OT - More severe weather
More severe weather warnings including severe storms and tornado warnings--be safe, fellow MGoBloggers. I, for one, heard sirens not far from me in NE Ann Arbor and it looks like the severe stuff is due to hit AA around 2 pm. Apparently SE Michigan == the new tornado alley...
why are they calling for tornado warnings when there is no rotation in the cells?
Maybe they're just covering their asses? There's a few spots headed in my direction that are near "extreme" on the radar, and I can see the edge of the worst of it, but nothing yet here, other than some thunder.
but the rotation is broad. like 3 miles radius.
A three-mile tornado sounds like it belings in a SyFy movie, like "Three-Mile Tornado vs. SuperManBearBig"
It's half three, half mile-tornado.
Any time that the radar indicates a rotating couplet in the velocity measure, it would be wise of them to issue the warning. They have to, because even if the rotation is on a broad scale (3 miles), it does not mean that the rotation can't tighten up quickly and form a tornado. In a way, is it 'covering their ass'? Yes, but wouldn't you rather have them cover their ass and the public be aware of it, or not warn and no one even think the storm is capable of a tornado?
i'd rather them avoid the WARNING designation b/c of the "cry wolf" affect. without a confirmed rotation cell the WATCH designation should be sufficient.
The problem with that distinction is the WATCH designation goes out well in advance, to give the public the heads up that the environment is capable of producing storms with the potential of tornado activity. The WARNING designation goes out when there IS a storm capable of producing a tornado at any moment. The "cry wolf" should never even be in play. I realize that a lot of the public takes these warnings with a lacksadaisical attitude, but the reality is, if there is a tornado warning out, the environment is very dangerous and people should take heed and get to a protected environment. It is so difficult to remotely detect a confirmed tornado on the ground that you essentially have to wait for an official storm report from a spotter, and if you wait that long to issue you a warning, it will be much too late, because the tornado is already on the ground. So, really, this is the best way to handle these dangerous situations.
understood. thanks
I think they've been a bit trigger happy on "Tornado Warnings" this summer.
To be fair, we have had a few touch down, though in a fairly large area, but yeah, it does seem like we've had "warnings" every other day.
And here comes the rain...
I did make it "OT"
... it's just that OT threatens to overwhelm this place; and it presumes that most readers are in SE Michigan.
Oh well, I guess it was worth 20 points....
It's the off season. Would you rather have 42 off-topic posts a 1 on-topic post, or just the 1 on-topic post?
...I'd bet that there is a Bermuda High settling in over the SE. That huge bubble of high pressure is forcing the jet stream further north. Cold fronts moving from west to east are hitting that large mass of warm, wet air coming out of the Gulf of Mexico. Normally, those storms would be forming over Kansas, Okie, and Kentucky...but instead are being nudged further north and hitting northern Ohio and Michigan.
That is a complete, total, straight-from-my-rectum, guess. Here in NC, we've got 100 degree heat, high humidity and the only rain we've been getting are the small, isolated late-day t-storms. We are supposed to get some cooler weather next week (upper 80s), so apparently, there is a cold front somewhere over the midwest.
New England has been getting socked this summer with much stronger storms. I know that in Boston, there have been several instances of century-old oaks getting wiped out by straight-line winds this year. The public gardens and the commons in Boston have been hit particularly hard. There have been multiple tornadoes in Connecticut and New Hampshire...so maybe there's something to my theory about t-storms getting nudged north this year.