Do Tornado Warnings Save Lives? You Bet!

My friend, Nate Johnson is always correct to acknowledge Divine Providence. But, there is another good reason for no fatalities in Washington, IL: Excellent storm forecasts and warnings. 

This is what Washington, IL looked like from the air this afternoon:

Let's review how forecasts helped save lives.

This was forecast about noon yesterday. The headline? Tornado risk increasing (not shown). It says, "this is a really dangerous situation" and it includes Washington.

At 7:37am, I posted that dangerous tornadoes were hours away:

Just before 10am this morning, I posted the Storm Prediction Center's "particularly dangerous situation" tornado watch. It says there is a "high risk of violent tornadoes."

At 10:54, tornado warning for Metro Peoria, with Washington dead center in the NWS's polygon. Washington was hit more than 11 minutes later. I reported that storm chasers were on the storm, confirming the tornado.

As the storm approached, additional postings were made:

The tornado caused the severe damage you see above. Knowing that additional tornado warnings would be issued, I thought it would be critical for readers to see the tornadoes and the damage so they would have credibility. Here is the posting at 12:16pm.

Yes, there have been people killed in these storms. With all of these violent tornadoes striking populated areas it is tragically unavoidable. But, tornado outbreaks like these a quarter-century ago killed hundreds. I thought that will have been the case today.

The meteorologists at AccuWeather, the National Weather Service, storm chasers and emergency managers all work as a team to insure everyone's safety. 

So far, more than 60 tornado reports have been received. The science of meteorology again deserves high praise for its lifesaving work. 

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