Florida’s Severe Weather Awareness Week takes place from January 31 – February 4, 2011. Severe Weather Awareness Week is an opportunity for Floridians to learn about the various weather hazards that frequently impact the state and how families and businesses can prepare for these natural events.
Each day focuses on a specific weather event. Wednesday’s focus is on thunderstorms and tornadoes.
Thunderstorms occur frequently across Florida. In fact, Florida has the greatest number of thunderstorms in the United States. Florida averages over 70 thunderstorm days per year with much of the Gulf coast experiencing over 80 and even 100 days a year. Hazards within thunderstorms include lightning, hail, gusty winds, heavy rain that may cause flooding, and tornadoes.
DID YOU KNOW??? There are about 100,000 thunderstorms each year in the United States and about one out of every ten storms causes damage.
One of the reasons Florida has so many thunderstorms is that many of the ingredients needed to create thunderstorms can be found here almost every day. Three things are needed in the atmosphere for thunderstorms to develop and grow: the atmosphere needs to be moist, unstable, and have a source of lift. Since Florida is surrounded by water, not to mention the many inland lakes, rivers and swamps, there are plenty of sources of water vapor to feed thunderstorms.
When the weather conditions are right for thunderstorm updrafts to form, meteorologists call the atmosphere “unstable”. Florida receives plenty of sunlight which warms the air near the ground and causes unstable air. All thunderstorms have an updraft, where air rises rapidly to seven to 10 miles above the ground. This causes the moisture to turn into liquid water or ice and that forms clouds and raindrops and forms the tall, towering clouds that we can easily distinguish as “thunderstorm clouds.” However, these clouds cannot grow on their own, in order for an unstable atmosphere to produce the updrafts needed for thunderstorms, a little boost is needed to get the updraft started. Meteorologists call these boosts “lift”.
Sources of lift can be an approaching frontal system or a sea breeze boundary forming during a typical summer afternoon, and Florida has plenty of both during the year.
Thunderstorms come in different forms. Sometimes a storm has only one thunderstorm cloud and sometimes thunderstorms have a family of clouds, or cells, associated with them. Also, thunderstorms may go on for a very long time or be as brief as a few minutes.
Your local National Weather Service office has meteorologists and technicians working every hour of the day and every day of the year to issue warnings when thunderstorms become severe and these warnings give people time to move to a place of safety.
DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WATCH AND A WARNING? A Severe Thunderstorm Warning means thunderstorms capable of causing significant damage, containing winds of 58 mph or greater and quarter-size hail or larger has been indicated by radar. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means that conditions are favorable for severe storms to develop. There is no immediate danger when a watch is issued, but you should keep a close eye on the weather.
When a severe thunderstorm threatens your location, go to a small interior room on the lowest floor of your building and stay away from windows. If time permits, move vehicles into garages or carports to prevent hail or wind damage. In vehicles, avoid driving into severe storms. Pull over and wait for the storm to pass.
One of the most dangerous features a severe thunderstorm can produce is a tornado. Tornadoes are not usually associated with the Sunshine State, but in the past 20 years, Florida had more reported tornadoes and more tornado-related deaths than Oklahoma, Nebraska or Iowa. Officially, Florida ranks third nationally in tornado reports (trailing only Texas and Kansas) and fourth in tornado deaths since 1990.
A tornado is a violent column of rotating air that comes down from a thunderstorm to reach the ground. Florida tornadoes come in all shapes and sizes, and occur year-round. Tornadoes usually last only a few minutes, but they can cause significant damage as they travel along the ground. Some tornadoes can travel for many dozens of miles while other tornadoes may appear to skip above the ground for a few moments. If a funnel cloud is not touching the ground, it is NOT a tornado.
Tornadoes can develop within very strong thunderstorms along sea breeze boundaries or squall lines ahead of frontal systems, but can also occur near the edge of tropical cyclones in rainbands which can extend 100 or more miles from the center of the tropical system. Tornadoes can also form over the water, which are called waterspouts. Most of these are weak, but waterspouts that reach the shore can cause the same damage as a tornado. Boaters and those on the beach need to quickly move away from them as they can easily flip over a vessel. If these move onshore, they are classified as tornadoes.
