Severe Weather Awareness Week 2024

(TULSA, Okla.) February 25th through March 2nd is Severe Weather Awareness Week for eastern Oklahoma and northwest and west central Arkansas.

Each day National Weather Service - Tulsa is focused on a specific severe weather topic, beginning with flooding on Monday and ending with social media on Saturday.

The 2023 severe weather season wasn't particularly memorable from a tornado standpoint, with only 11 tornadoes - none of which were significant (rated EF2 or greater) - in eastern Oklahoma and northwest and west central Arkansas. However, the Fathers' Day derecho made up for the lack of tornadoes. Find more information about the derecho and tornadoes during the 2023 season here.

Thunderstorms contain many hazards that can be life-threatening if appropriate safety actions are not taken. These hazards include tornadoes, hail, lightning, wind and flooding. Safety and preparedness actions for all of these hazards will be covered this week.

One of the first and more important preparedness steps to take prior to severe weather is knowing which county you live in and which counties surrounding it. 

Before severe weather starts, take time to stock a disaster supply kit. For more ideas on what to keep in your kit, check out ready.gov.

Monday: Flooding

Monday's topic for Severe Weather Awareness Week is Flooding. Did you know that flooding kills more people every year than tornadoes? Most flood deaths occur at night and in vehicles.

Please don't drive into flood waters. More than half of all flooding deaths occur in vehicles.

Did you know that it does not take much water to either sweep an adult off their feet or a vehicle off a roadway? Remember to Turn Around, Don't Drown!

“I was driving a half-ton 4x4 which provides some comfort about not getting stuck in the mud. As I drove down the dirt road, I came across a low-water cement bridge. The bridge was completely covered in water, but not deep. I made a critical decision to turn around and drive the long way around to another highway. The next morning the water had receded and there was a huge hole — the water had washed away the dirt where the road met the cement. I would have surely lost the vehicle and maybe our lives…just saying “Turn Around and Don’t Drown” saved life and property.” -- Julie, Nashville, TN, 2018

Did you know there is a second National Weather Service office in Tulsa - the  Arkansas-Red Basin River Forecast Center  - and another in the New Orleans area - the  Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center  - that forecast river levels during bouts of heavy rainfall? We use their river level forecasts to produce River Flood Watches, Warnings and Advisories for mainstem rivers in eastern Oklahoma and northwest and west central Arkansas.

What is a 500-year flood?

Preparedness and safety are important before, during and after a flood. Take these steps to keep you and yours safe from flooding.

Prepare for flooding before it happens. Are you located in a floodplain? What is the fastest way to higher ground? What roads nearby are most likely to flood?

Helping Others: Flooding. Connect with your neighbors about local flood risks and planning needs. If flooding is expected, help others elevate and protect their belongings. After storms, check on neighbors and keep others out of floodwater.

Impact-Based Flash Flood Warnings are structured so that you can easily find the most important information quickly. The tags at the bottom are also used for Wireless Emergency Alerts sent right to your phone.

Tuesday: Lightning

Lightning is the Severe Weather Awareness Week topic for Tuesday. Did you know that if you hear thunder, lightning is a threat to you?

When Thunder Roars Go Indoors! 

Lightning Fatalities for Outdoor Sports: Soccer-40% Golf-27% Running-17% Baseball-10% Football-3% Other-3%. 

Step 1: Leave the field immediately. 

Step 2: Seek shelter in an enclosed building or car (windows up). Wait 30 minutes after hearing thunder to return outside.

Safe Fishing: Understand the dangers of lightning. There are no specific warnings or advisories for lightning but all thunderstorms produce lightning. A lightning strike to a vessel can be catastrophic, especially if it results in a fire or loss of electronics. Boaters should use extra caution when thunderstorm conditions exist and have a plan of escape.

Wednesday: Tornadoes

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air in contact with both the cloud base and the ground, but did you know that the connection may not be visible? If a well-developed funnel cloud is visible, look at the surface for a ground swirl.

Types of Tornadoes

Supercell Tornadoes: Tornadoes that come from a supercell thunderstorm are the most common, and often the most dangerous. A rotating updraft is a key to the development of a supercell, and eventually a tornado. There are many ideas about how this rotation begins. One way a column of air can begin to rotate is from wind shear – when winds at two different levels above the ground blow at different speeds or in different directions. Once the updraft is rotating and being fed by warm, moist air flowing in at ground level, a tornado can form. 

Landspouts: Landspouts, narrow, rope-like condensation funnels that form while the thunderstorm cloud is still growing and there is no rotating updraft. The spinning motion originates near the ground. 

Waterspouts: Waterspouts, similar to landspouts, except they occur over water. 

