Editorial

Keep and eye on the sky for stormy weather

Monday, April 26, 2010

The calender should be enough, but it always seems to take a storm like the tornadoes that roared through the South on Saturday to remind us that storm season has arrived.

A dozen people were killed in Mississippi and Alabama as tornadoes touched down on their way to Georgia and South Carolina.

The stories of destruction, death -- and miraculous survival should help remind us how important it is to keep an eye and the sky and pay attention to weather reports.

We have good reason.

Nebraska averages more than 40 tornadoes a year, with a record 110 in 2004. We've had tornadoes in every month except February, but the peak month is June, with 78 percent of our twisters occurring in May through July.

One hundred and fifteen people have been killed in Nebraska since 1916, but thanks to better warning systems, there were no fatalities here from 1987 through June 2003, when two occurred.

While all 93 Nebraska counties have had at least one tornado since 1950, Hall County has four times as many as afterage including seven during the infamous outbreak of seven on June 3, 1980.

More than 50 percent of our tornadoes occur between 4 and 8 p.m., and May 2006 was the first May in history to not have any reported tornadoes.

We hope you remember the difference between a "watch," meaning a tornado is "possible" for your area, and a "warning," which means a tornado has actually been spotted or is strongly indicated by radar and it is time to seek shelter.

Since warmer weather means more time outdoors, some of the things to watch for include:

* A sickly greenish or greenish black color to the sky.

* If a watch or warning is posted, the fall of hail is a good sign there's a twister in the area.

* A strange quiet within or shortly after a thunderstorm.

* Of course, there's the sound of a railroad train, waterfall or jets that's associated with a tornado itself.

* Debris dropping from the sky.

* An obvious "funnel-shaped" cloud that is rotating, or debris such as branches or leaves being pulled upward, even if no funnel cloud is visible.

If you see a tornado and it is not moving to the right or to the left relative to trees or power poles in the distance, it may be moving toward you! Although tornadoes usually move from southwest to northeast, they also move toward the east, southeast, north and even northwest.

If a tornado approaches while you're at home, put as many walls as you can between yourself and the tornado, like a small, windowless, interior room like a closet or bathroom, preferably in the basement.

As we move into the stormy part of the year, let's all stay alert and be ready to take action when bad weather approaches.

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