"Martin Rowley" wrote in message
...
"N Cook" wrote...

"Three die in French mini-tornado"
earlier heading , same URL now
"North France tornado kills three"


... yes, it looks as if someone realised just how significant this event
was: even if the damage had been less intense, the prefix 'mini' shouldn't
be used for these events: there's no such thing. It's a hangover from the
days, not so long ago, when respected meteorologists would assert that
'tornadoes don't happen in the UK': I've met them - they've long passed
onto the great CFO in the sky; the term 'mini-tornado' was coined largely
to try and use the 'T' word without linking it to the tornadoes of the
Great Plains of the US. It was always a fudge and caused no end of trouble
when you came to trying to explain what the mechanisms, pre-cursor
conditions were.

Martin.


--
Martin Rowley
West Moors, East Dorset (UK): 17m (56ft) amsl
Lat: 50.82N Long: 01.88W
NGR: SU 082 023
--------------------
This always crops up and I've tried to explain it to "ordinary" folk but
they won't have it ! I'm sorry but until they see a massive black swirling
cloud several hundreds of metres across, sweeping across East Anglia ,
reaching the sky and sucking up cattle and cars into it, accompanied by a
soundtrack of "Oh my god!" screams, it's always gonna be a "mini" tornado
to them ;-(

Dave

Dave