DID YOU KNOW??? The Florida Keys are widely referred to as the “waterspout capital of the world.” It is estimated that more than 400 waterspouts occur each year along the Florida Keys alone, with hundreds also reported along other areas of the Florida coast.
Frontal system tornadoes usually occur in the winter and spring months, developing along squall lines preceding cold fronts. These storms often include high amounts of wind shear, and thus tend to be the most damaging. Sea breeze boundary tornadoes are the most common, occurring mostly during the late spring and summer. Hurricane season also brings a distinct risk of tornadoes to the Sunshine State, as nearly every tropical cyclone can produce tornadoes as it impacts our state. Also, history shows that tornadoes are just as likely to form after midnight as they do during the afternoon and early evening. This is why it is important to be prepared as we enter into the more active severe weather season.
DID YOU KNOW??? 100 of the 152 tornado-related deaths in Florida since 1950 occurred between 9:00 pm and 7:00 am, with 113 of the 152 total deaths occurring in February, March and April.
The relatively small and short-lived nature of most tornadoes makes it difficult to give advance warning. The National Weather Service uses tools and volunteers to watch for severe weather. Skywarn Severe Weather Spotters are volunteers who report tornadoes to the National Weather Service and the local National Weather Service office will issue a tornado warning when a tornado is either seen by a severe weather spotter or indicated by Doppler radar. In many cases, only a few minutes of warning are given between the time a warning is issued and the eventual tornado touchdown. Nevertheless, even a few minutes of warning can make the difference between life and death. This is why having a NOAA weather radio is a critical component to the warning system as the radio will alert you whenever the National Weather Service issues a warning. Having a NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio alert you of an oncoming tornado, especially in the middle of the night, has saved lives.
DID YOU KNOW??? Meteorologists first look at the tornado damage and then estimate the wind speed that would have been needed to cause the damage. National Weather Service meteorologists use the Enhanced Fujita Scale, or EF Scale, to rate the strength of tornadoes based on the damages a storm produces.
If a tornado struck tomorrow would you be prepared? Would you know what actions to take? In Florida, tornadoes strike all too often. Whether in homes, schools or businesses, everyone should have a plan in place for severe weather.
The National Weather Service and the Florida Division of Emergency Management will conduct a statewide tornado drill on Wednesday, February 2nd, at 10:10am EST/9:10am CST. Floridians are asked to consider themselves under a tornado watch during the morning. A Tornado watch means that you should closely monitor the weather and be prepared to go to a safe place in the event of a tornado warning. At 10:10am EST/9:10am CST, the National Weather Service will issue a Drill Tornado Warning. This warning will be broadcast on NOAA weather as a “Routine Weekly Test” message. The drill will conclude around 10:30 am EST.
A Tornado Warning means a tornado has been indicated by radar or spotted on the ground. A Tornado Watch means that conditions are favorable for tornadoes to develop.
If a Tornado Warning is issued for your area, you and your family should seek shelter immediately! Seek shelter on the lowest floor in an interior hallway, closet or small room of your home or office. The best safety advice is to get as many walls between you and the outside as possible. Stay away from windows and doors and use pillows to cover your head. Leave mobile homes and find a stronger building or house. If caught outdoors or on the road your options are not ideal, but you can still take action to survive. When outside, try to seek shelter in a nearby structure. If this is not possible, try to get as low as possible, such as a creek bed or ditch, and cover your head. Do not seek shelter under bridges and do not try to outrun a tornado.
More information about thunderstorm and tornado hazards and what you can do to protect yourself and others can be found at www.nssl.noaa.gov/edu/safety/tornadoguide.html and http://www.floridadisaster.org/.
Thursday’s topics will be on hurricanes and flooding.
For more information on the Florida Division of Emergency Management and to GET A PLAN!, please visit: www.FloridaDisaster.org. Follow us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/flsert or join our blog at: http://flsertinfo.blogspot.com/.
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