Joplin receipt's 525-mile journey may be record
A Purdue University professor says a piece of paper from the tornado-devastated city
of Joplin, Mo., may have blown 525 miles to a town not far from Lafayette, Indiana.A couple in Royal Center, 45 miles northeast of Lafayette in Cass County,
reported finding a receipt from Joplin Tire on their porch Wednesday.
If no other explanation can be found, it would be the longest recorded journey of
debris from a tornado, according to Ernest Agee, a Purdue University professor of
earth and atmospheric sciences.
The previous record was a canceled check that traveled 210 miles after the 1915
tornado in Great Bend, Kan., he said.
According to a Purdue news release, homeowner Tia Fritz contacted Agee after she and her husband discovered the receipt dated May 13 from Joplin Tire.
The receipt had been folded into a quarter of its original size. It is not known exactly how long the receipt was on the porch before it was discovered.
"This paper traveled more than twice as far as the longest distance recorded for debris from a storm," said Agee, who now has the receipt.
"The distance paper travels is directly proportional to the intensity of the tornado.
This paper's journey is a testament to the strength of the d tornado that struck Joplin
and what that city went through."
Based on wind speeds and the distance traveled, Agee estimated the receipt was carried by the jet stream for 12.5 hours after being sucked skyward by the tornado that hit Joplin Sunday evening.
The death toll from the massive tornado that devastated Joplin reached 132 today, according to the Associated Press, while the state worked to pare down the list of people missing and unaccounted for since the storm.
The tornado is considered the deadliest to hit the United States in 65 years.
Source
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This is a copy of the receipt blown 525 miles from Joplin Mo. |
A Purdue University professor says a piece of paper from the tornado-devastated city
of Joplin, Mo., may have blown 525 miles to a town not far from Lafayette, Indiana.A couple in Royal Center, 45 miles northeast of Lafayette in Cass County,
reported finding a receipt from Joplin Tire on their porch Wednesday.
If no other explanation can be found, it would be the longest recorded journey of
debris from a tornado, according to Ernest Agee, a Purdue University professor of
earth and atmospheric sciences.
The previous record was a canceled check that traveled 210 miles after the 1915
tornado in Great Bend, Kan., he said.
According to a Purdue news release, homeowner Tia Fritz contacted Agee after she and her husband discovered the receipt dated May 13 from Joplin Tire.
The receipt had been folded into a quarter of its original size. It is not known exactly how long the receipt was on the porch before it was discovered.
"This paper traveled more than twice as far as the longest distance recorded for debris from a storm," said Agee, who now has the receipt.
"The distance paper travels is directly proportional to the intensity of the tornado.
This paper's journey is a testament to the strength of the d tornado that struck Joplin
and what that city went through."
Based on wind speeds and the distance traveled, Agee estimated the receipt was carried by the jet stream for 12.5 hours after being sucked skyward by the tornado that hit Joplin Sunday evening.
The death toll from the massive tornado that devastated Joplin reached 132 today, according to the Associated Press, while the state worked to pare down the list of people missing and unaccounted for since the storm.
The tornado is considered the deadliest to hit the United States in 65 years.
Source
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