FACT: What is a thunderhead? Since it’s the name of this website, I feel it should be explained. A thunderhead is slang for a cumulonimbus cloud that has grown into a thunderstorm. This happens when a cumulonimbus cloud grows high into the atmosphere, eventually reaching a layer of the atmosphere called the tropopause. The cloud can’t grow any higher at this point, so it fans out horizontally, giving the storm an anvil-like shape. This is called a thunderhead, usually referring to a storm you can see off in the distance.
MYTH: Tornadoes can't go over hills or mountains, pass over water, go through valleys, hit cities, etc. FACT: Tornadoes don't care, they do what they want. While they don't occur as often as tornadoes in the flat Great Plains, tornadoes can and do occur in hilly and mountainous areas. There have been many recorded occurrences of tornadoes in the Rockies and in the Appalachians. And just as they can occur in mountains, they can occur in valleys as well. They can also cross ponds, lakes, streams, rivers, etc. While typically they travel from the southwest to the northeast, tornadoes can move in any direction, move over areas they have already hit, and even remain stationary in some instances. Cities and large metropolitan areas are not immune from tornadoes either. While cities may seem big, they cover a relatively small surface area when it comes to the entire U.S., which decreases their odds of being hit. Also, most tornadoes occur in the Great Plains, which is sparsely populated compared to the highly populated eastern-third of the country, also lowering the chance of metropolitan areas being hit. However, there are many examples of tornadoes hitting cities such as St. Louis, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Chicago, and more.
FACT: Flash flooding is the most deadly weather-related hazard. Most people believe that tornadoes are the greatest danger when it comes to severe weather, when in fact, flash flooding kills nearly twice as many people as tornadoes do on average. These high fatality rates are primarily due to people driving their vehicles through flooded roadways. It only takes 12 inches of rushing water to carry away a car. Therefore, when you see roads barricaded due to flooding, don’t drive around the barricades. There’s a reason why they’re there. The next most common cause of fatalities in flash floods is people standing too close to or walking into the rushing water. It only takes 6 inches of rushing water to knock down and sweep away an adult. Find out more about flash flooding HERE.
MYTH: A green sky is a sign that a tornado is coming. FACT: While green skies can indicate that severe weather is near, it does not always mean that a tornado is imminent. A green sky can be a sign of hail or heavy rain. If you see a green sky (rather, a storm with a green, blue, or turquoise hue), seek shelter and then tune into a local TV or radio station to find out if severe weather is threatening your area.
FACT: The Polar Vortex became a buzz word and was added to everyone's vocabulary during early January 2014 when much of the U.S. experienced temperatures well below freezing and snow. I know they were the coldest temperatures I've experienced in my relatively short lifetime. However, even though the phrase "Polar Vortex" was thrown around constantly then, and manages to make it into the news during cold snaps since, what it actually is seems to be unknown to many people. It's not some crazy, swirling tornado or hurricane of snow and cold air. The Polar Vortex is a persistent area of low-pressure that hangs out over the Arctic and contains very, very cold air. It has always been there and is there year-round; however, it is more prominent in the middle latitudes in the winter when the jet stream moves closer to the equator. Not every cold-snap is directly associated with the Polar Vortex, but they can commonly be attributed to pieces of the Polar Vortex that break off and dip southward into the U.S., i.e. a "dip in the jet stream", as your local meteorologist may call it. These dips in the jet stream provide the shots of cold air and sometimes snow that we experience in the winter, and that is what happened in January 2014. If you would like to know more information on the Polar Vortex and how it impacts the weather, click HERE.
MYTH: Tornadoes and other severe weather events only happen during the spring in the U.S. FACT: While it is more likely to occur in the spring, severe weather can happen at any time of the year anywhere in the U.S. This can lead to higher injury and fatality rates from tornadoes and severe weather during the winter months due to people letting their guard down because they think it can’t happen in any season other than spring. Similarly, severe weather can also occur at any time throughout the day, including the overnight hours. While tornadoes and other types of severe weather happen less often overnight than they do during the day, they tend to cause more injuries and fatalities when occurring overnight because most people are sleeping and unaware of the potential danger they’re in. That’s why it is important to keep tabs on the weather every day and night and have a NOAA Weather Radio or Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) active on your phone to help alert you of warnings and watches at all times of the day.
FACT: Severe thunderstorm and tornado watches are issued by the Storm Prediction Center when atmospheric conditions are prime for possibly producing severe thunderstorms and/or tornadoes. Watches are often large, spanning many counties, and can include parts of several states where meteorologists believe that severe weather may occur over the next several hours. Severe thunderstorm, tornado, and flash flood warnings are issued by your local National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office. These are issued immediately ahead of storms that are producing or potentially producing large hail, high winds, tornadoes, or heavy rain. Warnings typically last no longer than an hour and often only include about a county or two. Always be sure to pay attention to these warnings, as they could save you from injury or death. More information on watches and warnings can be found HERE.
