Tornadoes: Grammatically exceptional weather

[vakkotaur]

Tornadoes can happen all months of the year and in pretty much any location. They tend to happen more often in some times (Spring and Summer) and some locations (the US midwest, for one). Oklahoma has already had tornado fatalities this year.

The weather folks make a big deal of Watches and Warnings. Not just for tornadoes, but for other severe weather. And I suspect I am not alone in occasionally getting them confused. Does watch mean "Watch out, it might be happening." or "Watch out, it is happening."? Is a warning "This could be dangerous." or "This is dangerous."? Even after hearing the explanations that are supposed to clarify, the two definitions come at about the same time and are still apt to get confused.

There is a simple way to distinguish these two things. One is grammatically incorrect, but I think that doesn't matter too much in this case.

WatCh - "C" - It could happen.

WaRning -"R" - It are happening!

ADDENDUM: Alternately, haystack suggests the more grammatically correct:

WarnIng - "I" - It is happening!

Comments

[foolscap001.livejournal.com]

Thanks. (And if companies can be called [fill in blank] R Us, then I don't see a darn thing wrong with your mnemonic.)

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

Shouldn't that be, "It are hapnin'"?

[viergacht.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I ALWAYS get those confused. And I grew up in Texas, you'd think I would have remembered which was which by now.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Or you look at the map. Life-threatening warnings are usually RED, watches are usually yellow or some shade thereof.

That language was chosen to replace the older terms "forecast" and "alert". The forecast was a prediction that a certain event was probable or possible, while the alert meant that there was such an event in progress. Those words confused people too.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

It's hard to see the picture on radio.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

True enough, but I rarely listen to broadcast radio any more. It's all talk shows and extremists. I generally look at the NOAA web site.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

That's great for places with connectivity. But making cross-country drives things get a bit limited.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Cell phone? A lot of them can do it now too.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Not what with I have, at least with the plan I have. Also, while underway it's much easier and likely safer to use the broadcast receiver.

[haystack.livejournal.com]

As the year starts to slope towards springtime tornado season, I start keeping a closer eye on the weather.

One of the big red flags at this time of year is unseasonably-warm weather, especially if there is a cold air mass approaching at high velocity. I get antsy when the temperatures get up into the 60s and 70s in February. I get even more antsy if there's a strong southerly flow coming up from the Gulf of Mexico and there's a cold front with a sharp temperature gradient approaching.

Wednesday morning's frontal passage was quite exhilarating here. There was no severe weather, but we had winds gusting up to 40 MPH and an amazing transition from overcast to mostly-clear skies. The frontal boundary was about as crisp, cloud-wise, as any I've ever seen -- the skies behind the boundary layer were perfectly clear, a gorgeous thing to watch.

I can't say I've ever been confused regarding weather watches and warnings, but you could use the "i" in "warning" for "It IS happening." :)

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

D'oh, I could. But the 'R' does seem a bit more memorable, if for the wrong reason(s).