They Call it Stormy Monday, but Tuesday's Just as Bad...

Hmm...I think watch is the lesser of the two, as in, we are watching to see if it will come vs. there is one likely on the way. While we don't really get tornados up here, the last few years our weather has been screwy, so there have been some watches and warnings. Hope someone else can add info here.

I think you're right about watch/ warning.

I'm feeling cooped up, so will just keep my eyes open (not just for cows whirling through the air, but people walking fast, less cars, that kind of thing) and see what happens.

I've always thought they didn't strike cities very often, but then I'm more accustomed to the thought of earthquakes than tornadoes.

Only been on one watch, and that was in New Jersey, which was weird. I was hanging out with a bunch of fishermen, though, and they didn't seem too concerned about. (Granted, we were all lubricated enough at that point that no one cared about much of anything.)

Just a thought sozobe, (and my curiosity) but would you be able to sense a major change of air pressure in your ears, and could that be any kind of warning? Stupid question?

wednesdays worse and thursday's oh so sad
but the eagle flies on friday
saturday i go out to play
go to church on sunday
where i knee down and pray
they call it storm monday, but tuesday's just as bad.

Soz, if tornado watches and warnings are a frequent occurence in your area, you might be interested in the information on this website. In addition to information about the NOAA the site also lists the brands and models of equipment that will give you access to the alerts.


http://205.156.54.206/nwr/special_need.htm

Some excerpts:

Thanks, butrflynet!

Yeah, my area gives away free pagers to the deaf and hoh, which I've spurned 'cause I already have enough gadgetry, but that would be mighty useful right now.

I've been through too many watches to count, several warnings. Most recent was in Iowa, all of us in the basement watching live coverage on the TV (down there, in part, for just that reason) of a nasty-looking funnel cloud forming. Got some big hail (well, I thought it was big, but E.G.'s grandma, who has been through this a lot, said "eh, it's not even golfball-sized"), but no tornado.

fealola, nope, that hasn't happened before. (I've been in the vicinity of a real live tornado a few times.) I am really good at reading clouds, the general color of the light (a certain murky green is baaaaaaaaad), etc. (I predicted that something was coming in Iowa before the TV guys did.) Figure I'd be able to figure it out, but don't want to be caught too far away from home/ out in the open if/ when that happens.

Thinking good thoughts for sozobe and fam..... :wink:

Sozobe...
I live in the northern corner of tornado alley. We had a huge tornado in my city in 1987 that killed over 25 people. Tornado were virtually unknown in this province till then and since then several of the deadly spirals have reappeared, global warning is said to be the reason.
On any given day in the summer, there are usually watches and warnings. But before the warning are even issued we've all gotten used to what weather conditions to look for.
Hot humid weather, electrical storms, high winds, huge hail and greenish scary looking clouds are all common. But a pre-tornado cloud has some interesting characteristics. The bottom of the cloud front is smooth with hanging mushroom like progections.

When you see those, run for cover. However...these don't often fully form until out of a city air presure areas. If you live in a city your normally safe but on the outskirts temperature ranges fluctuate quite radically and are prime tornado begining points.
Hope this helps.

Would the Weather Bug do the trick? I have it on my home computer, and am just sure there is an option to send it to a friend, if you can't find it yourself.

The biggest tornado I have experienced was in Minneapolis, a pretty good-sized city. Not outside of it, either... it tore straight through the center of Minneapolis. So I'm not counting on city living being any protection.

Roger, yeah, Yahoo weather has a close radar thing that I use all the time. It's great.

And Ceili, yep, know all about those clouds. Where I live there isn't that much visibility, though, and the bad stuff tends to move fast.

I'm a sky watcher. I guess most of us who've lived in areas that are prone to tornados know what colour green to look for in the sky. We don't get any auditory warnings here.

Yep, that thick thick still pea soup green is baaaaaaaad news.

I love it.

But I'm an extreme-weather loving freak. (Or at least I was... still like big booming thunderstorms, but more extreme stuff gets me more concerned than it used to.)