Gustnadoes: Gustnadoes, whirls of dust or debris at or near the ground with no condensation funnel, which form along the gust front of a storm. 

Dust Devils: A well-developed dust whirl; usually of short duration, rendered visible by dust, sand, and debris picked up from the ground. Dust devils are best developed on a hot, calm afternoon with clear skies, when intense surface heating causes large temperature differences in the lowest couple hundred feet of the atmosphere. 

Fire Whirls: Much like dust devils, the extreme heat of fires create strong updrafts, near the ground that interact with circulations in the lower atmosphere. Fire whirls are usually about 1 to 3 feet wide and 50 to 100 feet tall.

Tornadoes come in all shapes and sizes.

The Science Behind Tornadoes

A meteorologist's job doesn't stop once the tornadoes have dissipated. After tornadoes occur, National Weather Service meteorologists examine the damage to determine the strength, path width and path length of the tornado that produced it. This process takes time.

Tornadoes have occurred in every month of the year in eastern Oklahoma and northwest and west central Arkansas, with the months of March, April and May featuring the most. A secondary maximum in frequency occurs during the fall months as the upper level jet stream shifts back to the south.

Tornado preparedness should begin before tornadic weather is in the forecast. This includes tornado drills at home.

Helping Others: Tornadoes

Help others identify a safe place (often a basement or interior room away from windows). Practice (and time) tornado prep drills with them. Show them how to receive Tornado Watches and Warnings.

Tornado Sheltering Guidelines: Seek the best available area immediately when a Tornado Warning is issued. Your chance of surviving a tornado is excellent if you follow these guidelines. 

Worst Options: mobile homes, vehicles, underneath a highway overpass. 

Bad Options: Large open rooms like gymnasiums, manufactured housing. 

Good Options: Interior room of a well-constructed home or building, basement. 

Best Options: Above or below ground Tornado Storm Shelter (NSSA/ICC 500 compliant, recommended by FEMA) or a specifically-designed FEMA Safe Room.

Know where to go when sheltering at home from a tornado. Quickly move to your basement and bring your emergency supply kit. If you have no basement, move to an interior room with no windows. Top floors DO NOT protect you. Exterior rooms and rooms with windows DO NOT protect you. No place outside is safe from a tornado.

Tornadoes and Road Safety 

1.  What To Do: Get off the road. The best option is to drive to a designated shelter, basement or safe room. The next best option is a small, windowless room or hallway on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. 

2. What No To Do: Do not seek refuge in a vehicle, outside or under an overpass. A highway overpass does not provide safety from a tornado. Do not seek shelter under an overpass or a tree. This puts you at greater risk of being killed or seriously injured by flying debris from the powerful tornadic winds.

Know the difference between a Tornado Watch and a Tornado Warning and what actions to take during each.

Thursday: Severe Thunderstorms

What makes a given thunderstorm "severe"?

Some severe thunderstorms can produce hail larger than softballs, winds over 100 mph and tornadoes. Severe weather is a common spring weather hazard.

Not all severe thunderstorms are created equal.

Thunderstorms can produce damaging hail. Did you know the largest hailstone recorded in the United States measured 7.9 inches?

Thunderstorms can produce damaging hail.

The Science of Hail

While the spring months are the climatological peak for severe weather in eastern Oklahoma and northwest and west central Arkansas, impactful severe weather does occur in other months of the year, including the winter.

The Storm Prediction Center issues thunderstorm outlooks daily. Do you know what the various severe thunderstorm risk categories mean?

Severe weather preparedness doesn't begin when severe thunderstorms are in the forecast. Take appropriate steps now so you know what to do when watches and warnings are issued.

Make a communications plan. Find out how at ready.gov/make-a-plan

Spending time outdoors? Be aware of the forecast before you head out. Know how you will receive a warning if one is issued. Know where the nearest shelter is located. When action needs to be taken, don't wait!

Friday: Watches & Warnings

Knowing the difference between a watch and a warning is important, as it lets you know your current threat level for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash flooding.

Always have at least 3 ways to get severe weather warnings, including ways that will wake you up when sleeping.

Have multiple ways to receive warning information.

Test your NOAA Weather Radio. It could save your life.

What in the WEA is this? What are Wireless Emergency Alerts? https://www.ready.gov/alerts 

Saturday: Social Media

Social media is critical to our operations, as it provides an avenue to both disseminate and receive critical severe weather information. 

Get social media updates from your local NWS office!

Are you looking for an easy way to submit storm reports online? Check out IRIS!

Find the full NWS Tulsa Story Map about Severe Weather Awareness Week 2024 here.