posted
Tornados are the least of the problem here. And if you'll note, Kansas had a record number of tornados, but not a single death last year.
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
There is no darwin award eligibility there, unless you are saying that walking down the street is a stupid thing to do.
Posts: 751 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote: We saw an example just this week. On Monday, the SPC issued a PDS Tornado Watch (a special tornado watch beginning with the phrase, "This is Particularly Dangerous Situation...") for most of the state of Louisiana. All of their computer models were predicting intense thunderstorms that could spawn strong tornados. What happened? Several reports of medium-sized hail and one F0 (weak) tornado*. People were not too happy.
I, for one, hope they continue to use the special PDS tornado watches. Ordinary people don't have to be told what it is, but it's important to place special emphasis when the potential is there. People in charge of event planning and outdoor activities should especially know what it means.
Posts: 1813 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
Someday I want to see a tornado. Their was one running up a major highway last year in my town and I wanted to drive out their but my parents stopped me. Posts: 832 | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
We got enough tornadoes in Georgia when I was a kid that I never get complacent about 'em. Though, living in New Hampshire, storms aren't likely to really give good tornado changes. We had a microburst once, that was cool. We thought it was a tornado, but the government weather folks came and looked and said the pattern of downed trees was a microburst, not a tornado.
But man, as a kid, we had tornado drills all the freaking time. One time we ended up in the hallway for three hours with our books over our heads as tornadoes passed near us. Bleah.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote:Someday I want to see a tornado. Their was one running up a major highway last year in my town and I wanted to drive out their but my parents stopped me.
No, you don't. I've seen one and I have to tell you, I would rather experience the Northridge earthquake again. I'm glad that your parents stopped you. While the idea of facing danger can be exhilerating, if you don't understand the dangers and something unexpected happens you can very easily get killed or seriously injured. If your interest goes beyond simple curiosity, for example you want to study such phenomena, then get proper training as a storm chaser/watcher. At least then you may be prepared for the different kinds of dangers you might face with tornadoes and severe storms.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
David R. you felt the Northridg Earthquake? So did I. I also happened to see the Moore, OK tornado that is still the largest on record. I was miles away but it was so huge you could see it pretty clearly.
AJ (So far I've missed hurricanes and blizzards though. But given my luck, a blizzard is due for the Chicago area soon.)
posted
I was stationed at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station at the time in Orange County. Not so bad that far away, but enough to scare the bejeesus out of a first timer. The only real damage that I saw where I lived was a bent hydraulic jack that was supporting one of our F-18's which was having it's nose gear replaced.
The tornado that I saw was in Tennessee. Some of my friends and I were driving back to base, not listening to the radio, when we saw a tornado coming toward us along the highway. Fortunately we reached an off ramp before we reached the tornado and drove at a 90 degree angle from the path of the tornado as fast as we could. I'm not sure what we would have done if there hadn't been a way to get off of the highway. None of us had ever actually seen a tornado before, though several of us had grown up with tornado watches and warnings. I suppose that we would have probably tried to get turned around or found an underpass but I have since learned that trying to outrun a tornado doesn't always work and underpasses are notoriously bad places to try to wait out a tornado. Note that the tornado that I saw was pretty small as tornado's go but it scared me much more that the earthquake a few years later did.
When I was young I remember helping tie down our shed and put tape on all the windows because a possible hurricane. This was when I lived in Rhode Island. We didn't actually get hit by the hurricane but there was a lot of rain and wind.
posted
The PDS watches around here were right on the money. I also hope they keep issuing them.
I mentioned the PDS watch in a crisis meeting I went to in February. The FEMA guy had never heard of them and copied a lot notes while I spoke about them.
quote:Tornado/Severe Thunderstorm forecasting is actually a huge publicity nightmare for the NWS Storm Prediction Center. If they put out a warning for big scary thunderstorms and the storms are only mildly scary, people get complacent next time they forecast big scary thunderstorms.
The NWS has redefined what a severe thunderstorm is for this storm season. The hail has to be larger and the wind stronger. Too many false alarms last year.
Posts: 440 | Registered: Oct 2001
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quote:Smith said he conducted a study of the financial impact of a tornado warning issued for Sedgwick County on April 11, 2002. Wichita was never threatened -- skies over the eastern half of the city never even clouded up -- but people still left stores and restaurants and headed for shelter. Smith determined that the warning cost Wichita $1 million in retail purchases and perhaps $55,000 in tax revenues.
This is one of those business statistics that really bugs me. Why on earth did we have to calculate the "lost sales?" What, is the bottom line so important that we're going to grind the weatherman's nose so he doesn't ever err on the side of caution?
posted
It's ridiculous to talk of "lost sales and lost sales tax revenues" when those purchases are gonna be made eventually anyways.
Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Cuz whoever designed the spacing&letters&symbols for computer monitor viewing was a complete dolt. rn m rn m rn m rn m rn m rn m That was RN M RN M RN M RN M RN M RN M And I still find it extremely irritating that I can't indent the beginning of paragraphs without writing code.
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