As expected, so far anyway, a less active tornado season than last year, and fairly close to normal nationwide in terms of total numbers.  No doubt the death of La Nina helped lessen the extremes of the season in most areas thus far, but we have the rest of May to go before the center of tornado activity makes its seasonal shift North. In Georgia we are now past the peak of the tornado season! I say yeah.

A recent assessment of the "Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak of 2008" reinforced previous findings with serious implications for the Southeastern USA.  This is excerpted from the NEWSLETTER OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER ASSOCIATION: "The southeast U.S. is extremely vulnerable to significant tornadoes despite being outside of what most would consider "traditional tornado alley."  There is no well-defined tornado season in this part of the country (compared to others) with a threat beginning in the fall and continuing through the spring. Tornadoes in the cool seasons often move very rapidly, and due to higher air moisture content in the Southeast, are often embedded (hidden) in rain. Further, the diurnal cycles of tornadoes is much less pronounced in the Southeast compared to the Plains and Midwest with nighttime twisters relatively common.  All these factors contribute to a potentially deadly scenario, especially when one considers the nearly complete absence of below ground shelters and the poor construction quality of many homes in the Southeast and abundance of mobile homes.  Over 80% of the victims in the tornado outbreak did not have access to a below ground shelter or hardened safe room. (The open air daylight or walk out basements in Georgia are basements IN NAME ONLY as most are ground level) Another problem found was that instead of responding immediately to a tornado warning and the imminent danger they represent, people often sought additional sources of information before seeking shelter (I'll call a friend and see what it's like where they are, I'll check with a neighbor and see what they think, I'll look at the radar on TV and decide for myself, I'll check the internet first, I'll look out the window or open the garage and go outside and listen first) this behavior leads to death. Others simply depersonalized the risk to themselves (i.e. it won't happen to me, or it always misses us here). Obviously, all this only increases the potential danger of significant tornado outbreaks."

After being struck by a tornado people often tell reporters they "had no warning". This is almost always untrue. The first warning is the forecast for possible severe weather which is often made a day or days in advance. The second warning is in the form of an official "watch" bulletin often issued 2-8 hours in advance. The 3rd and final warning is the warning bulletin issued 3-25 minutes in advance. So the only way, in MOST cases, people had no warning is if, by that they mean, the forecaster did not call them on the phone or knock on their door to tell them personally. This is where personal responsibility comes into play. The forecast of a chance of severe weather should: put you on heightened alert to have a plan B for the day in question and to pay attention to future forecast updates. The watch tells you: conditions in the atmosphere are favorable and you should: watch the sky, cancel unnecessary away from home activities, and listen for updated forecasts and possible warning bulletins, and be prepared to move to a place of safety if a warning is issued for your area, or a threatening storm seems nearby.  A tornado warning means: imminent danger take cover now!!!