: a sand world, picking up snow, snow whirls. If it 134 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: were to pick up sharks, you would be more uh, 135 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: you know, accurate in calling it a shirk a shark whirl, 136 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 1: I guess. But then they're also even have a worlds 137 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:02,480 Speaker 1: where it's picking up Hey. So again, wind doesn't look 138 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: like anything, but when it picks up these things, then 139 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,160 Speaker 1: it takes. That's the thing that we associate with it. 140 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: So fire tornadoes have They are not operating exactly alike. 141 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,679 Speaker 1: Tornadoes are probably closer to worlds, but even then they're 142 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: not specifically like you can't say, hey, that's that's actually 143 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: like a whirlwind um. But they do have again some 144 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: of the same things that play like vortices, uh, intense 145 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: up drafts, they've got rotation, and of course the conditions 146 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 1: have to be met in order for a fire tornado 147 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: to be created. Thing about fire tornadoes, just to remember 148 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: that you gotta you gotta have a fire. And when 149 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: you have a fire going, and it could be a 150 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: house fire, it could be a burning city, it could 151 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: be a forest fire. But when you have a blaze 152 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: of this magnitude, you essentially have a microclimate. You have 153 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: a different set of air temperature, air pressure um going on. 154 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: And as we've discussed before, I mean those are the 155 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: that's that's how wind moves, that's how most of our 156 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: weather patterns that we observe. It boils down to temperature differentials, 157 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: pressure deferentials, et cetera. Yeah, no one describes them as 158 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: forming when superheated air near the surface of a large 159 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: fire zone like a wildfire. By the way, I just 160 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: head an NPR today. There are fifty wildfires going on 161 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: in the US right now. Um And anyway, so if 162 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: you have one of these conditions, it's very rare, but 163 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,239 Speaker 1: this can occur. You've got that surface of large fire zone, 164 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: and it rises rapidly in an air mass where sufficient 165 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: horizontal or vertical vorticity that's the spin in the atmosphere 166 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:37,679 Speaker 1: is also present. So like a dust double or whirlwind, 167 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: the rapidly rising air abubble wildfire can accelerate and turn 168 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: the local vorticity into a tight vertical vortex made out 169 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:49,840 Speaker 1: of fire instead of dust and dust devils will peter 170 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,319 Speaker 1: out pretty quickly, but the sustained heat of a wildfire 171 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: zone can help maintain a fairly long lived fire whirl 172 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 1: and that can last for several minutes or more. Yeah, 173 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:01,959 Speaker 1: it is to appear to dance around through the fire 174 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,079 Speaker 1: and in some cases can fit out from the fire 175 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: and and spread the wildfire into an area that it 176 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: may have been already moving towards. Anyway, So you have 177 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 1: a specific example to share with us. We're talking in 178 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: generalities here, but you have a specific story of a 179 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: fire tornage. Yeah. This is basically like an anatomy of 180 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: a whorl from a weather perspective. And this is according 181 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 1: to a Langdon North Dakota meteorological team reporting on a 182 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: fire tornado that reached the base of developing cumuliform clouds 183 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 1: and it stretched feet that's about into the air and 184 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: it lasted for about ten minutes. Was pretty impressive. So um, 185 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: what the London North Dakota meteorologists said is that the 186 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,439 Speaker 1: fire zone heating produced the rapidly rising air, and then 187 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 1: you have the lower level winds that had enough environmental 188 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 1: share to induce a vertical vorticity near the surface and 189 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: get the fire a world going and then sustain it. 190 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: And then two other factors where at play um, they 191 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: have a low level moist sure that was sufficient to rise, 192 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 1: cool condense and form the pyro cumulus cloud deck that 193 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: it was built upon. And then the other factor was 194 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: the lifted condensation level was close enough to the level 195 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 1: of free convection so that the developing pyrocumulus quickly became 196 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:19,600 Speaker 1: a towering cumulus. And that may have increased the overall 197 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: updraft speed and vertical verticity to such an extent that 198 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:28,280 Speaker 1: the near surface fire world stretched into then drum mold 199 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: a fire tornado. So we got