What are some signs that a tornado is coming?

11 comments

1. 

   Water on July 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm

   The best rule of thumb is when it starts hailing with the size of the hail larger than one inch in diameter which is about the width of your thumb. Large hail forms near the updraft of a mature thunderstorm and when large hail is seen, that means the updraft is very close to you. A tornado is the product of the updraft of a mature thunderstorm. It can be preceeded by unusually very heavy rain and strong winds. Winds may or may not diminish before the actual tornado. Remember that very few thunderstorms actually produce a tornado. The other thing to keep in mind that every thunderstorm is different and rules of thumb do not work in all cases. Some thunderstorms produce tornadoes without producing hail and in some cases with very little rain.

   I get the impression that you are young and have the reasonable (not weird at all) fear that many have. I can’t say that I blame you. But, I also believe that you are old enough to have already experienced some strong thunderstorms and know something about how they can quickly form and move through an area. What I recommend for people with this reasonable fear is an alert type weather radio. When a watch or warning is issued by the National Weather Service for your area, it will go off similar to a alarm clock or smoke alarm (depends on model and type) so it doesn’t matter if you are asleep or not it will wake you up in the middle of the night. The new ones also have an added feature that you can program so that it only goes off only for the alerts to the counties you choose. In the not too distant future, I believe there will be models that you can program for a radius around your actual location. This radio can be found in most good electronic stores or catalogs. This has given people who have a fear of storms the peace of mind that they will be alerted to either the likelihood of a tornado (Tornado Watch) or if one is either sighted or detected by radar (Tornado Warning). Nearly all schools in the nation are now equipped with this type of radio and you likely can see one and how it works if you ask the principal of your local school.

2. 

   jigglepiggle on July 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm

   it will be very windy and the clouds will start moving fast, it will be dry and slightly warm gust

3. 

   PQ on July 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm

   When your neighbor, that lives a mile away, goes flying by.

4. 

   Mirka on July 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm

   The sure way to find about a tornado coming is to watch your TV weather forecast.

5. 

   BaseballStud_8 on July 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm

   When you hear the sound of what seems like a freight train going by your house, you know you’re close.

   Also, just watch your local weather forecasts for what is to come that day.

   This site, http://www.spc.noaa.gov/ , gives info on where you can find the highest risk of severe weather for the next 3 days. In fact, it looks like Nebraksa and Iowa could see some high winds, hail, and outside chance at a tornado today

6. 

   W W D on July 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm

   I live in the south. In dark and stormy weather, when you hear a train, and they tore up the tracks twenty years ago, your trailer starts to shake and the plastic flamencos aren’t in your front yard any more, it’s time to worry. (Please excuse the southern humor.)

7. 

   <<best answers>> on July 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm

   NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR ONE OF THESE http://www.ambientweather.com/sklidede.html

   NOW CAN I HAVE BEST ANSWER

8. 

   toledoengineer3 on July 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm

   I live in Toledo, Ohio, right at the end of Tornado Alley. Usually when conditions are right for a tornado, you have heavy hail and thunderstorms. But not always. Then, just before a tornado will hit, the weather clears to a light sprinkle and the sky turns to a sort of yellowish-green. It’s really eerie.

   Also, if you have any animals, watch them closely. Especially dogs. They will know when to run and hide, and in my experience, are usually right.

9. 

   Dave on July 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm

   Well, in Kentucky it’s much like a divorce – somebody’s gonna loose a trailer home! )

   Seriously, I’ve been in two. The first time the sky got a sort of green look to it. I was having lunch with my wife at the hospital she worked at and we noticed trees were bending neatly double. When it started to rain I decided to go home because I had left the dog in the yard. They wouldn’t let me out of the hospital because a tornado was happening right then. Long story short, the dog hid in the Bar-b-Que pit and I had a lot of limbs to clean up, not bad.

   Second time I was driving down the road, things got very black & I turned the radio on just in time to hear them announce that a tornado was crossing my exact path. I stopped at an overpass and climbed to the top. A woman was holding a baby in her arms and would probably have lost it if she hadn’t turned up toward the narrowest part where the bridge meets the hill in a wedge shape. The rain was hitting my ankles so hard I thought it was going to peel the skin from them. It was alsocolder than winter for about five minutes.

   So, what to do in a tornado? Have lunch with my wife I guess, it worked out best for me. The dog was afraid of storms for a long time after that but I figure third time’s a charm – I’ll probably end up in Oz if it happens again! )

10. 

    David E on July 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm

    From the National Oceanic & Athmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center (http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/safety.html):

    Besides an obviously visible tornado, here are some things to look and listen for:

    Strong, persistent rotation in the cloud base.
    Whirling dust or debris on the ground under a cloud base — tornadoes sometimes have no funnel!
    Hail or heavy rain followed by either dead calm or a fast, intense wind shift. Many tornadoes are wrapped in heavy precipitation and can’t be seen.
    Day or night – Loud, continuous roar or rumble, which doesn’t fade in a few seconds like thunder.
    Night – Small, bright, blue-green to white flashes at ground level near a thunderstorm (as opposed to silvery lightning up in the clouds). These mean power lines are being snapped by very strong wind, maybe a tornado.
    Night – Persistent lowering from the cloud base, illuminated or silhouetted by lightning — especially if it is on the ground or there is a blue-green-white power flash underneath.

11. 

    jeremy on March 9, 2011 at 3:27 am

    ever heard of “the calm b4 the storm”?