Tornado Warnings/Sirens

[jeffbgoofy]

I hope everybody knows there are weather apps now that let you know when a warning has been issued. NOAA even has a weather radio app.

[Fat Strat]

We had a tornado hit near us again last night. 2nd one in 3 years. Lost some shingles and had some water dripping through a light fixture into our living room. But, nothing major. It was spotted about 1/2 mile from our house. Probably pretty small, since there was only minor damage around town.

[IMADreamer]

The NWS since the Alabama super out break and Joplin have taken really hard looks at procedures and how they do warnings. Last year several NWS sites including STL were a test bed for a new warning procedure. This year things have been refined some and yesterday was the first time they really got used in my area. I like the new warning text much better then the old.

The problem continues to be the non universal way local emergency managers sound the sirens. Some do it for severe warnings, some just for tor warnings, some do it even if the county next to them has a tor warning. It's a horrible system and one where the govt needs to step in and have a universal system for every one in the US. Of course another problem is that in some cases the people in charge of the sirens know nothing about severe weather and therefor get a bit trigger happy.

So while the NWS made huge strides since the super out breaks of 2011. Everyone else isn't really catching up. The only real solution is for each person to pay attention to what is happening.

[cardinalkarp]

So, this has already started. Been a little too long since blowing their siren, so they had to do it last night...despite there not being a tornado within - I don't know- 20 miles, if there was one at all. As a matter of fact, after checking the radar, I went out and ran. A couple miles into it, they started sounding the alarm as if there was another German air raid on the way. In fact, there was not and any dolt with an internet connection and/or tv could see the radar was clear for another hour...at which point rain was going fall.

You just don't get it do you? Tornados are destructive forces that can pop up when conditions are favorable. When the WARNING signs are there, whether a tornado has been spotted or not, the sirens go off. They warn people that there is a POSSIBILITY that a tornado might occur, not that the GD thing is in there backyard.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

No. The problem is you just don't get it.

And, apparently I do. Tornadoes are dangerous? No [expletive]. That's why you should have a way to let people know they're on the way. You know what a tornado siren should do? That. Let people know a tornado is coming. You know what it does if you blow it, repeatedly, when a storm is 30 miles east and heading east? Annoys people 1 and scares people that don't know what's goin on 2. Those are the people that are going to end up spending the night in their bathtub when they would be just as safe on their bed. But, I digress.

I'll just say you don't have to be a meteorologist to read a radar and see where lightning is/isn't and where storms and rain are/aren't. So, last night, a thin line of storms blows through. Okay. There was possibly a tornado about 10 miles east of where I live...apparently. I don’t care if it’s been verified, tbh, it’s irrelevant. So that thin line of storms blows through and lasts about 5 minutes. Wam bam thank you ma’am. And, poof. Keeps on going east. It gets downtown, and that’s when the siren for the entire city goes off. 10-15 minutes AFTER the storm blew over West Little Rock. 5 minutes AFTER it blew over the residential area in the heart of Little Rock. They were going off for maybe 1 minute when the storm itself was actually IN the downtown area and AFTER 90% of the population had already been hit by the storm and were no longer affected.

But, yeah, I guess in the 1.5 hour window AFTER the first line of storms hit and before the 2nd rainfall came, the conditions were favorable for a tornado so they blew the siren off? Weird how none of the 10 meteorologists that were dedicated to following the storm last night mentioned anything about that.

Also, let’s go back to why they shouldn’t blow the siren when there’s not actually a tornado. Because you can’t blow it every night and expect people to pay attention to it. You know what I’m doing if we have a legit tornado? Going to my neighbors because they have a basement, and I don’t. You know when I want to go over there? Basically when there’s a tornado on the way. If I were to go knock on their door every time the siren went off, I’d have to pay them rent.

[IMADreamer]

You should be writing to your local emergency manager. They are the ones who set procedure to blow the siren.

[cardinalkarp]

AW, just because it seems as if your area is clueless on when to use the sirens doesn't mean they don't work. Yesterday, when a tornado warning was in place for our area & they saw the possiblity a tornado might have occurred the sirens sounded. It rained like hell & got very windy but no tornado happened, are you saying in that case the sirens are being used improperly?

I'll stand by my opinion that sirens mean a tornado is POSSIBLE, it doesn't even have to mean that the weather is awful. If the weather has the potential to spawn a tornado, sound the siren...if I'm at home the inconvienence of having to go downstairs isn't that big of an issue.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Done. Sent him an email. Thanks.

[Fat_Bulldog]

I hope everybody knows there are weather apps now that let you know when a warning has been issued. NOAA even has a weather radio app.

How did we ever live without apps.

I can't wait until there is an ass wiping app.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

AW, just because it seems as if your area is clueless on when to use the sirens doesn't mean they don't work. Yesterday, when a tornado warning was in place for our area & they saw the possiblity a tornado might have occurred the sirens sounded. It rained like hell & got very windy but no tornado happened, are you saying in that case the sirens are being used improperly?

I'll stand by my opinion that sirens mean a tornado is POSSIBLE, it doesn't even have to mean that the weather is awful. If the weather has the potential to spawn a tornado, sound the siren...if I'm at home the inconvienence of having to go downstairs isn't that big of an issue.

Yeah. I am of the opinion that with how specialized and accurate forecasting is, there's no need to be blowing sirens that are less than a mile or two from where a tornado is predicted/thought to be. And, people in the path of a tornado outght to be given a heads up as well with a different pattern/alarm. That's who, imo, need to be alerted via a tornado siren.

And...the siren should be different for people who are immediately impacted and those who are simply in the path. Maybe like if one of those hooks that meteorologists love to point out as a main cause of tornadoes forms, then immediately signal a tornado in that immediate area and the town directly in it's path, let's say up to 3 or 4 miles. Then, for towns 5-10 miles ahead in the path, not 1 county over, not 5 miles behind, sound a different alarm....maybe 2 quick beebs that repeats for 30 seconds over the siren... Then, for towns 10-20 miles ahead directly in the path, maybe give 3 quick blasts over the the siren.