[batman911]

Hawaii has warning sirens located on tall poles all over the islands. The system is tested on the first of every month. I believe most are solar powered.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

A problem that I see that has developed here is similar to what happened up north with blizzard warnings.

My weather radio goes off so often and the NW and local weather reporters give tornado warnings so often that people are just starting to ignore them.

My weather radio woke me up one morning at 3:00 am to advise me of a frost warning. It was going off so often that I unplugged it.

There were many tornado warning on the television on Saturday and people were just going about their business ignoring the warnings.

It's probably that it's very difficult to distinguish when there is a real possibility of a tornado or just a slight chance so they give these warnings every time there is any kind of a thunderstorm.

It's becoming like the little boy that cried wolf. Unfortunately, some day the wolf is going to arrive.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by Cantwaittoarrive

Actually most experts would say if you don't have a basement or approved tornado shelter to go to, go to your guest bath, get in the tub and pull a mattress over you if you can. The reason for the warning is they save lives.

But as I discussed in my previous post, if everyone was to jump into their bathtub and hide under a mattress every time our weather radio gave us a warning, we'd spend most of our lives remaking our beds.

The fact is that we have had one tornado hit TV in the last 50 years. I know that it did severe damage in a small area and scare the living daylights out of the people that experienced it. But the reality is that they very seldom hit. I'd love to know the ration of how many tornadoes actually touch down to the number of warning given.

[Skybo]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

But as I discussed in my previous post, if everyone was to jump into their bathtub and hide under a mattress every time our weather radio gave us a warning, we'd spend most of our lives remaking our beds.

The fact is that we have had one tornado hit TV in the last 50 years. I know that it did severe damage in a small area and scare the living daylights out of the people that experienced it. But the reality is that they very seldom hit. I'd love to know the ration of how many tornadoes actually touch down to the number of warning given.

I suspect you mean that your weather radio gave you an "alert", rather than a "warning". I also wonder how broad of an area you have it set for if you received so many alerts. I have mine set for Sumter County only and I only received a couple of alerts on Saturday. They were for severe thunderstorms with the possibility of hail. I don’t believe there was any mention of tornados. There is a difference between a watch and a warning. A watch indicates that conditions are right for the development of tornados. A warning indicates that one or more tornados have already touched down. Before I moved to TV we had a tornado warning in the area I was living. After hearing the warning, I collected my battery operated radio and tuned into local channels. As it was moving along, the local news was giving fairly accurate locations (just a few blocks from my home). When they started repeating “take cover now, take cover now, take cover now”...I was in the bathtub. The smallest mattress in the house was a queen size, so I didn’t take a mattress, but I did grab as many pillows as I could carry. Fortunately the tornado did not hit my house, but it did do a lot of damage nearby. So to answer your question, if the weather radio gave a tornado warning for the county you live in, no I wouldn’t necessarily run for cover at that point. But I would be ready to run for cover and I would tune into the local news and pay close attention to their reports. In my opinion, the weather radio is most useful at night when you are sleeping and wouldn’t otherwise get a warning or be able to observe the way the sky looked.

[Roaddog53]

I would prefer the weather radio at home, smart phone app, and IPad app that sounds versus a siren. One: you can hear it better, and, Two: it is portable and you can than view it with the radar for more information. Probably a few of you have an IPad or smart phone that can be used. The phone is nice since it warns you IF you are not home also. Such as the golf course, when the weather is not stormy, but looks ominous, shopping, squares, indoors elsewhere. Ours all went of yesterday. We looked at the radars on the IPad and found the storms were south of TV heading east. north we had basements, but those that don't they tell you go to an interior room in the house with no windows. Dragging a queen mattress is a bit much too.
I was a weather spotter north (Skywarn) for the area so I also was one when it got bad, was outdoors looking and reporting, versus in a room until it was no longer safe. There must be weather spotting classes around here? If not, the local stations should start them. It is a good training session and describes what to look for, what to do, when to do it, and much more. You can than volunteer to be a spotter. They contact you (phone/text) and ask if you are available to spot the area. They than used the spotters for more information and videos if possible.

[Roaddog53]

I just looked up Skywarn and there are classes that can be attended in central Florida. They also say that each county will have a class at least once per year. I emailed Scott to ask where and when there will be one in Sumter County.
Hopefully this posts works.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/media/mlb/pd...arnclasses.pdf

[billethkid]

we have the weather radio and of course the comcast emergency alert system.
Plus an iphone...which fills in all the blanks of everything you want to know about the weather around you.

What is NOT NEEDED is the local FL channels barging in every 10 minutes and staying on for 15 minutes providing a technical presentation of the graphics with theatrics and emotion. Almost totally useless information. As if we need to know the street by street arrival times of the wind or rain. They are geared to a 5th grade level audience with information that would actually be an insult the intelligence of most 5th graders.

btk

[Cantwaittoarrive]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

But as I discussed in my previous post, if everyone was to jump into their bathtub and hide under a mattress every time our weather radio gave us a warning, we'd spend most of our lives remaking our beds.

The fact is that we have had one tornado hit TV in the last 50 years. I know that it did severe damage in a small area and scare the living daylights out of the people that experienced it. But the reality is that they very seldom hit. I'd love to know the ration of how many tornadoes actually touch down to the number of warning given.

Why is your radio giving so many tornado warnings? I would check your settings. An alert is not the same as a tornado warning.