Weather Phenomenon...

[jshawley]

So... after the severe storms/twisters in NW AR and SW MO Sunday night, everyone around here awoke to automobiles and everything else covered in mud. After the tornadic activity, another line of heavy rain (satellite was blocked) passed through--enough to have surely washed everything off.

I theorize, with no basis, that some tornadic suction drew debris up, and the lightest particulates got suspended in the tops of the clouds, and was sent back to the west, and finally got deposited as the last part of the second wave of storms.

What do you all think? This is the first time I recall seeing something like this. As best I know, this was quite widespread, over a broad area...

 

[Steve]

I doubt that was the case. More likely a more local event; i. e., the same storm cell that picked up the debris dropped it. Probably muddy water entrained in one or more vortexes that later fell as rain.

We had a tornado pass over the power plant I was at one time. It stripped all the leaves off the kudzu vines on the roadsides leading into the site and covered all the cars in the parking lot with them. Also took out a tall light pole, like the kind you see on the interstate interchanges. The storm tracked northeast, the parking lot was about a mile southwest of the kudzu, but it picked the kudzu up and dumped it on the back side of the storm cell.

Site security cameras picked up the light pole as it fell through the perimeter fencing. Some poor guard could be seen checking out the location in the middle of the downpour moments later.

 

[Diana]

So... after the severe storms/twisters in NW AR and SW MO Sunday night, everyone around here awoke to automobiles and everything else covered in mud. After the tornadic activity, another line of heavy rain (satellite was blocked) passed through--enough to have surely washed everything off.

What do you all think? This is the first time I recall seeing something like this. As best I know, this was quite widespread, over a broad area...

Jim, we had the same thing happen here during the storms night before last. Our car, trucks, windows, etc. were covered. We had lots of tornado warnings then, and a funnel cloud was reported 2 miles north of us.

Someone asked the local meteorologist about everything being covered with mud, and he said the cause was "Wind and lots of it." Same thing happened when that derecho passed through here two years ago. That was the storm that knocked our power out for five days.

 

[airguy]

Happens out here in West Texas about once a year on average - with no tornadic activity. A good strong gust front coming from a storm will kick up a long dust cloud, some of which inevitably gets drawn back into the base of one or more developing cells. Rain falling from above washes the dust out of the air and deposits it on the cars. I'm in my office right now looking through mud-ball covered windows from just such a storm a month ago.