[lbo-talk] I thought this only happened to hicks

[Tim Francis-Wright]

Dave wrote:
> As someone who sees these routinely throughout the 
> summer where I live, I'm confused by the wording.
> 
> In my experience, a tornado WATCH is issued for a 
> severe thunderstorm CAPABLE of producing a tornado, 
> while a tornado WARNING is issued when a tornado has 
> already been observed somewhere and others are likely.
> 
> The first two phrases above would seem to be in 
> conflict, while the third ("the tornado will be 
> near...") boggles the mind.
> 
> Maybe I'm just missing something.

The standards for tornado warnings are not quite that
high--they can include actually existing severe
thunderstorms that are capable of producing tornadoes.
(Tornado watches pertain to the potential for
thunderstorms that could then produce tornadoes.)
The lower thresholds are surely due to the power and
suddenness of tornadoes compared to other weather events.

In rare cases, the NWS will issue a tornado emergency
when a powerful tornado is threatening a populated area.

Someone asked about tornadoes and hilly areas--the
1953 Worcester tornado devastated one of the hillier
parts of Massachusetts.

And Dennis asked about Manhattan and tornadoes--there
have been no tornadoes in Manhattan since at least
1950, although an F2 tornado hit Staten Island and
Brooklyn in 2007 and an F1 tornado hit Queens in 1985.

--tim francis-wright