MYTH: Seeking shelter from a tornado under an overpass is a good idea. FACT: This is incredibly wrong. Do not ever seek shelter under an overpass if you feel you are about to be hit by a tornado. Why? Look at it this way: if you have a garden hose with the water running, it doesn't have much force, right? But if you put your thumb partially over the opening, it causes the water to come out at a greater force. That's how the winds in a tornado work when they are forced under an overpass. They can increase in speed, causing it to be more dangerous to be under the overpass than it would be to be out in the open. If you are driving and know that a tornado is moving toward you, and you have no other way of getting away from it, get out of your vehicle and lay in the lowest possible area you can find, preferably a ditch. You can access a web page created by The National Weather Service in Norman, OK HERE that gives examples as to why sheltering under an overpass in a tornado is a bad idea.
FACT: Tornado sirens are only meant to be heard outdoors. The sirens are sounded by county officials when a tornado warning has been issued for their county. They are NOT controlled by the National Weather Service, who issues the warnings. While the sirens are quite loud and can be heard indoors when conditions are right or if you live close to one, you should never solely rely on them to warn you of hazardous weather in the area. NOAA Weather Radios can be programmed to alert you of hazardous weather, and Wireless Emergency Alerts on your phone can do the same.
MYTH: Heat lightning occurs at night during the summer because it is hot outside. FACT: "Heat lightning" is just lightning strikes that are hundreds of miles away. The sound of the thunder produced by these strikes does not carry far enough to reach your ears, which is why you can see a flash, but hear no sound. All lightning bolts or flashes originate from storms, and all lightning bolts create thunder, whether you can personally hear it or not.
FACT: There are several different types of lightning. Cloud-to-ground lightning is the most well-known and what causes injuries, deaths, and damages associated with lightning strikes. There is also intra-cloud lightning, which occurs within a storm, and cloud-to-cloud lightning, which is a strike between storms. Depending on where they originate within the storm, these strikes can have a positive or negative charge, which affects the amount of energy they carry. There are also some really weird, crazy types of lightning that occur above storms called sprites, blue jets, and elves (trust me, I'm not making these up).
MYTH: "Don't like the weather in (insert your state/area here), just wait a day". Sorry to burst your bubble, but if you live in the U.S., this line applies to mostly anywhere. I've heard people say this across the country. However, most likely your area is not unique, as the weather can have wild changes over the course of a day in Chicago, IL, just as it can in Amarillo, TX. This is especially true in the fall and spring. The way that weather patterns work, typically an area will experience a warm-up right before experiencing a cool-down. Shortly after this cool-down, an area will then become warmer again and the pattern continues. The length and strength of these periods of cooler or warmer temperatures, and the precipitation that accompanies them, depends on the time of year in which they occur, as well as the strength of the pattern. It can happen over the course of a week, day, or even hours.
MYTH: Tornadoes can't go over hills or mountains, pass over water, go through valleys, hit cities, etc. FACT: Tornadoes don't care, they do what they want. While they don't occur as often as tornadoes in the flat Great Plains, tornadoes can and do occur in hilly and mountainous areas. There have been many recorded occurrences of tornadoes in the Rockies and in the Appalachians. And just as they can occur in mountains, they can occur in valleys as well. They can also cross ponds, lakes, streams, rivers, etc. While typically they travel from the southwest to the northeast, tornadoes can move in any direction, move over areas they have already hit, and even remain stationary in some instances. Cities and large metropolitan areas are not immune from tornadoes either. While cities may seem big, they cover a relatively small surface area when it comes to the entire U.S., which decreases their odds of being hit. Also, most tornadoes occur in the Great Plains, which is sparsely populated compared to the highly populated eastern-third of the country, also lowering the chance of metropolitan areas being hit. However, there are many examples of tornadoes hitting cities such as St. Louis, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Chicago, and more.
FACT: Flash flooding is the most deadly weather-related hazard. Most people believe that tornadoes are the greatest danger when it comes to severe weather, when in fact, flash flooding kills nearly twice as many people as tornadoes do on average. These high fatality rates are primarily due to people driving their vehicles through flooded roadways. It only takes 12 inches of rushing water to carry away a car. Therefore, when you see roads barricaded due to flooding, don’t drive around the barricades. There’s a reason why they’re there. The next most common cause of fatalities in flash floods is people standing too close to or walking into the rushing water. It only takes 6 inches of rushing water to knock down and sweep away an adult. Find out more about flash flooding HERE.
MYTH: A green sky is a sign that a tornado is coming. FACT: While green skies can indicate that severe weather is near, it does not always mean that a tornado is imminent. A green sky can be a sign of hail or heavy rain. If you see a green sky (rather, a storm with a green, blue, or turquoise hue), seek shelter and then tune into a local TV or radio station to find out if severe weather is threatening your area.
