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The Tracks Of Our Fears

 

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Severe Weather Tracks Feb 28th, 2012 Source NOAA 



# 6183


Yesterday morning, in It Happens Every Spring, I wrote about the inevitability of severe weather during this time of year, particularly from tornadoes in the mid-west and deep south.

 

As it turned out, overnight a number of severe tornado producing storms swept across Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri.

 

The remarkable image above comes from NOAA’s Environmental Visualization Laboratory (h/t @JustinNOAA)

 

Feb 29, 2012

NOAA Radar Tracks Tornadoes in Midwest

NOAA's NEXRAD system of radars deployed throughout the United States provide meteorologists the most up-to-date information on the ground regarding severe weather, especially when it comes to identifying potential tornado outbreaks. By analyzing both the rotational velocity of the storm systems (the spinning of tornadoes has high rotational velocity compared to the surrounding storms) and presence of hail, scientists at the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory have developed a product that approximates the track of tornadoes, shown here for the February 29, 2012 storms in Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas.

At least four people have been killed and many others injured as these storms swept through the Midwest early in the morning. The NOAA Storm Prediction Center has issued advisories for Tennessee and the surrounding areas for the remainder of the day. Although the tracks shown in this image are not actual confirmed ground tracks, they are helpful in identifying features associated with tornadoes, preparing communities for such potentially deadly outbreaks, and emergency response once a severe weather outbreak has passed.

 

More storms (and fatalities) have been reported today in Illinois, and as the graphic below from the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma shows, the bad weather is moving eastwards.

 

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While early in the storm season, these tornadoes should serve as a wake up call to prepare, and Ready.gov has the tools to help you do so.

 

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If you haven’t created, practiced, and updated your family’s emergency plan, now is the time to do so.

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