Three Thoughts on Tornado Warnings

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 After an extraordinarily busy week, I have a couple of thoughts to pass along. 

 

Unfortunately, The Headline Is Correct

The warning for the Wichita-Andover Tornado of 2022 unfortunately provided zero “lead time” (the interval between the issuance of the warning to the start of the tornado). Based on my review of the radar plus an objective analysis, the warning should have been issued by 8:06pm, 8:08pm at the latest. The National Weather Service’s warning was issued at 8:10, coincident with the tornado touching down.

 

I have written extensively about the NWS’s issues with tornado warnings the past decade. Example here and here.

 

 

 

What Happened to “Storm Based” Warnings?

 

The NWS is supposed to issue storm warnings that reflect the projected path of the storm rather than political boundaries. Evidently, they have changed their philosophy without notifying anyone. 


I'll have more on the topic of tornadoes in the next day or so.

I Salute This Oklahoma Business

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