Tornado Watches

[Malcolm Big Head]

I don't know how common of a weather phenomenon this is internationally but they seem to happen frequently where I live. It seems that watches are issued in the spring at the first sign of a dark cloud now days. My two theories follow.

1. The national weather service is afraid of a lawsuit for not issuing a warning and having a tornado develop.

2. The media pressures for tornado watches to generate more interest. Example: Earlier this week a tornado watch was issued at ~11:00 in the morning. The sun was out and no clouds in the sky. Nothing on radar within 300 miles. The storm was expected about 8 hours later.

[Lord Ovaat]

I think your observations are right on the money. One has to remember we live in a society where everyone should be protected from everything. Blaming the Nat. Weather Bureau for tornadoes is ludicrous, but inevitable. How could they let that happen? Same is true for the witch hunt for those responsible for 9/11. I always thought it was the terrorists, but guess you can't get money from them. And the government failed to protect everyone, everywhere from suicide attackers. Tall order, eh, what?

As far as your second point, I can remember way back when the local evening news was only 15 minutes long. That's right. Something had to be really important to get in. Now, the average an hour and a half, plus national news. Lots of filler with priceless bits of useless information.

[Major Robert Dump]

I think it has nothing to do with the weather service because you can't sue the federal government.

The NSSL and the NWS issue warnings because that is their job. They issue a warning when certain criterion are met. Thats all they do....issue the warning.

WHO BLOWS IT OUT OF PROPORTION ARE THE TV NEWS STATIONS.

Its ridiculous. In fact, there are so many watches, and pre-wathces and pre-pre-watches that it desensitazes people to the actual real thing. A major sporting even I was watching was actully interrupted for 15 minutes once by a local station to talk about possible mesa-cyclone clouds over OKC and at the end of the broadcast the weatherman admitted that the mesa-cyclone stage was only step 3 or 4 in a 20 step cycle to forming a tonrado and that the chances of one actually happening was like 1 in 5 million. Thats why I call overblown.

TV stations need ratings and viewers to make money, and they can damn sure get both by feeding on the paranoia of people who are afraid (and rightly so around here) of tornados.

[chunkynut]

I think we have had one tornado in my living memory. It destroyed a well known astronomer's (Patrick Moore) conservatory. He didn't see that coming

[solypsist]

better safe than sorry

[mfberg]

Quote[/b] ]WHO BLOWS IT OUT OF PROPORTION ARE THE TV NEWS STATIONS.

Its ridiculous. In fact, there are so many watches, and pre-wathces and pre-pre-watches that it desensitazes people to the actual real thing. A major sporting even I was watching was actully interrupted for 15 minutes once by a local station to talk about possible mesa-cyclone clouds over OKC and at the end of the broadcast the weatherman admitted that the mesa-cyclone stage was only step 3 or 4 in a 20 step cycle to forming a tonrado and that the chances of one actually happening was like 1 in 5 million. Thats why I call overblown.


I loved it a couple of years back, channels 4&5 25&43 were freaking out over a tornado in Edmond, while good old Gary England at 9 was sitting pretty, just telling you what to do. When I saw him the next month he was still laughing at them.

mfberg

[BDC]

I think the lawsuit thing is dead on.

Didn't some loser try and sue the company behind the Superbowl because of Janet's boob? I think he lost thankfully.

[Malcolm Big Head]

Katie Horner in KC flips her lid if the radar shows anything she can interpret to be a cloud.