Doppler Indicated Tornado?

In the days of warning you sooner than ever about tornadoes, there's also going to be some "crying wolf" syndrome. That came in the form of a couple emails from folks that didn't quite understand the concept of doppler indicated tornado warnings. On television, it's a bit difficult to explain radial velocity and TVS's to the average viewer, but let's give it a shot here.

Wednesday's tornado warnings were doppler radar indicated. This meant the radar was looking at wind velocity, coming toward and away from the radar, and detected twisting winds within the cloud. This twisting is the first sign a tornado is forming. Once the winds begin twisting in the cloud, there's a chance it could make it to the ground. This is why we need to warn you.

Once this tornado signature has been detected by radar, the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg issues a Tornado Warning (meaning a tornado is likely or occurring).

You may say, "why warn us about a tornado that's not even on the ground?" Good question. Even if no tornado forms, this type of warning can save lives because if a tornado does form, the advanced warning gives you precious minutes to get yourself and your family to safety. If we waited for confirmation that a tornado had already touched down, someone may have lost their life. Not to mention, many tornadoes around here are rain-wrapped, meaning the funnel cloud is obscured by torrential rain.

Luckily, no tornadoes touched down here Wednesday. They did seem to come from out of the blue. The twisting was likely caused by a passing front to our south and areas of low pressure riding along it. Looks like the mean threat over the next 48hrs will be flash flooding from heavy downpours.Stay safe, and remember "turn around, don't drown." NEVER drive through flooded roads. This could be YOU! --Meteorologist Brent Watts