MANY SETS OF EYES...

After a relatively quiet start to the year, the last few weeks have been rather active. On the weekend of March 15, a confirmed tornado touched down in Pender County producing damage to several homes. Thankfully, no fatalities were reported. We all know that tornadoes can form in a matter of minutes, but the process of forecasting tornadoes often begins days in advance.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma produces "Severe Weather Outlooks" up to 3 days ahead of an approaching weather system. These outlooks give a broad, general outline of states that may be at risk for severe thunderstorm (or tornado) development in the coming days. The level of risk is valued as "slight", "moderate", or "high" based on a detailed analysis a various stability indexes and parameters. Severe Outlooks are often the "first line of defense" in alerting the public.

As weather systems draw closer, severe storm/tornado watches may be issued as the threat becomes better defined. A watch means that conditions are favorable for severe weather to develop sometime in the near future (usually about 3-9 hours in advance). These watches are issued by the Storm Prediction Center, with occasional intervention by local National Weather Service Offices.

Whenever severe weather is actually detected, warnings are issued on a county by county basis by local National Weather Service Offices. These warnings are broadcast and disseminated by local television meteorologists, along with real-time radar tracking and storm analysis. By the time a severe storm strikes a given area, the parent storm system has usually been analyzed by countless forecasters for several days. After all, the more eyes, the better...