touch down
アメリカイリノイ州で竜巻が多数発生し、多くの住宅が破壊されるなど、被害が相次いでいます。
At Least 4 Tornado Touchdowns Confirmed in Northern Illinois
At least four tornadoes touched down in northern Illinois overnight as powerful storms swept across the upper Midwest, damaging rural communities and forcing thousands of soccer fans to seek shelter during the Copa America semifinal in Chicago.
The National Weather Service in Chicago said survey crews will investigate damage Thursday along three separate supercell paths. The number of confirmed tornadoes will likely increase, the weather service said. Officials also planned to request a survey of the damage by air, although a dense fog advisory was in effect for much of northern Illinois early Thursday.
"We are fortunate things are not worse and are thankful there were no fatalities," Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner said in a Thursday morning statement.
The storm system produced dime-sized hail in some areas and its high winds snapped trees, blew roofs off buildings and downed power lines. The weather service reported winds from 80 mph to 100 mph in some parts of northern Indiana.
Firefighters responded to reports of people trapped in a house in Seneca after a tornado moved through the village about 70 miles southwest of Chicago Wednesday night. No injuries were reported.
Jeff Maierhofer of Seneca said he huddled in a basement with his wife, two children and seven neighbors when the storm arrived. He said his farm was badly hit.
"Nobody's hurt. Everybody's fine. All the neighbors are fine. Everybody checked in with everybody. But there's a lot of damage," Maierhofer told WLS-TV.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/tornado-touchdowns-confirmed-northern-illinois-40068695
今回の記事で気になった表現は、"touch down"です。タイトルにも使われている通り、竜巻が「発生する」などのような意味があると予想できます。
LDOCEで調べると、名詞"touchdown"で"the moment at which a plane or spacecraft lands"とありました。
『ジーニアス英和辞典』第4版(大修館)では、動詞で「(アメフト・ラグビー)タッチダウンする」の他に、「(飛行機・船)が着陸する、上陸する」という意味がありました。
同じく「着陸する」という意味の単語で"land"があります。LDOCEで"land"を引いたところ、"if a plane, bird, or insect lands, it moves safely down onto the ground"や"to make a plane move safely down onto the ground at the end of a journey:"とあり、"touch down"よりも、「安全に静かに着陸する」イメージが浮かびます。
日本語でも「台風上陸」といいますが、ここはアメリカンフットボールの国なので、touch downが使われているとも考えられます。
過去に取り上げられた記事を載せておきます。(Akim)
