topic Re: Tornado watch vs. warning in Community Chat

Tornado watch vs. warning

esmerelda — Sat, 11 May 2019 23:23:50 GMT

Are TV weather forecasters so anxious to be breathless that they are confusing tornado watches and warnings? I don’t know the last time I heard “watch” but it seems there have been warnings three out of the last four weeks.

There are specific definitions for each and I think the “warning” is being misused.

If if they keep saying warning when watch is more appropriate, people will start ignoring them. And that won’t be good.

Re: Tornado watch vs. warning

FrostyBabe1 — Sat, 11 May 2019 23:33:29 GMT

@esmerelda wrote:
Are TV weather forecasters so anxious to be breathless that they are confusing tornado watches and warnings? I don’t know the last time I heard “watch” but it seems there have been warnings three out of the last four weeks.

There are specific definitions for each and I think the “warning” is being misused.

If if they keep saying warning when watch is more appropriate, people will start ignoring them. And that won’t be good.

Personally, I think it's disgraceful when they do that. Watches and warnings are only issued by the National Weather Service and aren't subject to being ramped up by local stations. Of course, it's usually followed by an exortation to stay tuned to that channel. Our local NBC affiliate got in hot water a few years ago during a potentially severe weather event. They were having station employees call in to the weather lines that would ring on-air, to make it appear that there were far more reports of severe weather than there actually were. I'm not sure exactly how they got caught, but I know they got a pretty hefty fine from the FCC.

Re: Tornado watch vs. warning

sidsmom — Sat, 11 May 2019 23:50:21 GMT

What area do you live in?

I live in a large metroplex....and never have I heard a

weather station ‘misuse; or confuse watch vs warning.

It’s pretty clear what a warning is.

Re: Tornado watch vs. warning

on the bay — Sun, 12 May 2019 00:01:07 GMT

I've never had that happen. The warnings are issued by the national weather service and then the local channels alert the areas it covers.

They can specifically see the parts of each county and what time it may hit.

Re: Tornado watch vs. warning

HerRoyaLioness — Sun, 12 May 2019 00:02:40 GMT

I for one, keep getting them mixed up. To me a warning is "take cover, here it comes" and a watch is "keep on the watch conditions are right for something to develop" I still can't seem to keep in my head which is which, I think I have it the opposite of what it is.

In my mind they shouldn't both begin with a "w".......

Re: Tornado watch vs. warning

FrostyBabe1 — Sun, 12 May 2019 00:08:06 GMT

@HerRoyaLioness wrote:
I for one, keep getting them mixed up. To me a warning is "take cover, here it comes" and a watch is "keep on the watch conditions are right for something to develop" I still can't seem to keep in my head which is which, I think I have it the opposite of what it is.

In my mind they shouldn't both begin with a "w".......

You have it right.

A watch means conditions are right for the development of severe weather conditions of some kind.

A warning means it's actually happening. Some warnings, such as blizzard or hurricane, will have longer lead times. Even days in advance. Tornado or severe thunderstorms are immediate.

Specifically to tornadoes, a watch typically lasts several hours. A warning is usually less than an hour. So if someone says "we have a tornado warning until midnight!" and it's only 7 PM, it's a watch, not a warning.

Re: Tornado watch vs. warning

Sooner — Sun, 12 May 2019 00:19:43 GMT

A tornado watch means, as another poster said, that conditions are right for development sometime in the time frame listed and the area covered. A warning means take cover a tornado is very possible in your area.

A tornado warning means that a circulation is seen on radar and sometimes is also confirmed by spotters, people trained on what to look for and sent to monitor the storm visually. Many times tv stations use them to confirm what the radar is showing.

The National Weather Service does issue warnings, but sometimes tv stations will issue their own as well. A gap of a minute or two in issuing the warning can save lives.

The thunderstorms begin to rotate when the conditions are right. And when the rotation is strong enough and the right distance from the ground, as the mesocyclone rotates, tornadoes can dip down at any moment. They may spin up and dissipate suddenly, hit the ground and then dissipate. You never know and it can happen VERY quickly.

Some stay on the ground for 30 miles or an hour, sometimes a tornado drops down for 3 minutes, and the storm goes for 40 miles on without ever producing another but could at any moment.

The one thing sure is that people who don't pay attention to the weather in states like Oklahoma die sometimes.