FACT: The Polar Vortex became a buzz word and was added to everyone's vocabulary during early January 2014 when much of the U.S. experienced temperatures well below freezing and snow. I know they were the coldest temperatures I've experienced in my relatively short lifetime. However, even though the phrase "Polar Vortex" was thrown around constantly then, and manages to make it into the news during cold snaps since, what it actually is seems to be unknown to many people. It's not some crazy, swirling tornado or hurricane of snow and cold air. The Polar Vortex is a persistent area of low-pressure that hangs out over the Arctic and contains very, very cold air. It has always been there and is there year-round; however, it is more prominent in the middle latitudes in the winter when the jet stream moves closer to the equator. Not every cold-snap is directly associated with the Polar Vortex, but they can commonly be attributed to pieces of the Polar Vortex that break off and dip southward into the U.S., i.e. a "dip in the jet stream", as your local meteorologist may call it. These dips in the jet stream provide the shots of cold air and sometimes snow that we experience in the winter, and that is what happened in January 2014. If you would like to know more information on the Polar Vortex and how it impacts the weather, click HERE.
MYTH: Tornadoes and other severe weather events only happen during the spring in the U.S. FACT: While it is more likely to occur in the spring, severe weather can happen at any time of the year anywhere in the U.S. This can lead to higher injury and fatality rates from tornadoes and severe weather during the winter months due to people letting their guard down because they think it can’t happen in any season other than spring. Similarly, severe weather can also occur at any time throughout the day, including the overnight hours. While tornadoes and other types of severe weather happen less often overnight than they do during the day, they tend to cause more injuries and fatalities when occurring overnight because most people are sleeping and unaware of the potential danger they’re in. That’s why it is important to keep tabs on the weather every day and night and have a NOAA Weather Radio or Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) active on your phone to help alert you of warnings and watches at all times of the day.
FACT: Severe thunderstorm and tornado watches are issued by the Storm Prediction Center when atmospheric conditions are prime for possibly producing severe thunderstorms and/or tornadoes. Watches are often large, spanning many counties, and can include parts of several states where meteorologists believe that severe weather may occur over the next several hours. Severe thunderstorm, tornado, and flash flood warnings are issued by your local National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office. These are issued immediately ahead of storms that are producing or potentially producing large hail, high winds, tornadoes, or heavy rain. Warnings typically last no longer than an hour and often only include about a county or two. Always be sure to pay attention to these warnings, as they could save you from injury or death. More information on watches and warnings can be found HERE.
MYTH: Seeking shelter from a tornado under an overpass is a good idea. FACT: This is incredibly wrong. Do not ever seek shelter under an overpass if you feel you are about to be hit by a tornado. Why? Look at it this way: if you have a garden hose with the water running, it doesn't have much force, right? But if you put your thumb partially over the opening, it causes the water to come out at a greater force. That's how the winds in a tornado work when they are forced under an overpass. They can increase in speed, causing it to be more dangerous to be under the overpass than it would be to be out in the open. If you are driving and know that a tornado is moving toward you, and you have no other way of getting away from it, get out of your vehicle and lay in the lowest possible area you can find, preferably a ditch. You can access a web page created by The National Weather Service in Norman, OK HERE that gives examples as to why sheltering under an overpass in a tornado is a bad idea.
FACT: Tornado sirens are only meant to be heard outdoors. The sirens are sounded by county officials when a tornado warning has been issued for their county. They are NOT controlled by the National Weather Service, who issues the warnings. While the sirens are quite loud and can be heard indoors when conditions are right or if you live close to one, you should never solely rely on them to warn you of hazardous weather in the area. NOAA Weather Radios can be programmed to alert you of hazardous weather, and Wireless Emergency Alerts on your phone can do the same.
MYTH: Heat lightning occurs at night during the summer because it is hot outside. FACT: "Heat lightning" is just lightning strikes that are hundreds of miles away. The sound of the thunder produced by these strikes does not carry far enough to reach your ears, which is why you can see a flash, but hear no sound. All lightning bolts or flashes originate from storms, and all lightning bolts create thunder, whether you can personally hear it or not.
FACT: There are several different types of lightning. Cloud-to-ground lightning is the most well-known and what causes injuries, deaths, and damages associated with lightning strikes. There is also intra-cloud lightning, which occurs within a storm, and cloud-to-cloud lightning, which is a strike between storms. Depending on where they originate within the storm, these strikes can have a positive or negative charge, which affects the amount of energy they carry. There are also some really weird, crazy types of lightning that occur above storms called sprites, blue jets, and elves (trust me, I'm not making these up).
MYTH: "Don't like the weather in (insert your state/area here), just wait a day". Sorry to burst your bubble, but if you live in the U.S., this line applies to mostly anywhere. I've heard people say this across the country. However, most likely your area is not unique, as the weather can have wild changes over the course of a day in Chicago, IL, just as it can in Amarillo, TX. This is especially true in the fall and spring. The way that weather patterns work, typically an area will experience a warm-up right before experiencing a cool-down. Shortly after this cool-down, an area will then become warmer again and the pattern continues. The length and strength of these periods of cooler or warmer temperatures, and the precipitation that accompanies them, depends on the time of year in which they occur, as well as the strength of the pattern. It can happen over the course of a week, day, or even hours.
