I guess local TV stations no longer broadcast weather warnings?

[organman95]

Who was that goofy guy that did the wx updates for AccuWeather?

Jim Kosek - I guess he used to be straightfaced in his early days at AccuWeather until the 90s. Then turned into the 'goofy' personality that he is/was. I think he is retired now.

[texorama]

I had the radio on the whole time during the Dundee tornado, and there was no EBS alert. Part of the problem may be that the NWS missed this one, for whatever reason.

[km1125]

I had the radio on the whole time during the Dundee tornado, and there was no EBS alert. Part of the problem may be that the NWS missed this one, for whatever reason.

But isn't the reason you actually have meteorologists at the stations so that they aren't just regurgitating what the NWS puts out and they're actually doing analysis?

Otherwise, they're all just weather presenters and we should be prioritizing the cute/hot look more.

[MWmetalhead]

EAS is normally not activated by radio and TV outlets during severe thunderstorm warnings.

During an NWS warning update, "tornado possible" text was added.

There were a few radar frames where some decent mid-level rotation was shown, but nothing that screamed a tornado was imminent. The best signature I saw from that cell was perhaps near Rockwood.

[jmeltonwx]

The FAA Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDTW) in SW Wayne Co. had a much better view of the circulation imo than the NWS NEXRAD in Oakland Co.
https://twitter.com/southmiwx/status/16 ... 8473485313

[MWmetalhead]

Great point. That radar site is maybe 10 to 12 miles from Dundee.

While reds and greens were clearly touching on that frame, gate to gate shear looked underwhelming. If I were making the call, I would've gone with a severe thunderstorm warning, which is what WFO DTX did.

[SolidGoldDancers]

Most stations have a computer system that requires manually triggering the mapping or ticker. This is something every weather team has fought against but is a byproduct of the supplier of all the weather systems. Unfortunately until something large happens and nothing is triggered it won't change how said supplier allows these to trigger.

The tickers are automatically generated and ready to go, every weather graphics system has the ability to put crawls and banners on the air generated from AWIPS data feeds. That causes an alert to fire to notify the station break operator that an actionable weather event has happened. The station break operator then reviews it and punches the magic button to take it to air.

Except...station break operators no longer exist at these stations, and I assure you no one thought about how to examine the preview nor take an alert for weather graphics.

I will say this about the maps on the screen, they're f'ing useless. Most people can't find their county on map, and even if they can the radar image usually obfuscates the borders. Just put up a crawl or a banner.

[syntheticexctasy]

I honestly think the NWS and the media outlets dropped the ball.

No forecast I read mentioned hail at all - even the morning of these events. I did hear on one of the media outlets I think Weds or Thurs night say they "couldn't rule out a tornado" - so I guess they were the "closest?"

No watch was issued - my judgement was better. It would seem I was watching the conditions more closely - I have family in dundee, and had a lot of hail myself that apparently no one knew was coming.

Southwestern Wayne, Monroe, Washtenaw and Lenawee counties simply don't exist (even on the day to day).

[SolidGoldDancers]

I honestly think the NWS and the media outlets dropped the ball.

I wouldn't say dropped the ball, the storm looked deceptively tame. I was a few miles to the west of the path and the only clue was hail that looked like the tiniest of sleet pellets and a sudden torrent of rain. The usual signs just were not there.

[Rate This]

I honestly think the NWS and the media outlets dropped the ball.

I wouldn't say dropped the ball, the storm looked deceptively tame. I was a few miles to the west of the path and the only clue was hail that looked like the tiniest of sleet pellets and a sudden torrent of rain. The usual signs just were not there.

On the radar it barely looked like more than a shower…

[audiophile]

I was visiting a friend inside - it was a partly cloudy day. It started to sprinkle and the power went out. Ambulance went by - I assumed it was wreck.

The next day we found out a tornado took out house and killed one person 3 miles away. No warnings, no real storm.

[ChrisWL1980]

I've heard a story about something that happened at the old WBRB in Mount Clemens... they'd had reports of a tornado

I was visiting a friend inside - it was a partly cloudy day. It started to sprinkle and the power went out. Ambulance went by - I assumed it was wreck.

The next day we found out a tornado took out house and killed one person 3 miles away. No warnings, no real storm.

Was this in Macomb County by any chance? I've heard a story about the old WBRB in Mount Clemens, where one day they had been getting reports of a tornado and called the NWS office to confirm. The NWS said it was a cold air funnel and they weren't going to put out a warning, so the station did nothing. The "cold air funnel" ended up touching down, causing significant damage and one, maybe two, fatalities. Not sure when this happened, maybe the '70s or early '80s.

[MWmetalhead]

I wouldn't say dropped the ball, the storm looked deceptively tame. I was a few miles to the west of the path and the only clue was hail that looked like the tiniest of sleet pellets and a sudden torrent of rain. The usual signs just were not there.

I agree. Based on the radar data, the risk of a tornado being imminent was low. The presentation looked underwhelming; just weak rotation. I thought they did pretty well by having a severe tstorm warning in place.

The radar signature was not nearly as prolific as the Wyoming / Kentwood tornado where the NWS office in GR completely dropped the ball several years ago (I want to say that happened in August 2016 or August 2017). That cell produced a 0.25 mile wide funnel, moved across US 131, and barely missed a Meijer store. Debris ball was plain as day on radar for that one.

[BirdieKingBobo]

Rachelle Graham made a bigger deal about her pregnancy on the news, than Fox62 made about a damn tornado.

[organman95]

The radar signature was not nearly as prolific as the Wyoming / Kentwood tornado where the NWS office in GR completely dropped the ball several years ago (I want to say that happened in August 2016 or August 2017). That cell produced a 0.25 mile wide funnel, moved across US 131, and barely missed a Meijer store. Debris ball was plain as day on radar for that one.

My dad lived in Wyoming then. He was about a mile from the tornado. I was on my way down to visit when he called and told me about it. I think it was the year after the earthquake in Galesburg