Credit NOAA – NWS Storm Prediction Center
# 6178
For very good reasons, during the months of February and March many states across the nation – particularly in the mid-west and the deep south – promote a Severe Weather Awareness Week.
Last year’s record breaking tornado season, which claimed the highest number of lives in a half century, serves as a stark reminder of just how vulnerable we are to these violent weather events.
NOAA provides a State by State listing of Weather Awareness Events, and some states publish severe weather preparedness guides. A few examples follow, but you can Google `Severe Weather Awareness’ and your State’s name, to see if one is available for your area.
Some states have Severe Weather Guides online, such as this website maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
While it is impossible to predict just what kind of spring and summer storm season we will see, when warm moist air to the south and east does battle with cooler or drier air masses to the north and west, you have the basic ingredients for severe weather.
And outbreaks of tornadoes can frequently result.
But it isn’t just tornadoes that we watch out for. Straight line winds, downbursts, hail, lightning, and torrential rains are also hazards carried by these storms, and all can be deadly.
March, April, May and June generally see the strongest, and most frequent tornadoes, but in truth - these violent windstorms can occur any time of the year - particularly in the south.
In an average year, more than 1,000 tornadoes are reported in the United States. It is likely that the actual number is considerably higher, as not all tornadoes occur in areas where they can be seen or confirmed.
All but a small part of the United States is vulnerable to these storms, but the strongest of these storms generally occur in an area we call Tornado Alley (below Left), which runs from middle Texas north though Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota.
This is the area where you will generally find the largest and most powerful tornadoes; the F5 wedge type.
TORNADO ALLEY DIXIE ALLEY
Fortunately, much of the mid-west is sparsely populated, and so the number of tornado deaths that occur here are actually less than in other areas of the country.
DIXIE ALLEY (above right) sees more frequent, albeit usually less severe tornadoes. Due to a higher population density, more deaths occur in Dixie Alley than in Tornado Alley most years.
To keep abreast of severe storm forecasts, you can visit NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center online. There you’ll find interactive maps showing current and anticipated severe weather threats all across the nation.
Another resource is NOAA WEATHER RADIO.
Once thought of as mainly a source of local weather information, it has now become an `All-Hazards' alert system as well.
In order to receive these broadcasts, you need a special receiver. Many of these radios have a special `Tone Alert', and will begin playing once they receive a special alert signal from the broadcaster.
Like having an emergency kit, a first aid kit, and a portable AM/FM radio - having a weather radio is an important part of being prepared.
Most Americans are woefully unprepared to deal with emergencies. This despite dozens of major disasters (often weather related) that occur every year in this country.
Agencies like FEMA, READY.GOV and the HHS are constantly trying to get the preparedness message out, so that when (not `if') a disaster does occur, human losses can be minimized.
For more information on how to prepare for emergencies, up to and including a pandemic, the following sites should be of assistance.
FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm
READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/
AMERICAN RED CROSS http://www.redcross.org/