upgraded in this sense. Alright, well, 200 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: we're gonna take a quick break. When we come back, 201 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:37,040 Speaker 1: we're gonna discuss fire tornadoes a little more. They were 202 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: gonna move on to sharknadoes and then we are going 203 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: to attend to call it shardonado versus fire tornado would 204 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: be right back. All right, we're back. We're discussing fire tornadoes. Um. 205 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 1: There are a few other examples we have about wheel 206 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: life fired mornadoes when they form. Uh. And some of 207 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 1: these examples are drawing for a much more tragic circumstances. UM. 208 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:12,080 Speaker 1: The for instance, the great uh Suchtigo fire one in Prestigo, Wisconsin, 209 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: UH and apparently also in sections of Michigan. And this 210 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:20,320 Speaker 1: is ablaze that consumed booming Milltown on the same day 211 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,679 Speaker 1: as the Chicago fire. And there's a result of the 212 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: same conditions. You had a dry summer, slashing bird farming 213 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: practice in a powerful cold front that swooped in from 214 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: the western US, bringing strong winds that turned h just 215 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: a few small prairie fires into a raging inferno. So 216 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: this town, which Cannain, also contained hundreds of wooden structures 217 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 1: and lumber yards overflowing with all of this, uh, you know, 218 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: delicious fodder for ablaze right in the in the in 219 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:47,680 Speaker 1: the middle of everything. So when a fire reached the town, 220 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: it found a ready supply of fuel and in a 221 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: matter of minutes, a massive fire tornado swirled around the town, 222 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: generating a hundred mile one kilometer winds and ambient temperatures 223 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:03,559 Speaker 1: topping out at seven degrees fahrenheit or three seventy degrees celsius. 224 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: So sadly, the people who didn't make it into the 225 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: river died in the flames, and it still ranks as 226 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: one of the worst US fire disasters. Final death toll 227 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: of about a two thousand. Here's another one in three, 228 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,680 Speaker 1: the Great Canto earthquake in Japan ignited a firestorm that 229 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: raged through the city and produced a gigantic fire tornado 230 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: that killed thirty eight thousand people in fifteen minutes. And 231 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,679 Speaker 1: this was in the Hifaku Shu Auto region of Tokyo. 232 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:34,760 Speaker 1: And then you have the San Luis Obispo fire April seven, 233 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,920 Speaker 1: uh is during a moderate thunderstorm over the area there 234 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:43,200 Speaker 1: in California, lightning struck oil reserves at a Union Oil 235 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,800 Speaker 1: Company tank farm located uh just about two and a 236 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: half miles south of the city center, and the discharge 237 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:53,440 Speaker 1: ignited the oil itself or vapors above the oil, leading 238 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:57,160 Speaker 1: to a five day fire. They consumed roughly six million 239 00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: barrels of patrolling and over the course of it is 240 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 1: after eyewitnesses observed apparently hundreds of fire tornadoes erupting as 241 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,800 Speaker 1: a result of the blaze. So yeah, I mean it's 242 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 1: it is amazing stuff a scene, and there's tons of 243 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:15,200 Speaker 1: videos also, um, not just of a naturally occurring but 244 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:19,599 Speaker 1: of people trying to create their own uh fire tornadoes 245 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:23,720 Speaker 1: and team to them. Some of them are professionals, uh, 246 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: are merely enthusiasts, right right, But it gives you a 247 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: really good idea of all the different things that are 248 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 1: at play here in directing the wind and the rotation. Yeah, 249 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 1: because it's what discussed before. Wildfires, you know, of themselves 250 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:42,079 Speaker 1: are natural occurrences. Uh. The environments where they frequently occur, 251 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: you often have have organisms that depend on that cycle 252 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 1: of fire and regrowth in order to continue and uh. 253 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: And then you have these artificial environments that we create 254 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: and then when they catch fire, you end up with 255 00:13:55,120 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: artificial blazes. That's true. Uh. And those are all amazing sites. 256 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 1: But but nothing is more amazing than seeing a terror 257 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 1: read rise from the ashes of her own career and 258 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: starring Sharknado. But also to see sharks just coming at 259 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: you from from a storm in the sky. Yeah, now 260 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: this is this has kind of been the summer of Sharknado. 