3 ms·
That much warning time is an eternity and people who may be in the target zone may end up getting nothing. When the Joplin tornado hit, we lived "in the path"
by nvahalik 5y ago
That much warning time is an eternity and people who may be in the target zone may end up getting nothing.
When the Joplin tornado hit, we lived "in the path" of where it was expected to go (tracking WSW)/ We hunkered down... but the storm ended up going 15 miles south of us. This was just in a short period of time (maybe 20 minutes).
A lot can change in hours. Storms can dissipate or strengthen with frightening speed. Directions can change.
- cbfrench 5y agoRight, which is why KPAH didn’t issue an actual warning until 9:05. Giving people a strongly-worded heads-up a couple of hours in advance via tweet gets the word out to emergency managers and other interested parties who can then disseminate that information as the situation develops. Once it becomes clear the tornadic cell hasn’t weakened or deviated, then you can trigger the actual alert systems. But I don’t think anyone can argue that no one had any idea what was coming until minutes in advance.