U. of C. tornado researcher Tetsuya 'Ted' Fujita dies: - November 21, 1998
Tetsuya "Ted" Fujita, the University of Chicago meteorologist who discovered the microbursts of wind that can smash aircraft to the ground and devised a scale for measuring tornadoes, has died.
Mr. Fujita died at his Chicago home Thursday morning after a two-year illness. He was 78 and still working, although bedridden. His latest research was on the weather phenomena El Nino and La Nina.
He became known as "Mr. Tornado" after he devised the Fujita Tornado Scale in 1971 for rating the destructive power of tornadoes. He was known for an ability to figure out the workings of violent weather. He did it all in his head, refusing to use computers.
Mr. Fujita was born in Japan, where he studied mechanical engineering, physics and meteorology, earning a doctorate from Tokyo University in 1953.
His speculations on downflowing air drafts inside a severe thunderstorm led Professor Horace Byers, then chairman of the University of Chicago meteorology department, to bring him to Chicago in 1953. Mr. Fujita spent the rest of his life studying violent weather. He received nearly $12 million in grants from such agencies as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.
His investigation of the 1975 Eastern Airlines crash at Kennedy Airport in New York in which 113 people died led to his discovery of killer winds he called microbursts, small downdrafts that can trigger 150-m.p.h. winds near the ground. He theorized from the starburst pattern of uprooted trees found in forests after tornadoes and similar patterns of destruction he saw when he visited Nagasaki and Hiroshima after the atomic bombs were dropped.
Many meteorologists refused for years to believe in microbursts. But data Mr. Fujita collected led to widespread acceptance, and finally to the installation of Doppler radar at airports to look for conditions that cause microbursts.
His many awards included NASA's Public Service Medal, the Vermeil Gold Medal of France's National Academy of Air and Space, and Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star.
Survivors include his wife, Sumiko, and a son, Kazuya. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Lake View Funeral Home, 1458 W. Belmont.
Tetsuya "Ted" Fujita, the University of Chicago meteorologist who discovered the microbursts of wind that can smash aircraft to the ground and devised a scale for measuring tornadoes, has died.
Mr. Fujita died at his Chicago home Thursday morning after a two-year illness. He was 78 and still working, although bedridden. His latest research was on the weather phenomena El Nino and La Nina.
He became known as "Mr. Tornado" after he devised the Fujita Tornado Scale in 1971 for rating the destructive power of tornadoes. He was known for an ability to figure out the workings of violent weather. He did it all in his head, refusing to use computers.
Mr. Fujita was born in Japan, where he studied mechanical engineering, physics and meteorology, earning a doctorate from Tokyo University in 1953.
His speculations on downflowing air drafts inside a severe thunderstorm led Professor Horace Byers, then chairman of the University of Chicago meteorology department, to bring him to Chicago in 1953. Mr. Fujita spent the rest of his life studying violent weather. He received nearly $12 million in grants from such agencies as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.
His investigation of the 1975 Eastern Airlines crash at Kennedy Airport in New York in which 113 people died led to his discovery of killer winds he called microbursts, small downdrafts that can trigger 150-m.p.h. winds near the ground. He theorized from the starburst pattern of uprooted trees found in forests after tornadoes and similar patterns of destruction he saw when he visited Nagasaki and Hiroshima after the atomic bombs were dropped.
Many meteorologists refused for years to believe in microbursts. But data Mr. Fujita collected led to widespread acceptance, and finally to the installation of Doppler radar at airports to look for conditions that cause microbursts.
His many awards included NASA's Public Service Medal, the Vermeil Gold Medal of France's National Academy of Air and Space, and Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star.
Survivors include his wife, Sumiko, and a son, Kazuya. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Lake View Funeral Home, 1458 W. Belmont.
U. of C. tornado researcher Tetsuya 'Ted' Fujita dies: - November 21, 1998
Tetsuya "Ted" Fujita, the University of Chicago meteorologist who discovered the microbursts of wind that can smash aircraft to the ground and devised a scale for measuring tornadoes, has died.
Mr. Fujita died at his Chicago home Thursday morning after a two-year illness. He was 78 and still working, although bedridden. His latest research was on the weather phenomena El Nino and La Nina.
He became known as "Mr. Tornado" after he devised the Fujita Tornado Scale in 1971 for rating the destructive power of tornadoes. He was known for an ability to figure out the workings of violent weather. He did it all in his head, refusing to use computers.
Mr. Fujita was born in Japan, where he studied mechanical engineering, physics and meteorology, earning a doctorate from Tokyo University in 1953.
His speculations on downflowing air drafts inside a severe thunderstorm led Professor Horace Byers, then chairman of the University of Chicago meteorology department, to bring him to Chicago in 1953. Mr. Fujita spent the rest of his life studying violent weather. He received nearly $12 million in grants from such agencies as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.
His investigation of the 1975 Eastern Airlines crash at Kennedy Airport in New York in which 113 people died led to his discovery of killer winds he called microbursts, small downdrafts that can trigger 150-m.p.h. winds near the ground. He theorized from the starburst pattern of uprooted trees found in forests after tornadoes and similar patterns of destruction he saw when he visited Nagasaki and Hiroshima after the atomic bombs were dropped.
Many meteorologists refused for years to believe in microbursts. But data Mr. Fujita collected led to widespread acceptance, and finally to the installation of Doppler radar at airports to look for conditions that cause microbursts.
His many awards included NASA's Public Service Medal, the Vermeil Gold Medal of France's National Academy of Air and Space, and Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star.
Survivors include his wife, Sumiko, and a son, Kazuya. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Lake View Funeral Home, 1458 W. Belmont.
Tetsuya "Ted" Fujita, the University of Chicago meteorologist who discovered the microbursts of wind that can smash aircraft to the ground and devised a scale for measuring tornadoes, has died.
Mr. Fujita died at his Chicago home Thursday morning after a two-year illness. He was 78 and still working, although bedridden. His latest research was on the weather phenomena El Nino and La Nina.
He became known as "Mr. Tornado" after he devised the Fujita Tornado Scale in 1971 for rating the destructive power of tornadoes. He was known for an ability to figure out the workings of violent weather. He did it all in his head, refusing to use computers.
Mr. Fujita was born in Japan, where he studied mechanical engineering, physics and meteorology, earning a doctorate from Tokyo University in 1953.
His speculations on downflowing air drafts inside a severe thunderstorm led Professor Horace Byers, then chairman of the University of Chicago meteorology department, to bring him to Chicago in 1953. Mr. Fujita spent the rest of his life studying violent weather. He received nearly $12 million in grants from such agencies as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.
His investigation of the 1975 Eastern Airlines crash at Kennedy Airport in New York in which 113 people died led to his discovery of killer winds he called microbursts, small downdrafts that can trigger 150-m.p.h. winds near the ground. He theorized from the starburst pattern of uprooted trees found in forests after tornadoes and similar patterns of destruction he saw when he visited Nagasaki and Hiroshima after the atomic bombs were dropped.
Many meteorologists refused for years to believe in microbursts. But data Mr. Fujita collected led to widespread acceptance, and finally to the installation of Doppler radar at airports to look for conditions that cause microbursts.
His many awards included NASA's Public Service Medal, the Vermeil Gold Medal of France's National Academy of Air and Space, and Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star.
Survivors include his wife, Sumiko, and a son, Kazuya. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Lake View Funeral Home, 1458 W. Belmont.
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