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Tornado emergency
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Tornado emergency
A tornado emergency is an enhanced version of a tornado warning, which is used by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States during imminent, significant tornado occurrences. Although it is not a new warning type from the NWS, issued instead within a severe weather statement or in the initial tornado warning, a tornado emergency generally means that catastrophic, widespread damage is expected to occur and a high likelihood of numerous fatalities is expected with a large, strong to violent tornado.
These enhanced warnings are intended to convey the urgency of the weather situation to the general public, who are advised to take safety precautions immediately if they are in or near the projected path of a large tornado or its accompanying thunderstorm; tornado emergencies are usually identified following the preceding storm summary in the tornado warning product, which itself will denote visual or radar confirmation of "a large and extremely dangerous [or destructive] tornado" that is ongoing; precautionary action statements in the product also recommend that people in the storm's path find shelter in an underground shelter or safe room to protect themselves from the storm, if available.
While many tornadoes observed to be at or larger than ¼-mile in width have been documented to have produced catastrophic damage falling under the "strong" or "violent" categories (EF2–EF5) of the Enhanced Fujita Scale, there have been instances in which tornadoes of this intensity have resulted in very few to no fatalities and, occasionally, have produced damage corresponding to the Enhanced Fujita Scale's "weak" category (EF0–EF1).
The usage of tornado emergencies to alert major population centers to the imminent threat of a catastrophic tornado impact has also led to the development of the flash flood emergency which is similarly employed when severe flash floods threaten populated areas.
The term was first used during the May 3, 1999 tornado outbreak that spawned an F5 tornado which struck the municipalities of Bridge Creek and Moore, located just south of Oklahoma City, followed by southern and eastern parts of the city itself, Del City, and Midwest City. On that day, between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., David Andra, the Science and Operations Officer at the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Norman watched as the large, destructive tornado approached Oklahoma City. This led to the issuance of the first tornado emergency, which in this instance was released as a standalone weather statement issued separately from the original tornado warning.
As the large tornado approached western sections of the OKC metro area, we asked ourselves more than once, 'Are we doing all we can do to provide the best warnings and information?' It became apparent that unique and eye-catching phrases needed to be included in the products. At one point we used the phrase 'Tornado Emergency' to paint the picture that a rare and deadly tornado was imminent in the metro area. We hoped that such dire phrases would prompt action from anyone that still had any questions about what was about to happen.
The prolific 2011 Super Outbreak set the all-time record for the most tornado emergencies issued by the National Weather Service during a 24-hour period. During the afternoon and early evening of April 27, 2011, which saw a record-breaking 216 tornadoes reported across the southeastern U.S., local NWS offices in Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama, Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi, issued a combined total of 16 tornado emergencies during the regional outbreak for multiple long-track tornadoes; among others, the emergency declarations covered the EF4 Tuscaloosa–Birmingham, Alabama tornado, and the EF5-rated Philadelphia and Smithville, Mississippi, and Hackleburg–Phil Campbell and Rainsville, Alabama, tornadoes. (The previous single-day record, 11, was set on May 7, 2003, during an outbreak of 18 tornadoes—among 30 reported that day across the central and southern United States that occurred as part of a broader nine-day outbreak sequence—that struck much of the same region affected by the 2011 outbreak.)
On April 2, 2012, the National Weather Service began an experimental program within its Wichita, Topeka, Springfield, St. Louis and Kansas City/Pleasant Hill offices in Kansas and Missouri called Impact Based Warning (IBW), which allows the respective offices to enhance warning information, such as adding tags to the warning messages which signify the potential damage severity. In regards to tornadoes, the creation of this multi-tiered system resulted in the implementation of an intermediate tornado warning product, a Particularly Dangerous Situation Tornado Warning.
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Tornado emergency AI simulator
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Tornado emergency
A tornado emergency is an enhanced version of a tornado warning, which is used by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States during imminent, significant tornado occurrences. Although it is not a new warning type from the NWS, issued instead within a severe weather statement or in the initial tornado warning, a tornado emergency generally means that catastrophic, widespread damage is expected to occur and a high likelihood of numerous fatalities is expected with a large, strong to violent tornado.
These enhanced warnings are intended to convey the urgency of the weather situation to the general public, who are advised to take safety precautions immediately if they are in or near the projected path of a large tornado or its accompanying thunderstorm; tornado emergencies are usually identified following the preceding storm summary in the tornado warning product, which itself will denote visual or radar confirmation of "a large and extremely dangerous [or destructive] tornado" that is ongoing; precautionary action statements in the product also recommend that people in the storm's path find shelter in an underground shelter or safe room to protect themselves from the storm, if available.
While many tornadoes observed to be at or larger than ¼-mile in width have been documented to have produced catastrophic damage falling under the "strong" or "violent" categories (EF2–EF5) of the Enhanced Fujita Scale, there have been instances in which tornadoes of this intensity have resulted in very few to no fatalities and, occasionally, have produced damage corresponding to the Enhanced Fujita Scale's "weak" category (EF0–EF1).
The usage of tornado emergencies to alert major population centers to the imminent threat of a catastrophic tornado impact has also led to the development of the flash flood emergency which is similarly employed when severe flash floods threaten populated areas.
The term was first used during the May 3, 1999 tornado outbreak that spawned an F5 tornado which struck the municipalities of Bridge Creek and Moore, located just south of Oklahoma City, followed by southern and eastern parts of the city itself, Del City, and Midwest City. On that day, between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., David Andra, the Science and Operations Officer at the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Norman watched as the large, destructive tornado approached Oklahoma City. This led to the issuance of the first tornado emergency, which in this instance was released as a standalone weather statement issued separately from the original tornado warning.
As the large tornado approached western sections of the OKC metro area, we asked ourselves more than once, 'Are we doing all we can do to provide the best warnings and information?' It became apparent that unique and eye-catching phrases needed to be included in the products. At one point we used the phrase 'Tornado Emergency' to paint the picture that a rare and deadly tornado was imminent in the metro area. We hoped that such dire phrases would prompt action from anyone that still had any questions about what was about to happen.
The prolific 2011 Super Outbreak set the all-time record for the most tornado emergencies issued by the National Weather Service during a 24-hour period. During the afternoon and early evening of April 27, 2011, which saw a record-breaking 216 tornadoes reported across the southeastern U.S., local NWS offices in Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama, Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi, issued a combined total of 16 tornado emergencies during the regional outbreak for multiple long-track tornadoes; among others, the emergency declarations covered the EF4 Tuscaloosa–Birmingham, Alabama tornado, and the EF5-rated Philadelphia and Smithville, Mississippi, and Hackleburg–Phil Campbell and Rainsville, Alabama, tornadoes. (The previous single-day record, 11, was set on May 7, 2003, during an outbreak of 18 tornadoes—among 30 reported that day across the central and southern United States that occurred as part of a broader nine-day outbreak sequence—that struck much of the same region affected by the 2011 outbreak.)
On April 2, 2012, the National Weather Service began an experimental program within its Wichita, Topeka, Springfield, St. Louis and Kansas City/Pleasant Hill offices in Kansas and Missouri called Impact Based Warning (IBW), which allows the respective offices to enhance warning information, such as adding tags to the warning messages which signify the potential damage severity. In regards to tornadoes, the creation of this multi-tiered system resulted in the implementation of an intermediate tornado warning product, a Particularly Dangerous Situation Tornado Warning.
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