A tornado warning (SAME code: TOR) is an alert issued by weather services to warn that severe thunderstorms with tornadoes may be imminent. It can be issued after a tornado or funnel cloud has been spotted by eye, or more commonly if there are radar indications of tornado formation. When this happens, the tornado sirens may sound in that area, letting people know that a tornado was seen or is forming nearby. Issuance of a tornado warning indicates that residents should take immediate safety precautions. It is a higher level of alert than a tornado watch, but it can be surpassed by an even higher alert known as a tornado emergency.
Read more about Tornado Warning: Early History, Tornado Alert, Criteria, Ground Truthing, Tornado Emergency, Examples
Famous quotes containing the words tornado and/or warning:
“The sumptuous age of stars and images is reduced to a few artificial tornado effects, pathetic fake buildings, and childish tricks which the crowd pretends to be taken in by to avoid feeling too disappointed. Ghost towns, ghost people. The whole place has the same air of obsolescence about it as Sunset or Hollywood Boulevard.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“By day thy warning ringing bell to sound its notes,
By night thy silent signal lamps to swing.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)