Tornados (condo, how much, hotel)

[mad fiddler]

Originally Posted by smallvillefan

As for someone say that there is no place that doesn't have weather risks, that's not necessarily true. The southwestern states have very little weather issues. Sure it gets hot, but you don't hear of people's homes being destroyed by horrendous heat. No earthquakes and rarely do they get tornadoes. If they do get one out there it is no where near the magnitude of the kind we get here. Anyway, to each his own. If I had known about the weather I might not have moved here (I'm not exactly sure WHY I didn't research that first, just made a blind move)

The southwest is rapidly running out of water. Maybe not directly weather related, but without predictable rain and with decreasing snow cover in the mountains, this is turning into a serious problem.

We all have different things we can deal with. I'd rather deal with occasional tornadoes than with chronic environmental trends, but others are more put off by periodic panic

[themudpuppy]

Originally Posted by smallvillefan

Which state you looking in to?

Either Arizona or New Mexico. Arizona is my first choice, but most of it is way out of my price range, so I'm thinking I'll probably end up in New Mexico, where housing is cheaper.

Tornadoes probably wouldn't scare me as much if I didn't live in a doublewide mobile home. If I had a basement I could go into, it wouldn't be a big deal. But I don't. I live in a very rural area where there is no place to go for shelter. I have to watch the weather carefully and often end up having to pack up and move to a motel in another town for the night. I'm on the western edge of my county, and by the time we get a tornado warning, it's too late for us, as I found out when that tornado hit that injured me. So I have to watch what's going on to the west of us. It's nerve-wracking having to keep track of the storm hours before it gets here, pack a bag every time just in case, not knowing whether I'll have to leave or stay, will the storm get here or will it fizzle out, etc. Most of these storms hit in the middle of the night, so that means a lot of sleepless nights. If it's during the day and I'm out, then I have to worry about getting home in time to get my dog to safety too, who I will not leave behind in a storm. If it was once or twice a year I could deal with it, but I'm on edge all spring and now a good deal of winter too.

I've lived all over the country, and while TN is a beautiful state, there is more negative for me here than positive, so it's time to move on. I'm more of a desert climate type of person anyway. I'm ready to go somewhere where the heat is dry instead of humid, and winters are milder, and no tornadoes.

I noticed there are some people from Arizona wanting to move to TN. Too bad there's such a big difference in home prices between the two states, or we could do house swaps without having to wait on our homes being sold before we move, LOL!

[Bea987]

Now you guys have me all worried!! Is there areas in/around Nashville that are better or worse for tornadoes? Somebody told me the hills are good, because tornadoes like it flat, is that true? We were all set on Mt Juliet, and I accepted the 'lower than a car accident risk' quite well, but now you got me a little worked up. I don't want to be spending night after night in the powder room!!!

[bobtn]

In 10 years, Nashville has had one death by tornado, exactly 10 years ago today. Sumner County had 7 in Feb 2008 storm 30 miles from Nashville, several more in 2006, and last before than with fatality was early 1970s.

The 2008 and 2006 storms far surpassed all the others dating back a few decades. More folks will die in a multitude of ways, odds quite frankly are California will have a killer quake killing dozens before we'll see any tornado killing more than a few again in middle-Tn.

[mom2three]

Originally Posted by bobtn

In 10 years, Nashville has had one death by tornado, exactly 10 years ago today. Sumner County had 7 in Feb 2008 storm 30 miles from Nashville, several more in 2006, and last before than with fatality was early 1970s.

The 2008 and 2006 storms far surpassed all the others dating back a few decades. More folks will die in a multitude of ways, odds quite frankly are California will have a killer quake killing dozens before we'll see any tornado killing more than a few again in middle-Tn.

Thankyou

[Doogie]

There is a pretty good tornado history site called Tornado History Project that shows recorded tornadoes (through 2006) on a map. You can pick Tennesse and click the "Map" button then zoom in on the map to see events in your area.

Note that there may be several pages of results if there are a bunch of matches to your filters so if you don't see one you know about, it may be on the next page.

[themudpuppy]

Originally Posted by Bea987

Is there areas in/around Nashville that are better or worse for tornadoes?

I wouldn't worry too much about Nashville itself. Yes, there have been tornadoes, but Nashville doesn't seem to be in the path as often as some of the areas further outside of Nashville. I'm in a rural area about 40-something miles from Nashville, and we're frequently in the path, way more often than Nashville. My area has had tornado touchdowns 7 out of the 10 years I've been here. And the frequency of severe storms that can produce tornadoes keeps some of us on edge in my area, especially those of us who live in mobile homes. I lived in Nashville for many years prior to moving out here, and we only had one tornado there that I can recall, which hit 10 years ago today. When I moved out here, we had 2 tornadoes within 2 weeks in the first 6 months I lived here. Big difference.

Really, I think if you live in a good sturdy house with a basement, there's not too much to fear. If you're thinking about getting a mobile home in one of the rural areas outside of Nashville, I'd think twice about it (speaking from experience).

[toristamps]

Having moved from CA where I lived through numerous earthquakes, and living now in TN where our rental house was just missed (literally by about 100 ft) by a tornado, I'm not concerned. While earthquakes, hurricanes, blizzards affect thousands of people, the odds of getting hit directly by a tornado are pretty slim. Better yet, you get warning (unlike earthquakes). If you still decide to come here and it really worries you, get an older brick house (sturdier than new construction, IMO) with a basement. Every area has it's ups and downs. While AZ & New Mexico don't have tornados, have you ever spent the summer in 110-120 degree heat? Oh sure, it's a dry heat...*can you hear the sarcasm?* )

[smallvillefan]

Arizona does indeed get up to 120 degrees and even with dry heat it's still bloody hot, but New Mexico heat is entirely different. Yes, it gets hot (not even close to 120 degrees..more like in the high 90's...hmmm amazingly like TENNESSEE), yet the heat IS dry and just step in the shade for some relief. And yes, I know because I have lived through it. I mean you can lay in the sun and just as you start to sweat it dries up...it's great! I'm just thankful I'm getting to head back out west as soon as the school year ends...no more humidity for me!

[bobtn]

Az is brutal; best friends in Scottsdale, I never visit between June and September.unbearable. No one does anything outside the entire summer. MLB MAKES team play night games only due to threat to peoples' health!

BTW, Weather service has a good tornado chronology for every area , too, dating back decades.