Nighttime tornadoes are deadlier
Improvements in forecasting techniques and innovations in weather technology have lead to longer warning times for tornadoes over the years. This increased warning time has lead to a steady decrease in the number of people killed in tornadoes over the past century. Even with all we have learned about tornadoes, and the warning system that has been put in place, the rate of tornado deaths at night has not decreased.
Researchers from Northern Illinois University studied tornadoes from 1950 to 2005 and discovered that just 27 percent of tornadoes in the United States occur at night, but 42 percent of killer tornadoes were at night, causing 39 percent of the tornado deaths. The worst time for tornadoes is from midnight to daybreak when tornadoes are two and a half times more likely to kill. The highest nighttime tornado death rates occur from November to April, during the cold season when there are fewer daylight hours.
There are three reasons for deadlier nighttime tornadoes. The tornadoes are hard to see, people are more likely to be asleep at night, and more likely to be in private residences which do not stand up to tornadoes as well as sturdier office buildings.
The weak link in the warning system is not the forecasting or weather detecting technology, but rather communicating the threat to the public. Tornado sirens do little good to people inside that are asleep, and TV and radio can only warn if people are watching or listening. Proper warning of nighttime tornadoes needs to wake people up and alert them of the threat. The best alert option right now for nocturnal tornadoes is a NOAA weather radio since they can be programmed for a specific location and set to sound an alarm.
Posted by
on 01/29 at 07:47 PM
I have seen that picture before, but I was not sure if it was doctored or factual. Since you used it it must be real. Wouldn’t that cause you to pucker up? Tornadoes scare the hell out of me.
Speaking of weather radios Frank, I recently had conversation with the NWS about wee hours of the morning Amber Alerts. Twice I have been awakened
during the night for just that. I suggested that this practice be stopped to avoid causing people to disarm the alert feature on their radios.
I was jostled back and forth between the Wilmington and Columbia offices, but both places were very nice and I was told they would stop sending out Amber Alerts during normal sleep hours.