Severe Weather Awareness Week: Watch vs Warnings

Kentucky’s Severe Weather Awareness Week kicks March 1st and lasts through March 7th. As apart of Severe Weather Awareness Week, the National Weather Service will be conducting a statewide tornado drill at 10:07 a.m. on Wednesday, March 2nd.

According to a press release by NOAA/National Weather Service, Louisville, Ky., the NWS offices that serve Kentucky and KYEM will provide severe weather safety information via social media and the web.

The ABC 36 Storm Team will be providing additional information on severe weather preparedness throughout the week. On Tuesday, the focus is on the difference between severe weather watches and warnings.

Before severe weather strikes the National Weather Service will issue either Tornado, Severe Thunderstorm, or Flood watches depending on the weather threat. A severe weather “Watch” means that atmospheric conditions are favorable for severe weather to develop. An example would be if a Tornado Watch was issued for central Kentucky. This would mean that conditions are favorable for the development of tornadoes.

What to do when issued a severe weather WATCH
– Have a plan in case severe weather strikes
– Stay “Weather Aware” & have a way to receive alerts

If you are issued a warning, that means the severe weather threat is occurring or is imminent. This is where you put your severe weather plan into action to keep yourself safe.

What to do when issued a severe weather WARNING
– Put your plan into ACTION!
Tornado Warning: Get to an interior room on the lowest level of your home or business.
Severe Thunderstorm Warning: Get indoors & away from any windows.
Flash Flood Warning: Get to higher ground, especially if live in a low lying area near any creaks, streams, or rivers.

A fun way to think of the difference between a “watch” and a “warning”, is to think of making a taco. When you lay out all of the ingredients to make the taco, that is a “Taco Watch”. Then when you put the ingredients together, it is “Taco Warning”. This the same way with severe weather. When you have a Tornado Watch, conditions are favorable for a tornado to develop. This doesn’t mean all storms will be a tornado, but it means that the conditions or ingredients are there for a tornado to form. But when you a issued a Tornado Warning, that means all of the ingredients for the tornado are coming together to cause a tornado to form.

Wednesday’s focus will be on tornado safety. There is a statewide tornado safety drill scheduled for 10:07 a.m. Stay with the ABC 36 Storm Team for continuing coverage of the Severe Weather Awareness Week.