Tornado watches
0
Storm Watch
For people who look up when the sky goes green. Warnings, the outlook, what the air over you could do, and what has actually happened.
Thunderstorms about, but nothing forecast to reach severe limits today.
In force right now
Tornado warnings
0
Severe t-storm warnings
0
Severe t-storm watches
0
Flash flood warnings
2
- Flash Flood Warning · Polk, TN · until 16:00 UTC
- Flash Flood Warning · Fannin, GA · until 16:00 UTC
A watch means conditions are right for severe storms to develop — issued hours ahead over a large area. A warning means one is happening or imminent, for a specific place, now. Nationwide, from the National Weather Service; refreshed every two minutes.
The severe weather outlook
Today
General thunderstorms General or non-severe thunderstorms.
Tomorrow
Marginal risk · 1 of 5 An area of severe storms of either limited organization and longevity, or very low coverage and marginal intensity.
Day 3
No thunder
Tornado report
Wind report
Hail report
Shaded areas: today’s outlook, in SPC’s own colours
Outlooks from the Storm Prediction Center, which issues them several times a day. The definitions quoted are SPC’s own. Today’s forecaster: Mosier/Moore.
What the air over Columbus, OH could support
Instability (CAPE)
50
J/kg · minimal
Deep-layer shear
43
knots · strong
Cap (CIN)
2
J/kg · weak or none
Dewpoint
41°
F · dry
Stable air. There is almost no instability to feed a storm. Showers are possible; thunderstorms of any strength are not, however strong the winds aloft.
The most unstable hour in the next 48, which is Fri 4pm local time; shear, cap and dewpoint are read at that same hour rather than at their own separate peaks, which would describe an atmosphere that never existed at any one moment. From model fields via Open-Meteo. Deep-layer shear is approximated as the difference between the surface and 500 hPa winds, a standard stand-in for the 0–6 km value. This describes what the environment could support, not whether storms will form — they still need something to set them off. The outlook above is the forecast.
Storm reports
Tornadoes today
0
yesterday 0
Hail today
0
yesterday 0
Damaging wind today
0
yesterday 0
No severe reports today or yesterday. The quiet season, or a quiet spell — either way, nothing hit severe limits anywhere.
Preliminary reports gathered by the Storm Prediction Center from spotters, emergency managers and the public. SPC’s report day runs from 12:00 to 11:59 UTC. Reports are unverified until surveyed, and one tornado often generates several.
From our watchers
Saw something? Send us the photo — a tornado, a wall cloud, a shelf cloud, hail, flooding, or just a storm with good structure. Every report is checked by a person, then goes up here and on the map above, credited to you.
Watchers’ own photos and accounts, checked by us but not official reports. Report severe weather to the National Weather Service first.
Mesoscale discussions
None in effect.
A mesoscale discussion is SPC thinking out loud about a specific area over the next few hours — often the first sign a watch is coming. Storm watchers read them for the reasoning, not just the conclusion.
The storm watcher’s field guide
“It’s only a slight risk.”
“Slight” is level two of five, and SPC defines it as organized severe storms. A great many tornado days in the United States are Slight risk days. The words describe how widespread severe weather will be, not how bad it will be where it happens. A single storm in a Marginal risk area can still produce a tornado.
What counts as severe
The National Weather Service calls a thunderstorm severe when it produces a tornado, winds of 58 mph (50 knots) or more, or hail one inch across or larger. Lightning and flooding do not count toward the definition — yet averaged over the last thirty years, flooding has killed more Americans a year (89) than tornadoes (72) or lightning (34), and heat more than all three together (211). Individual years vary a great deal: 2011’s tornado season killed 553. Figures from the National Weather Service’s fatality statistics.
Hail, by size
| Inches | Looks like | Inches | Looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.75 | Penny | 1.75 | Golf ball |
| 0.88 | Nickel | 2.00 | Hen egg |
| 1.00 | Quarter — the severe threshold | 2.50 | Tennis ball |
| 1.25 | Half dollar | 2.75 | Baseball |
| 1.50 | Ping pong ball | 4.00 | Softball |
From the Storm Prediction Center’s hail size table. Measure the largest stone, not the typical one, and do not describe it as a marble — everyone’s marbles are a different size.
