5 ms·

Speaking as a nearly lifelong resident of Tornado Alley, I wonder how this thing, especially its upper floors, will fare the first time it meets up with a Moore

Speaking as a nearly lifelong resident of Tornado Alley, I wonder how this thing, especially its upper floors, will fare the first time it meets up with a Moore-level storm (either 1999[0] or 2013[1]). [0]: https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/about/history/may3rd/ https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/about/history/may3rd/ [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Moore_tornado https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Moore_tornado

daxfohl 3y ago
Taipei 101 has survived many a typhoon.
- ChrisMarshallNY 3y ago
  typhoon != tornado. I am sure they have something in mind, though. Japan is really good at designing skyscrapers that handle earthquakes. But whenever I see one of these skyscrapers, I wonder if Freud had a point...
  - beej71 3y ago
    Sometimes a skyscraper with balls is just a skyscraper with balls.
- hwbehrens 3y ago
  Just as a frame of reference, the most severe typhoon to directly hit Taipei seems to be Typhoon Morakot, which recorded wind speeds of 150 km/h (90 mph). The most severe tornado to hit Oklahoma seems to be from 1999, in which wind reached 484 km/h (301 mph).
  - pie420 3y ago
    another important point, typhoons are very big, so wind blows against a building in one direction. Tornadoes are very small, and would push on a skyscraper in multiple directions in the rare event that it hits a skyscraper and doesnt immediately dissolve due to lack of airflow. Airflow from multiple directions would mostly cancel out.
apgwoz 3y ago
They should just make it look like a tornado, honestly. Then it makes more sense. “We’re constantly bombarded with tornados in OK, and this serves as a monument and reminder of the seriousness of that,” said developer, now actually making any sense.
nemo44x 3y ago
On the other hand there might be great views of distant storms from the top floors.
rufus_foreman 3y ago
>> I wonder how this thing, especially its upper floors, will fare the first time it meets up with a Moore-level storm It almost certainly wouldn't meet up with one. The Moore tornado was an EF-5 tornado, there have only ever been 59 confirmed EF-5 tornadoes in the US since 1950. The last Moore-level storm was the Moore storm itself in 2013. The chance of any specific building in Tornado Alley being hit by a tornado of any strength in a year is said to be 1 in 5,000. Violent tornadoes are 0.1% of all tornadoes. In addition, Oklahoma is not the only state at risk of EF-5 tornadoes. If you're not going to build in Oklahoma due to tornado risk, you probably shouldn't build in Dallas, Chicago, Minneapolis, or Omaha either, among other places. Map of all confirmed EF-5 tornado locations in the US: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/f5torns.html https://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/f5torns.html.

daxfohl 3y ago

Taipei 101 has survived many a typhoon.

ChrisMarshallNY 3y ago
typhoon != tornado. I am sure they have something in mind, though. Japan is really good at designing skyscrapers that handle earthquakes. But whenever I see one of these skyscrapers, I wonder if Freud had a point...
- beej71 3y ago
  Sometimes a skyscraper with balls is just a skyscraper with balls.
hwbehrens 3y ago
Just as a frame of reference, the most severe typhoon to directly hit Taipei seems to be Typhoon Morakot, which recorded wind speeds of 150 km/h (90 mph). The most severe tornado to hit Oklahoma seems to be from 1999, in which wind reached 484 km/h (301 mph).
- pie420 3y ago
  another important point, typhoons are very big, so wind blows against a building in one direction. Tornadoes are very small, and would push on a skyscraper in multiple directions in the rare event that it hits a skyscraper and doesnt immediately dissolve due to lack of airflow. Airflow from multiple directions would mostly cancel out.

apgwoz 3y ago

They should just make it look like a tornado, honestly. Then it makes more sense. “We’re constantly bombarded with tornados in OK, and this serves as a monument and reminder of the seriousness of that,” said developer, now actually making any sense.

nemo44x 3y ago

On the other hand there might be great views of distant storms from the top floors.

rufus_foreman 3y ago

>> I wonder how this thing, especially its upper floors, will fare the first time it meets up with a Moore-level storm It almost certainly wouldn't meet up with one. The Moore tornado was an EF-5 tornado, there have only ever been 59 confirmed EF-5 tornadoes in the US since 1950. The last Moore-level storm was the Moore storm itself in 2013. The chance of any specific building in Tornado Alley being hit by a tornado of any strength in a year is said to be 1 in 5,000. Violent tornadoes are 0.1% of all tornadoes. In addition, Oklahoma is not the only state at risk of EF-5 tornadoes. If you're not going to build in Oklahoma due to tornado risk, you probably shouldn't build in Dallas, Chicago, Minneapolis, or Omaha either, among other places. Map of all confirmed EF-5 tornado locations in the US: https://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/f5torns.html https://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/f5torns.html.