Tropical Storm / Hurricane ERIN —> coastal impacts

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I know there are people here who know more about agriculture and weather than me.

What causes trees to uproot from strong winds? I don't mean how is it possible; that's obvious. But why do some trees bite the dust and others stay rooted. And why do some trees that survive one big storm then eat it in the next, or the one after that?
 
superrific said:
I know there are people here who know more about agriculture and weather than me.

What causes trees to uproot from strong winds? I don't mean how is it possible; that's obvious. But why do some trees bite the dust and others stay rooted. And why do some trees that survive one big storm then eat it in the next, or the one after that?
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But seriously —

(1) large tropical systems tend to create a lot of localized downbursts that act almost like tornadoes.

(2) pine trees tend to snap in the middle.

(3) trees with strong tap roots, like oak, hickory and sweet gum, tend to hold up better than maples, ashes, etc.
 
superrific said:
I suppose I could ask ChatGPT to expand a bit further on this point, but I'll ask you instead. What kind of downburst? And how localized?
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Quick link from the thunderstorm context, but hurricanes once they're on land are really just a series of extremely powerful thunderstorms -- What is a downburst? These winds can be as destructive as tornadoes − we recreate them to test building designs

Anecdotally, I know someone on the coast of South Carolina who experienced a downburst in a tropical system a couple of years ago. Lost about 20 trees on his 2-acre property, while none of his neighbors, with identical tree patterns, had any damage at all. I guess it's possible it was a tornado that just tapped down on his property, but that's not how tornadoes tend to operate.
 
lawtig02 said:
Quick link from the thunderstorm context, but hurricanes once they're on land are really just a series of extremely powerful thunderstorms -- What is a downburst? These winds can be as destructive as tornadoes − we recreate them to test building designs

Anecdotally, I know someone on the coast of South Carolina who experienced a downburst in a tropical system a couple of years ago. Lost about 20 trees on his 2-acre property, while none of his neighbors, with identical tree patterns, had any damage at all. I guess it's possible it was a tornado that just tapped down on his property, but that's not how tornadoes tend to operate.
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I just did some reading about downbursts. I had no idea. I learned something.

I also didn't know that storms updraft precipitation. That's where huge hail comes from. The hail keeps getting pulled back up until it's too big for the updraft to hold.
 
superrific said:
I just did some reading about downbursts. I had no idea. I learned something.

I also didn't know that storms updraft precipitation. That's where huge hail comes from. The hail keeps getting pulled back up until it's too big for the updraft to hold.
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Yeah, I took a Intro to Meteorology class in college to knock out a science requirement and found it completely fascinating. Hugo was a pretty formative experience in my high school years, and now that I have lots of loved ones living on the Carolinas coast, I get really interested in tropical systems and how they work. They're incredibly complicated, and we probably only understand about 10% of what there is to know. But the #1 lesson is, you want to be in the spot that gets lucky and not in the spot that gets fucked. And it's almost impossible to know which will be which.
 
lawtig02 said:
Yeah, I took a Intro to Meteorology class in college to knock out a science requirement and found it completely fascinating. Hugo was a pretty formative experience in my high school years, and now that I have lots of loved ones living on the Carolinas coast, I get really interested in tropical systems and how they work. They're incredibly complicated, and we probably only understand about 10% of what there is to know. But the #1 lesson is, you want to be in the spot that gets lucky and not in the spot that gets fucked. And it's almost impossible to know which will be which.
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I took an intro to Meteorolgy at Wisky- a good Dept. They told us about a major involving Physics That was it for me LOL
 
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