The Enhanced Fujita scale
| Rating | Estimated 3-second gust | Rating | Estimated 3-second gust |
|---|---|---|---|
| EF0 | 65–85 mph | EF3 | 136–165 mph |
| EF1 | 86–110 mph | EF4 | 166–200 mph |
| EF2 | 111–135 mph | EF5 | Over 200 mph |
Operational scale, from SPC. The rating is inferred afterwards from damage to 28 kinds of structure and vegetation, not measured — so a violent tornado that crosses only open fields can rate EF0 or go unrated. The scale measures what a tornado broke, not how strong it was.
Reading the cloud base
Wall cloud — a persistent, isolated lowering beneath the rain-free base, usually toward the rear of the storm. The one to watch is the one that rotates, steadily, for minutes; that is where tornadoes come from. Shelf cloud — a long, wedge-shaped shelf along the leading edge of the storm, riding the cold outflow. Dramatic, often mistaken for a wall cloud, but it does not rotate and it brings wind, not tornadoes. Scud — ragged fragments hanging below the base. They can rise and move fast, but they do not rotate as a whole; most “funnel cloud” photographs on social media are scud.
Reporting what you see
Your local National Weather Service office wants reports of tornadoes, funnel clouds, rotating wall clouds, hail of any size, damaging wind and flooding. Say what you saw, where (as precisely as you can, and where it was rather than where you were), when, and how you know. SKYWARN spotter training is free and run by every NWS office each spring. For hail and precipitation type, the free mPING app from NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory feeds reports straight into research data. Once you are somewhere safe and have told the people who can act on it, send the photo to us as well.
“I’ll see it coming.”
Many tornadoes are wrapped in rain and invisible until they are close, and a large share happen after dark. Driving into the heavy rain core of a supercell to get a better view — core punching — puts you where the hail is largest and where a rain-wrapped tornado would be. Watch from a position with a clear view and an escape route, usually to the south or east of a storm moving north-east, and never park under an overpass. Lightning reaches miles beyond the rain, and the drive is part of the risk: the CDC finds that over half of all flood drownings happen in vehicles.
More: The storm watcher’s kit · Tornado survival guide · Live radar · Hurricane watch vs warning · Space weather
The storm watcher’s kit
None of this is required. A phone with radar, a clear view and the sense to stay back is the real kit. These make the watching better, and two of them — the calipers and the rain gauge — make your reports worth more to the people who use them.
Know it is coming
- NOAA Weather Radio with SAMESounds for warnings in the counties you program and stays quiet for the rest — at 3 a.m., and with the mobile network down. Get one with battery backup. Shop →
- Hand-crank or solar weather radioThe same broadcasts when the power has been out for days and the batteries are gone. Shop →
- Power bankRadar, live warnings and a camera will drain a phone in an afternoon. A 20,000 mAh bank is a couple of full charges. Shop →
Measure it
- Digital calipersMeasure the largest hailstone before it melts. “1.75 inches” is a report the Weather Service can use; “about golf ball” is a guess. Shop →
- 4-inch rain gaugeThe standard gauge required by CoCoRaHS, the volunteer network whose rain and hail reports go to the National Weather Service. Join it and your backyard becomes data. Shop →
- Handheld anemometerA number for a gust instead of an impression. Readings at head height run lower than the standard 10-metre measurement, so say how you took it. Shop →
- Home weather stationWind, rain and pressure logged around the clock. The pressure trace shows the jump when a gust front or a cold front goes through. Shop →
Photograph it
- Sturdy tripodLightning and low-light storm structure need exposures of seconds. A tripod is the difference between a bolt and a smear. Shop →
- Lightning triggerFires the shutter on the flash itself, faster than any finger — the simplest way to catch daytime strikes. Shop →
- Camera rain coverThe best structure is in front of the rain, but the rain moves faster than you pack up. Shop →
Get home again
- Car first-aid and emergency kitRoads after a storm are full of debris, glass and downed lines, and help is slower than usual. Shop →
- Tire repair kit and inflatorStorm debris is hard on tires, and the nearest garage may have no power. Shop →
As an Amazon Associate, WeatherZombie earns from qualifying purchases. Links open an Amazon search, so you can pick the model and price that suit you. For the kit that keeps a household going through the storm itself, see the Survival Kit. CoCoRaHS sign-up is free at cocorahs.org.
Sources: NOAA Storm Prediction Center, National Weather Service, Open-Meteo. Informational only — for warnings that carry legal weight, use the National Weather Service. When a warning is issued for you, stop watching and take shelter.