Another Too-Late Tornado Warning
This has become far too common. Another obvious tornado warning situation where the National Weather Service in southwest Wisconsin waited too long to issue a tornado warning. Jeff Piotrowski, I, and a third meteorologist were tweeting about the threat but the NWS didn't issue a tornado warning until the storm was on the ground, lofting debris. Let's pick things up at 1:34pm (the time my tweet, below, appeared on the timeline).
Finally, at 1:48, the NWS issued a tornado warning.
The problem is that the tornado had already been on the ground for at least two minutes. The bottom display of lofted debris showed a considerable area of debris at 1:46pm -- two minutes before the tornado warning was issued. The rotation display showed an obvious tornado signature. Using an experimental program, the tornado was estimated to be EF-2 intensity.
The rotation continued to increase. I was shocked by the fact a tornado warning had not been issued.
Finally, at 1:48, the NWS issued a tornado warning.
I'm not aware of any injuries or significant damage from this tornado which, fortunately, occurred in a rural area. There were injuries with the unwarned tornado northeast of downtown Philadelphia July 29. I fear it is just a matter of time before needless fatalities occur as they did in Joplin.
This is yet another reason why our nation needs a National Disaster Review Board.
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