Re: Tornado watch vs. warning

millieshops — Sun, 12 May 2019 00:28:35 GMT

The channel I watch for the weather always seems to be quite careful with their watch and warning messages. They often accurately predict right down to the street name just when a storm might begin.

Just recently the local paper ran a good discussion of the pros and cons of a possible new way to deliver hurricane info. Just getting people in the path of BOTH the wind and the flooding that does even more damage is a huge challenge. Tornadoes? I know so little about them, I can't even justify having a personal opinion of how they should/could be reported. Seems as if I hear about them after the fact, but I don't live in much of a tornado territory.

Re: Tornado watch vs. warning

evagrace — Sun, 12 May 2019 08:58:34 GMT

@on the bay wrote:
I've never had that happen. The warnings are issued by the national weather service and then the local channels alert the areas it covers.
They can specifically see the parts of each county and what time it may hit.

Our local weather reporters do the same thing you described @on the bay.

The alerts are from NOAA.

Re: Tornado watch vs. warning

esmerelda — Sun, 12 May 2019 13:12:08 GMT

Last night, well after the commercial networks (affiliates) went full time with weather and tornado warnings, the PBS station ran the banner with a warning issued by the national weather service.

It seems lately when there is a “thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado” they (affiliates) issue a warning. No sign or reports from spotters...just a storm capable etc.

Were they overreacting?

Re: Tornado watch vs. warning

Sooner — Sun, 12 May 2019 14:35:16 GMT

The tv stations in Oklahoma City have teams of spotters. A few are husband and wife teams. Sometimes it takes two; one to watch the radar from a monitor in the truck and communicate with the people at the station and the driver to watch and give reports and drive--some teams did almost 1,000 miles one day last week alone. A team from the Weather Station died a few years ago. It is not an exact science.

One station in particular had one meteorologist on air for 10 hours or more last week, and 4 other meteorologists on site at the station working with data, plus communications and computer people to help during the storm tracking.

The NWS has spotters too, as well as research teams from the University of Oklahoma with dopplers on huge trucks, because they are testing new generations of weather forecasting equipment. It's a huge deal and a big research program.

Photos can be seen here. Keep scrolling because they are amazing. There was another huge tornado on May 3, 1999 too in Moore but these pictures are from 2013.

Moore Oklahoma tornado damage

The spotters are positioned where the storms are expected to start and stay with them sometimes boarder to boarder across the whole State of Oklahoma.

That's why sometimes the tv spotters see something, and the people at the station see something and they may start talking tornado before the official warning comes out. They talk about something developing often before it gets to the point where NWS issues the official warning. NWS doesn't cry wolf. But they are cautious too not to miss something.

A minute can mean a lot. It can sometimes mean a life. The tv stations will talk "might" or "maybe" about a tornado before the official warning comes out. Usually. With storms you never know. The tv stations will be on air 10 hours solid sometimes, no commercials even.

One of the Moore tornadoes produced the highest winds ever recorded on earth--300 plus.

May 3, 1999

Damage $1 billion (1999 USD); $1.5 billion (2019 USD)

Highest winds: 302 ± 22 mph (as measured by mobile Doppler radar);

May 3, 1999, 6:23 p.m. CDT

F5 tornado

Fatalities: 36 fatalities (+5 indirect),, 583 injuries

Re: Tornado watch vs. warning

lovesrecess — Tue, 14 May 2019 15:00:51 GMT

I would pay attention when they say tornado warning; that should mean a tornado has formed, spotted, and is active.
Watch means conditions are favorabl for a tornado to form. Keep your eyes on the skies, so to speak. Can’t imagine anything more irresponsible than issuing a warning when no tornado has been spotted. I would definitely complain to whatever TV channel reports like this.

Re: Tornado watch vs. warning

CrazyDaisy — Tue, 14 May 2019 15:28:34 GMT

@esmerelda wrote:
Last night, well after the commercial networks (affiliates) went full time with weather and tornado warnings, the PBS station ran the banner with a warning issued by the national weather service.

It seems lately when there is a “thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado” they (affiliates) issue a warning. No sign or reports from spotters...just a storm capable etc.

Were they overreacting?

Warnings can only be issued by the National Weather Service.

Often storm systems that have a history of producing sever weather or tornado activity will have warnings attached as long as the conditions continue. Thus a storm system may be entering your area that has a sever history and a warning attached even though there have been no sightings in the immediate area, Some areas are more prone under certain conditions "ballooning" very quickly into sever storms.