Tornado Warnings Already

Each new year begins a new tornado season in our state. This span of time lasts til late April and can be unpredictable and scary. Usually we'll have a few warnings in January but this year we skipped by that month without having a warning in our area. Two types of alerts exist: watches and warnings. A tornado watch means the weather conditions are right for a tornado to form. A "watch" is less severe but still requires us to pay attention to what's happening and to be prepared to get into our safe location if the watch turns into a warning. A "warning" is more severe and immediate. A warning means to get into our safe place and hunker down because an actual rotation was spotted in our near area. Usually they'll project warnings for an entire county.  

On Thursday afternoon, all after school activities were canceled due to the impending threat of bad weather in the late afternoon. Just as soon as I parked my vehicle in the garage, my phone alert went off signaling that there was a warning in our county and to take shelter immediately. The kids and I raced inside & quickly headed for the hall bathroom. I keep helmets in the cabinet for the kids to wear when we're in a warning. I checked the polygon shaped outline on the weather app's radar that showed the area of most severity. We stayed in there for the duration of the warning which was 30 minutes. Aaron carefully made his way home after the all clear. After the warning, I quickly got dinner onto the kids' plates. Aaron pulled into the driveway and our alarms went off again so we headed back to the bathroom and the kids ate their dinner with helmets on their heads. The second warning didn't last as long, and we preceded to have an evening without any more warning.  This was a mild warning afternoon for us, and previously we've had really scary warnings, so we're thankful for the good outcome of this set. 

Until Next Time,

Much Love, Reba