JOPLIN MISSOURI TORNADO WARNING SERIES

In a report the National Weather Service compiled after the Joplin tornado, it determined meteorologists accurately predicted the tornado, but the agency’s warnings weren’t actionable, or easy for the public to use. Lessons learned from the tornado which destroyed much of Joplin, Missouri, in 2011 continue to impact the way we receive weather warnings today. All these measurements affect how likely the cloud is to make tornadoes, and what kind of tornados it could produce.OVERLAND PARK, Kan. GOES-R satellites will be better at seeing what’s actually going on inside the cloud: how much lightning it produces, cloud top properties and the motion of the clouds. They will give weather forecasters more time to identify the storms that might produce tornadoes, and they will be much better at predicting their severity.

JOPLIN MISSOURI TORNADO WARNING SERIES

GOES-R stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, R Series (the first launch is planned for in 2016).

It seems all very willy-nilly and makes you wonder “why them and not us?” Or, just “why us?”Īlthough current weather satellites do a good job of identifying storms likely to produce tornadoes, the next group of weather satellites, the GOES-R series, will do a much better job. They have been clocked at over 300 miles per hour! Sometimes the spinning column of air lifts off the ground, then touches down again some distance along its path. The winds inside the spinning column of some tornadoes are the fastest of any on Earth. and a big problem to anything in its path. When it touches the ground, it’s a tornado. Although this spinning column of air starts out horizontal, it can easily go vertical and drop down out of the cloud. All these conditions can result in rolling, spinning air currents inside the cloud. Inside the huge thundercloud, warm and humid air is rising, while cool air is falling, along with rain or hail. The first result is a large thunderstorm. But no one ever knows when, where, how intense, and how many tornadoes a thunderstorm will create.Ĭonditions are ripe for tornadoes when the air becomes very unstable, with winds at different altitudes blowing in different directions or at different speeds-a condition called wind shear. So, in that way, they are somewhat predictable. Where do these violent and unpredictable storms come from? Why do they destroy some buildings, but leave others nearby untouched? And is there any way weather forecasters could give people right in their path a little more warning?Ĭertain conditions make tornadoes more likely. If you were lucky, you and your family had a few seconds to find some shelter where you would not be picked up by the violent winds or seriously injured by large chunks of flying debris. One minute it’s just raining or hailing, and the next minute the roof or even the whole house is gone. However, predicting tornadoes precisely is a different story. This information is thanks partly to hard-working satellites that keep a constant eye on the weather. The weather forecast will give you a few hours’ warning and some idea of what is coming. With most weather events, even hurricanes, you know what to expect.

Imagery from GOES-13 enabled weather forecasters to foresee the trouble that was about to hit Alabama. In 2011, Alabama was struck particularly hard, with tornadoes rated EF-5 (the most intense) on the Enhanced Fujita scale hitting Hacklesburg and Birmingham. However, tornadoes can occur in any state.

A ten-state area of the Mid-west has been named 'Tornado Alley' in recognition of its attractiveness to tornadoes. record for the most tornadoes in any month. What makes a cloud create one of these powerful assaults to Earth's surface? How is it that a violent whirlwind can form in a cloud and then reach to the ground and make splinters and chaos of everything in its path? A bad year for Tornado Alley. When it touches, it goes even darker as its ferocious whirling winds pick up dust, debris, and-if the windspeeds are fast enough-cows, cars, roofs, mobile homes, trees, and anything else not well-anchored in the ground.Ī strong tornado can pick up massive objects like trucks and drop them many miles away.

For a while it hangs suspended in the sky. Suddenly, a twisting column of gray drops from the bottom of the cloud. Heavy, dark clouds hang low, dumping buckets of rain and hail. On May 22, 2011, an EF-5 tornado destroyed much of Joplin, Missouri, killing more than 140.

Joplin missouri tornado warning