LABELLE, FL. -- If you have been watching television weather reports the last few days you will have seen dozens of "tornado warnings" issued by the National Weather Service, and local weathermen looking at radar pictures predicting possible tornado "signatures on their radar screens.
But, just how accurate are these increasing numbers of tornado warning during the latest Hurricane Milton storm event?
One five-year study said 70% of tornado warnings were false alarms.
The National Weather Service says, "..with the current state of the science, more than half of NWS Tornado Warnings are false alarms. Furthermore, even when a tornado does occur within a warning area, it is less likely to hit your specific location."
In the unlikely event you are personally struck by a tornado what is the result? The NWS again says, "Tornado winds could be just enough to cause downed trees & stripping off siding and shingles (at winds greater than 60 mph) [more common], or enough to cause catastrophic, structural damage (at winds greater than 120 mph) [rare].
"However, it typically isn't known how strong the winds are while the storm is ongoing. Therefore, the best action is to treat all tornado threats the same - as a potential catastrophic threat."
It might be suggested that television weather broadcasts are quick to announce these warnings to keep viewers tuned in for the maximum time possible as well as for the public service aspect to announce quickly the National Weather Service alerts, the give the weather folks plenty of opportunity to speculate on what they see on their weather radar.
For more information see https://www.weather.gov/lwx/IdentifyThreatsTOR
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