Topic: Storm Prediction Center

Top galleries, list articles, quizzes

Tornado checklist: What to do – and what myths to ignore

Here are six items severe-weather experts advise putting on your tornado-emergency checklist – along with four tornado-response myths to ignore.

All Content

Tornado warnings saved lives, but sirens aren't enough (+video)

Tornado sirens aren't designed to awaken residents and aren't fail-proof, as Woodward, Okla. learned. What tornado warnings were effective this past weekend.
Midwest tornadoes pose severe threat across hundreds of miles

Tornadoes raking communities across the Midwest and Plains left five people dead and at least 29 injured in Oklahoma as a vast severe weather front plunged eastward Sunday across the nation's midsection.
As Midwest storm bears down, forecasters use more urgent voice in tornado warnings

The National Weather Service is testing phrases like 'catastrophic' and 'unsurvivable' to describe looming storm systems in a bid to engage Americans’ survival instincts. Saturday's tornado-bearing storm was called 'high-end' and 'life-threatening.'
Texas tornadoes: How much warning time was possible? (+video)

Texas tornadoes that hit the Dallas area Tuesday resulted in no fatalities, in part due to timely warnings. But a new model could improve tornado warning times dramatically.
Spring into summer: Unseasonable heat helps pave way for violent weather

Spring is just beginning, but in many parts of the country it already feels like summer. As a storm moves into especially warm humid air in the center of the country, Texas is under the gun for violent storms.
Somber searches resume as tornado outbreak leaves heartland reeling

An 'enormous outbreak' of at least 91 tornadoes tore into the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys Friday, the second major tornado system to rake across the heartland in the span of three days.
Tornadoes sweep across Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio and Indiana

A dozen tornadoes have been spotted across the South and Midwest. Tornado warnings are up until 10 p.m. Friday night
Storm-ravaged communities brace for more violent weather

Damaged communities tried to take advantage of the brief break in the weather, mindful of one meteorologist's warning that by Friday, both regions would again be 'right in the bull's eye.'
Rare, night tornadoes hit Harrisburg, Branson, and other Midwest towns

Harrisburg, Ill, was hit by a rare, massive night-time tornado with 170 mph winds. At least 12 people were killed by 16 tornadoes in three states. Friday could see a similar storm system, say meteorologists.
Nine dead as tornadoes rip from Branson, Missouri, up to Illinois

A storm system produced at least 16 twisters from Kansas to Branson, Missouri, to Illinois overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday, part of an active 2012 tornado season. Kentucky remains under a tornado watch.
What if we could predict tornadoes a month out? Scientists make strides.

Scientists have only a fledging ability now, but a new approach to prediction could eventually allow forecasters to identify portions of states facing high risk for tornadoes in an upcoming month.
Tornadoes hit Birmingham and broader South. Is that normal for January?

The severe weather damaged homes in communities in central Arkansas, as well as in communities around Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Ala. Both Alabama cities were also hit by tornadoes last April.
Massachusetts tornado: What are deadly tornadoes doing way up in New England?

At least two tornadoes tore through communities in western and central Massachusetts Wednesday, killing four and injuring 200. They make 2011 the deadliest year for US tornadoes since 1950.
East coast tornado, storms kill four in Mass., towns digging out

East coast tornado: Residents of 18 communities in central and western Massachusetts woke to widespread damage Thursday, a day after at least two late-afternoon tornadoes shocked emergency officials with their suddenness and violence.
Why has 2011's tornado season been so terrible?

Nearly 1,200 tornadoes have swarmed the United States this year and the death toll from these tornadoes has likely topped 500, a number not seen since 1953.
Oklahoma, Alabama, Joplin: Why we're seeing so many tornadoes and superstorms

The superfunnels that hit Tuscaloosa, Ala., in late April and Joplin, Mo., on Sunday, are generated by storm systems whose journeys across the country are slowed by a roadblocked jet stream.
Missouri tornado killed at least 89 according to officials

Missouri tornado: Authorities warned that the death toll could climb as search and rescuers continued their work.
What Obama will find in tornado-torn Alabama

President Obama travels to Alabama Friday to see first-hand the impact of tornadoes whose casualty toll across six states rises to 319.
Tornado outbreak is possibly the deadliest in 37 years

The nation's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., reports that tornadoes this year have already claimed more lives than all of last year, possibly making this the deadliest tornado outbreak since the 1974.
'Dixie Alley' as dangerous as the better-known Tornado Alley, say scientists

As storms ravage the South, a recent study suggests that Dixie Alley may just be an extension of its better-known neighbor Tornado Alley, putting much of the eastern US at an 'elevated' risk for tornadoes.
St. Louis tornado strongest so far for this season

St. Louis tornado on Friday flattened houses and shredded the roof of a crowded airport terminal. It is rated the second-highest level on the Enhanced-Fujita tornado damage scale, EF-4, a first for this year's tornado season. No one reported to be killed.
Tornado checklist: What to do – and what myths to ignore

Here are six items severe-weather experts advise putting on your tornado-emergency checklist – along with four tornado-response myths to ignore.
How an Alaskan front became the Midwest megastorm

Meteorologists continue to marvel at the megastorm that blew through the Midwest Tuesday. Several peculiar weather events combined to make the storm historic.
Job hunting? How about becoming a tornado chaser?

Job hunting is always an adventure. But hunting tornadoes is flat-out crazy.
Oklahoma tornado chasers nail forecasts, say more tornadoes possible

Meteorologists had been following the storm that formed the Oklahoma tornadoes since last week. They say the weather system could create more tornadoes in the region this week.