Severe Weather Awareness Week

Florida Severe Weather Awareness Week continues and today's topics include tornadoes and severe thunderstorms...

From the National Weather Service:

TORNADOES ARE THE MOST POWERFUL SMALL SCALE PHENOMENA IN NATURE.
WHEN MOST PEOPLE THINK OF FLORIDA WEATHER HAZARDS...TORNADOES DO NOT
NORMALLY COME TO MIND HOWEVER SINCE 1970 MORE THAN 2,400 TORNADOES
HAVE BEEN REPORTED ACROSS THE STATE!

IN GENERAL...TORNADOES FORM WHEN RAPIDLY RISING AIR IN A THUNDERSTORM
UPDRAFT COMBINES WITH EITHER AN INCREASE IN WIND SPEED OR CHANGE IN
WIND DIRECTION...KNOWN AS SHEAR. THE LARGER THE SHEAR...THE GREATER
THE ROTATION AND THUS THE BETTER CHANCE A TORNADO WILL FORM.

IN WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA FRONTAL SYSTEMS...SEA BREEZE OR BOUNDARY
COLLISIONS...AND TROPICAL CYCLONE BANDS ARE THE PRIMARY WEATHER
THREATS THAT LEAD TO TORNADO FORMATION.

THE RELATIVELY SMALL AND SHORT-LIVED NATURE OF MOST SW FLORIDA
TORNADOES MEANS THAT IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO GIVE PLENTY OF ADVANCE
WARNING. IN MANY CASES, ONLY A FEW MINUTES OF WARNING ARE GIVEN
BETWEEN THE TIME A WARNING IS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
AND THE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN. HAVING A NOAA WEATHER RADIO IS A CRITICAL
COMPONENT OF THE WARNING SYSTEM. HAVING A WEATHER RADIO AVAILABLE TO
ALERT OF AN APPROACHING TORNADO HAS SAVED LIVES. WHEN A TORNADO   
THREATENS YOUR AREA, STAY INSIDE AND GO TO AN INTERIOR ROOM WITHOUT
WINDOWS. IN A MULTI-STORY BUILDING, GO TO THE LOWEST FLOOR.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALMOST A DAILY OCCURRENCE IN FLORIDA
BETWEEN JUNE AND SEPTEMBER. BY DEFINITION...THUNDERSTORMS ARE
HAZARDOUS DUE TO THE THREAT FROM LIGHTNING STRIKES. HOWEVER...SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE THE ADDED HAZARDS OF DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS
AND LARGE HAIL.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEFINED BY ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING:
-WIND GUSTS OF 58 MPH OR GREATER...SUFFICIENT TO PRODUCE DAMAGE TO
WELL BUILT STRUCTURES OR STURDY FOLIAGE.
-HAIL 1 INCH IN DIAMETER OR LARGER.

HUNDREDS OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OCCUR IN FLORIDA EACH YEAR. THESE
STORMS OCCUR MOST FREQUENTLY BETWEEN MID MAY AND EARLY AUGUST...WHEN
THE ATMOSPHERE ACROSS THE STATE IS MOST UNSTABLE.