are severe t storm and tornado watches accurate?
May 08, 2010
in
Tornado Questions
i live in north east iowa, and we our county is under a sever thunderstorm watch. the watch is covering almost all of our county. but there is also a tornado watch. and it is barley touching our county to the east. maybe a good 10miles of our county is under a tornado watch. while more then half is covered by a t storm watch. but they are broadcasting it as a full tornado watch. would the threat still be more toward sever things like hail and wind other then a tornado?
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
3 comments
smutz on May 8, 2010 at 2:05 pm
In meteorology a watch means that conditions render the possibility of that extreme event. It does not mean that conditions are favorable for it, it just means that it COULD happen. It’s a heads up that if you live in a trailer home you may want to get a plan. A warning on the other hand means that it’s happening and on the way…however for a tornado warning it just means that they’ve seen circulation, not that one has actually touched the ground. That being said, if you hear the words tornado warning close to your house you should enact the plan you created when you heard the words tornado watch.
<3 Abi <3 on May 8, 2010 at 2:05 pm
A tornado watch means that the conditions allow that is a tornado is POSSIBLE and might not happen. With T-Storms, tornados are possible. If it turns into a warning, THAT means that they have spotted tornado that is happening at that time.
I live in the U.S. too, but not in your state. But I don’t think you are a big part of tornado alley. But hey, it is still possible.
Amanda on May 8, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Even in a severe thunderstorm watch there is a chance of tornadoes, but this chance is much lower than in a tornado watch and the main threat is large hail and damaging winds. However, if I was in a county bordering a tornado watch but not technically in the watch, I would still be on alert. The Storm Prediction Center tries their best to get out watches in an accurate and timely matter, but the fact is surprises still happen even to the brightest forecasters.
If you’re interested in the specific threats expected in a watch issued for your area, I would check out the SPC webpage. Watches are listed here:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/watch/
You can click on the particular watch you’re interested in and get information such as the counties included, a brief discussion of the weather situation, and the probabilities of certain hazards (e.g. tornadoes) occurring within the watch area.
Even in a severe thunderstorm watch, it’s a good idea to have a NOAA weather radio and have it set to sound an alarm when a warning is issued.