Tornado Warnings
Tornado Warnings
Tornado Warnings - what are they? A Tornado Warning is a short-fuse bulletin issued by the National Weather Service when
a tornado is present or imminent in the warning area. Tornado warnings can be issued when the velocity scan of the Doppler radar
indicates a tornado signature, although there is much concern over the reliability of Doppler as regards detecting tornados.
Doppler tends to be a bit over-zealous in calling mesocyclonic rotation phenomena tornados, when in reality we are discovering
that more storms have non-tornadic rotation than we ever realized. The primary and only reliable way of issuing a tornado warning
is when a tornado is actually spotted by a trained weather spotter. In some cases, a violently rotating wall cloud or persistent
mesocyclonic features in a severe thunderstorm that perhaps has a history of tornadic or potentially tornadic activity, is
sufficient to generate tornado warnings.
When tornado warnings are issued, they are entered in the AFOS system where they are routed to the central AFOS facility in
Maryland and then disbursed through various channels. One of the quickest ways to get tornado warnings is through the
StormWarn email delivery service.