What does the National Weather Service warning mean?

The National Weather Service — created to keep Americans safe by predicting “higher nature” — is an agency that people often hate, especially when they plan their day based on forecasts and they get them wrong.

It can be a challenge to outsmart God.

And even when the agency’s predictions are correct, there is often an attempt to blame the messenger.

But on Tuesday, the agency received widespread praise for doing exactly what it was designed to do: save lives.

Several public safety officials said that by issuing the worst tornado warning, “Tornado Emergency,” the agency was responding to residents exposed to a potentially deadly tornado – a 1,000-foot-wide tornado traveling at 140 mph , could give the opportunity to do this in safety.

More:After tornadoes hit western Michigan, rescue workers search through the rubble

While Tuesday’s tornadoes caused extensive property damage, particularly in Kalamazoo County, where nearly 200 homes and a FedEx facility were destroyed, there were no serious injuries or loss of life Wednesday, officials said.

To be clear, Bob Dukesherer, the weather service’s chief meteorologist in Grand Rapids, told the Free Press that the public should not stop paying attention to tornado warnings, which also means getting to safety immediately.

“There’s nothing like this new magical level that makes you want to take cover when it comes out,” he said. “You should take cover when a tornado warning is issued. The tornado emergency is when we see a tornado coming toward a city and know it is on the ground.”

Why trigger a tornado emergency?

When it comes to the weather, the different alert levels can be confusing.

With a tornado that can form almost instantly and head down a path of destruction before you know it, there’s a tornado watch that weather watchers hope will give you a little time to prepare. And then there is a warning that means you have to get to safety.

A tornado emergency indicates even greater urgency because a tornado has been detected and catastrophic damage is imminent and a dangerous, potentially deadly tornado is heading toward a community. In short, it’s like adding an exclamation point to a sentence. It means: Get to safety now!

Meteorologists said it was issued in other states but not in Michigan. Partly because it is relatively new, but also because with tornadoes, radar usually indicates that they are not in the path of a city or will be relatively weak.

Most tornadoes in Michigan tend to be EF0 or EF1 tornadoes, according to the weather service. This is a scientific abbreviation for the intensity and destructiveness of the tornado, as measured on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, a method of measuring the strength of a tornado from 0 to 5 based on several factors introduced by Ted Fujita in the 1970s.

On Tuesday, forecasters said all signs pointed to a storm brewing and heading toward a populated area, where in this case people were living in hundreds of mobile homes, one of the more vulnerable buildings to stay in when a tornado strikes.

A rare but effective warning

Weather service meteorologists in Michigan said they were unsure when the first tornado emergency was declared statewide. It dates back to at least 1999, when a super-strong tornado struck communities south of Oklahoma City.

Since then it has been spent sparingly.

But for someone who lives in a mobile home or a home without a basement – buildings that are particularly vulnerable to tornadoes because they can be torn apart – it could be important because a few minutes’ warning can make all the difference.

In Pavilion Township, where 3,000 people live in the Pavilion Estates Mobile Home Community, security officials said the warning certainly helped.

According to the weather service, three tornadoes touched down in Michigan through Thursday. There was an EF2 tornado in Kalamazoo County that moved about 11 miles, and if it spun just 1 mph faster it would have been classified as an EF3.

One tornado occurred in St. Joseph and Branch counties, classified as an EF1, with a speed of 95 mph over a mile and a width of 100 yards, and the other was in Cass County, also an EF1, with a speed of 95 mph of 95 miles per hour but a width of 11 miles and over 950 yards was the widest of the three.

“We don’t see tornadoes, but that’s why we do what we do,” Dukesherer said. “Our business is to save lives. When we press the button of an alert, it is issued in a variety of ways. And when a tornado warning is issued, people need to take cover.”

Related Posts

Flushing, MI – Car crash on Flushing Road near E Pierson Road

Former Alabama police officer and FBI agent convicted of raping 11-year-old girl

Football in Malaysia: Mysterious attacks on players overshadow the start of the season