261 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: It's really been something that everyone has rallied around. That's, 262 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 1: of course, the the Sci Fi Channel original picture that 263 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: came out that had a pretty strong viral marketing campaign 264 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: behind it, and it's just goofy enough two enrapture everyone 265 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: on some level or another, basically the whole the whole 266 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: idea here is that a tornado spins off from the ocean, 267 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:44,840 Speaker 1: picks up all of these uh, these these sharks, all 268 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: of them like massive sharks, and it comes in and 269 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: just throwing them everywhere. So it's dropping sharks into pools 270 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: and two flooded houses into the street onto people, and 271 00:14:55,840 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 1: hilarious ridiculousness ensues. And you actually he sent me a 272 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: two minute clip that sort of encapsulates the whole movie. Yeah, 273 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 1: it just boils it down to dumblines and and kills, 274 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: and it was kind of wonderful and awful. In my 275 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 1: favorite part and I'm sure for people who have seen 276 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 1: it or have seen the clip is the guy Ian 277 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 1: someone from nine O two one. Oh, I don't know 278 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 1: some show. He like, I'm pretending like I don't know 279 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:23,120 Speaker 1: what show that is. He's in Sharknado. You don't have 280 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: to know this, okay, Yeah, he falls from rescue helicopter. Yes, 281 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 1: And and then of course into the jaws of a 282 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: great white. And did I mention that as he's falling, 283 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: he actually has a chainsaw with him, so as he's 284 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 1: gulped up by the great white. Uh, they both fall 285 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: to the ground and and he emerges, of course from 286 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 1: from the great White, cutting himself out of it. And 287 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: it's it's a fabulous, disgusting, ridiculous scene. And I'm sure 288 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: O when everyone sees these trailers or God help him, 289 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: watches the whole movie, asked themselves, could this actually happen? 290 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: Could a sharponado actually hit my tent and hound my 291 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: city and drop sharks on me? Well, we know there 292 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 1: have been fish events, that's the thing. Yeah, and plenty 293 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: of accounts of of of weather patterns picking up strange things, 294 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: often living things, and dropping them. Suddenly it'll rain fish somewhere. Yeah. 295 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: Water spouts, as he had mentioned before, um one of 296 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: the types of twisters and tornadoes that are carron in 297 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,520 Speaker 1: the ocean. One in two and ten sucked up hundreds 298 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 1: of fish into the vortex before they bombarded the small 299 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: town of La jam Hope. I've said that correctly. I'm 300 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: sure our Australian listeners will let me know. But that 301 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 1: was hundreds of miles from the coast and then from 302 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: my favorite ones a downpour of golf balls, not golf 303 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: sized hail, um, but we're talking about actual golf balls 304 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: descended upon Punta Gorda, Florida, after tornado struck the golf course. 305 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: It's like golf ballonnado. Yeah. Yeah, So that sounds pretty terrifying. 306 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,440 Speaker 1: That could that could hurt, doesn't it. But just I 307 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:05,239 Speaker 1: wanted to cover water spouts really quickly because again, as 308 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:07,800 Speaker 1: we said, these are essentially tornadoes over water, and there 309 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 1: are two types. There's a fair weather on a tornadic one. 310 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 1: And the tornadic water spouts begin as tornadoes over land 311 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 1: and then they move over water. And they also form 312 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,239 Speaker 1: in severe thunderstorms over a body of water, and they 313 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: can re really a ton of havoc. We're talking about 314 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,680 Speaker 1: high winds, hail, and dangerous lightning. Now, fair weather water 315 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:31,480 Speaker 1: spouts developed in calmer weather and they form over open 316 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 1: water and they developed this surface and then they climbed 317 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: skyward towards the clouds so as we've seen again these 318 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: these are natural occurring events that can dump um golf 319 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: balls or sea creatures onto the land. Yeah, but the 320 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:49,679 Speaker 1: sea creatures that they dumped were generally talking stuff like 321 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,920 Speaker 1: like a large mouth bath nine and a fourth inches long. 322 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,240 Speaker 1: That's according to Dr Jeff Masters over the Weather Underground, 323 00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: that's one of the heaviest uh like for instance, six 324 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 1: pound fish all in India. That's the kind of the 325 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,199 Speaker 1: level of fish we're talking about, not a two thousand 326 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: pounds great white shark, much less hundreds of them. That's right. 