When air masses collide. 2008-03-28

[teddy]

Ahh yes, the ever threatening National Weather Service! They got the entire city of Houston to evacuate a couple years back. They treat "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" as a guide to living...

[Crazieman]

You'll appreciate those warnings after you get smacked by some form of severe weather.

[blathersby]

Ahh yes, the ever threatening National Weather Service! They got the entire city of Houston to evacuate a couple years back. They treat "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" as a guide to living...

Well, it WAS a hurricane. That's gotta count for SOMETHING, right?
It's funny. My parents still freak out over every potentially-tornadic thunderstorm. But after living in North Texas, I stopped caring.

[Felan]

Todays comic reminded me of this picture that was sent to me a while ago

[teddy]

Well, it WAS a hurricane. That's gotta count for SOMETHING, right?

A hurricane hit within 50 miles of me (Greenspoint at time of landing) last year during hurricane season, and we didn't have any cloud cover. They don't always count for something.

[NickGXZ]

You'll appreciate those warnings after you get smacked by some form of severe weather.

*nods*

They fire off the warnings if there's even the slightest HINT of rotation in a Thunderstorm. At least, thats how they've played it here.

[Hirschof]

Well, it WAS a hurricane. That's gotta count for SOMETHING, right?

A hurricane hit within 50 miles of me (Greenspoint at time of landing) last year during hurricane season, and we didn't have any cloud cover. They don't always count for something.

Hurricanes can turn very quickly and without warning. Even if it misses it does count for something, especially at 50 miles. Now I agree if the damn thing misses by a state.

[adciv]

Hurricanes are 500 miles wide. Missing by a state isn't that hard when your error bars can sometimes be the size of Texas.

[Deacon]

As punishment for his horrible mangling of this topic's title, teddy is hereby forbidden from ever creating another daily comic thread

You'll appreciate those warnings after you get smacked by some form of severe weather.

No, not really. Constant warnings of impending events that never materialize don't really do anyone any good, and there's not much you can do about it even if they only gave warnings when the probability was more reasonably high so as to warrant it.

[KuromanKuro]

Yeah, those warnings come often. But hey, better safe than sorry. We were going to have a Tornado a few months ago, but it turned all of a sudden and hit some other town.

Ripped it to shreds

[Deacon]

Yeah, those warnings come often. But hey, better safe than sorry.

Just what the Boy Who Cried Wolf and the Department of Homeland Security say.

[KuromanKuro]

Yeah, those warnings come often. But hey, better safe than sorry.

Just what the Boy Who Cried Wolf and the Department of Homeland Security say.

I ignored the warning one time. "Oh it's just gonna' rain." Then my Grandmothers house got flooded, I'm lucky though since my house is 3 feet above ground, it only got about half way up.

[Hirschof]

There is only so much you can prepare for till you reach the level of paranoia. In my area, I tend to just ignore the warnings unless its been raining quite a bit or if I see a wizard on a hill. Warnings have their purpose but they are usually just a extraordinary "just in case" statement to cover someone's ass. No service wants to hear "Why was there no warning?"

Now if I lived along an area which seems to turn into a disaster zone annually I'd probably pay more attention to warnings and watches. That or get the fuck out of there.

[ampersand]

*sigh*

A warning means that conditions are right for a severe weather event to happen. This is sort of like the rare yellow alert commands issued by Commander Riker. It simply means to be prepared to go if it turns bad. Not to duck and cover.

A watch on the other hand means that, well, basically the shit has hit the fan and you need to move now. When Riker yells out Red Alert, all of the extras scamper to their stations and expect themselves to die. Warnings give you time to prepare to move, watches tell you that the time to move is now.

Now, do NWS science officers (the guys that actually do issue out watches and warnings) put out too many warnings? Perhaps. My biggest complaint is that the warnings/watches must include a whole county instead of narrowing it down to the area that will probably have the biggest threat. But I would rather have more warnings and few watches that many watches that go unheeded and few actual warnings.

And really, when you think of it, from about Mid March to about late May, there might as well be continual tornado warnings post for all of Oklahoma and Northern Texas. (There's a reason there's five dopplar radars ringing around Norman, OK.) You have varying air masses, dry lines, the topography of the Rockies that play into why a plethora of tornadoes tends to happen in Oklahoma and Texas.

[Deacon]

That's totally backwards. Are you sure you've got that right? I mean, I know you're a meteorology geek and all that, but still. I thought a "watch" was sort of a keep-an-eye-out kind of thing while a "warning" was impending doom. It's one thing to tell someone to watch for trouble and another to warn them that it's on its way. If you're right, someone wore their dunce hat when coming up with it.