327 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 1: And Bill pats Aert, a chomatologist with the Jet Propulsion Lab, 328 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 1: he was given the what if question, like what what 329 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 1: if it could happen, what would it take? And he 330 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,480 Speaker 1: said it would take a massive water spout to deliver 331 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: these great whites, like an e F five spinning at 332 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,359 Speaker 1: speeds of more than two fifty miles per hour to 333 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,560 Speaker 1: journey the updraft needed to suck these great whites out 334 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:33,919 Speaker 1: of the Pacific and then dumped them onto l ah 335 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,200 Speaker 1: And that he said, is just probably not ever going 336 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: to occur. Now, having heard from an expert that it 337 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,160 Speaker 1: is on some level feasible, I can't help but imagine, 338 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: what have you had a planet where this type of weather, 339 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:52,440 Speaker 1: we're strong enough, winds and and and vortices were possible. 340 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,359 Speaker 1: What have you had a breed of shark like creature 341 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,399 Speaker 1: that depended on this like it was for this creature, 342 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: this was like the salmon swimming stream to breed. To breed, 343 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 1: they have to enter one of these water spouts and 344 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 1: get thrown out on land, and then they have to 345 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:11,360 Speaker 1: eat terror read in order to reproduce. Well, first of all, 346 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,160 Speaker 1: you're saying, there's a planet people with just terror reads. Yeah, 347 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:16,879 Speaker 1: maybe their clones. I don't know how it works. There's 348 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:19,040 Speaker 1: but everyone all beat all the beings on the land 349 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,919 Speaker 1: or terror read. Okay, so planet terror read yeah, and 350 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,120 Speaker 1: planet shark sharks and terror read living in perfect harmony 351 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:28,160 Speaker 1: with one another. And this is kind of like, well, 352 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: I know this would be asking asked if it was 353 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 1: like an or division era, but it would have to 354 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,639 Speaker 1: be much farther in the future than that, because you 355 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:39,400 Speaker 1: have land dwelling terror reads occurring. I guess it would 356 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:41,400 Speaker 1: be possible. I don't know. I hate to say that, 357 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 1: you'd I'd have to be a meteorologist to really answer that. 358 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 1: And a cosmologist. Well, there you have it. We've broken 359 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:51,639 Speaker 1: it down. You have, on one side, the fire tornado, 360 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: which actually exists, is rare, but exists and has been 361 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:58,640 Speaker 1: documented and seen throughout human history and may or may 362 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 1: not be a god. And then on the other hand, 363 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 1: you have the sharknado, which does not exist and will 364 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,560 Speaker 1: probably never exist on this planet, but is on some 365 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:16,359 Speaker 1: level possible. So which would win in a fight? What's 366 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:19,879 Speaker 1: your take sharknado versus fire tornado? Yes? And do you 367 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:22,800 Speaker 1: think that terror read Is is the the great destroyer 368 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: or is she just fodder for the great destroyers on 369 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: planet terror read Let us sim all right, well you're 370 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:33,160 Speaker 1: complicating the question. And then here's another possibility. What if 371 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:35,440 Speaker 1: the two storms merged and then you had to deal 372 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:39,680 Speaker 1: with a fire tornado filled with flaming sharks when they 373 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,520 Speaker 1: just cancel each other out, No, no, I think they would. 374 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 1: It would upgrade. It would be like sharks on fire 375 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:51,879 Speaker 1: soaring through the air like meteorites, particularly if that water 376 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,080 Speaker 1: had a generous amount of a oil slick on it. Right, Oh, 377 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 1: then it would be sort of like fire breathing. It 378 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 1: would be like a napalm shark tornado. Yeah, it's pretty big. 379 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 1: I think that's going to be the sequel. All right, well, 380 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:07,720 Speaker 1: here you go. Uh. Indeed, let us know what you 381 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 1: think about this, um. The idea of Terry read is 382 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:14,160 Speaker 1: a destroyer of worlds. The idea of the fire torno, 383 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: the reality of the fire tornado? Have you ever seen one? 384 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 1: We'd love to hear about that. Were you at two 385 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: thousand twelve burning Man? And you've got to see these 386 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,960 Speaker 1: things spiral out and uh and mostly smoke, but still 387 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 1: very impressive? Uh? And then your thoughts on Sharknado? Have 388 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: you seen Sharknado and its entirety? It's so? What was 389 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 1: that like? And then how feasible do you think it is? 390 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,880 Speaker 1: And then what would you do Sharkonado were to hit 391 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: your town? All these questions are fair game. You can 392 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:42,679 Speaker 1: let us know in all the normal ways. UM. 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