Category Archives: Natural Disasters

How do you know when something bad is coming?

May 31, 2008 Thornton Weather 1 Comment

Emergency Alert Sirens - Not in Thornton! I was recently asked how prevelant tornado sirens are in the metro area and thought that would be a good discussion to have. Tornado and alert sirens do exist in some municipalities in the Denver metro area but not all. Boulder has a system (primarily due to flood dangers) as does the city of Denver itself. Many of the other suburbs however do not. Unfortunately, Thornton does not which to me is somewhat odd as in 1981 Thornton was struck by one of the few tornadoes to have hit the metro area so you would think that would have caused them to consider building a system back then. If you are reading this and live in another municipality, give them a call to find out if one is available in your area.

The sirens definitely do provide a service to the community. However, USA Today just had an article discussing these types of systems and pointing out that they were expensive to maintain and of limited effectiveness. Some municipalities have depended on reverse 911 systems to alert residents but it is my opinion that these to are limited because they rely on someone being home to answer the phone. What if you are in an area park and a tornado is coming? People today are very mobile and a solution that takes that into account and can warn people wherever they are would be ideal.

The city of Dacono recently deployed a system that I think Thornton should give some thought to. You can read more about it here but in essence residents can sign up to receive alerts on their home phone, cellular phone and email. Within a matter of seconds, thousands of subscribers can be notified of everything from weather events to disaster updates to AMBER alerts for much less than the cost of a siren system. ThorntonWeather.com is going to be discussing the idea of this type of system with Thornton City Council members in coming weeks so be sure to check back to see what we learn.

In the meantime, probably the best way to ensure you are warned about approaching dangers is to purchase what is commonly known as a “weather radio.” These radios are relatively inexpensive (around $40.00) and allow you to listen to and monitor the NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) system. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, and forecasts as well as other hazard information like earthquakes, avalanches, chemical spills, and even AMBER alerts. These broadcasts continually run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and provide a great way to stay up to date with developing weather conditions. One of these radios is actually what broadcasts our weather radio system here on ThorntonWeather.com.

Some of the nicer units even use what is called SAME – Specific Alert Message Encoding – which I would highly recommend. In essence you program in a code for the area in which you live and the radio will automatically turn on and sound an alert when something of note is in your area. These weather radios are very popular in rural areas in Tornado Alley but as we saw last week in Windsor, they definitely can be useful here along the Front Range as well. More information about the system can be found on the National Weather Service’s website and you can find these at many electronics retailers, particularly those on the Internet like Amazon or NewEgg.

Which weather radio do we use? We are hesitant to recommend specific products but our radio of choice at the current time is the Midland WR-300. This radio has the important SAME coding feature, a text display to show you what sort of alert is occurring, battery backup and more. We have been pleased with the two we have. NewEgg carries this model for $47.99.

Natural Disasters, Severe Weather

Adventures in Tornado Alley: The Storm Chasers

April 1, 2008 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

I just read about this new book Adventures in Tornado Alley: The Storm Chasers. Most notably I saw some of the pictures in the book – absolutely incredible. See below. From Amazon’s description:

The destructive power of nature has always been a source of fear and fascination, and never more so than now, when climate change and extreme weather conditions are constantly in the news. Across the central United States, the infamous storms of Tornado Alley are fueled by the collision of cold fronts from Canada and warm fronts from the Gulf of Mexico. People have been chasing these storms for decades in pursuit of thrilling experiences, but now a new generation of storm chasers is combining scientific knowledge with powerful images.

This book follows Mike Hollingshead and Eric Nguyen on seventeen chases through Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, illustrating the unfolding events with sequential shots and a running commentary by the chasers themselves. These spectacular storm portfolios are expanded with special features on weather phenomena like hail and mammatus clouds plus insights into forecasting and research. 340 color illustrations.

Definitely looks like a good one to check out! You can find it here on Amazon.com.

National Weather, Natural Disasters, Severe Weather

Cleanup Continues After 57 Die In Tornadoes

February 8, 2008 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

This past Tuesday saw over 40 tornadoes touch down across Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi. The death toll from these storms currently stands at 57 making it one of the 15 worst tornado death tolls since 1950, and the nation’s deadliest swarm of tornadoes since 76 people were killed in Pennsylvania and Ohio on May 31, 1985.

It is currently believed that because February tornadoes are not all that common, simple human nature may have been the root reason for so many fatalities. Simply put, people weren’t expecting them or believing the warnings that were issued well in advance. From USA Today:

“Because February tornadoes are relatively rare, many residents didn’t respond quickly to warnings from weather forecasters because they didn’t believe the threat was serious until a storm was upon them. In fact, February tornadoes are “almost an annual event,” Brooks said. In 2007, there were three killer tornadoes in February — two in Florida and one in Louisiana — that killed a total of 22 people. During the most common months for tornadoes — March, April, May and June — fatalities typically are 15% lower and injuries are 22% lower because people expect such storms and prepare for them, said Dan Sutter, an economist at the University of Texas Pan American who has studied tornadoes for eight years.”

This truly is a tragedy and one has to wonder how many of these deaths could have been avoided had residents simply heeded the warnings that were issued. For more information, please see:

USA Today – Cleanup continues after devastating tornadoes

The Tennessean – Nashville newspaper’s special section about the storms

Memphis radar image from February 5, 2008

Climate Change, Natural Disasters

Climate Change to Cause Decrease in Hurricanes?

January 24, 2008 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

Another story that points to the fact that the “consensus” of researchers is less than solid. In recent years and months we have been told that global warming would result in more frequent and more powerful hurricanes hitting the United States. Now, this tidbit comes from a story in USA Today:

The study by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Miami Lab and the University of Miami postulated that global warming may actually decrease the number of hurricanes that strike the United States. Warming waters may increase vertical wind speed, or wind shear, cutting into a hurricane’s strength.

It seems that there really is less agreement on these types of things than Al Gore, the IPCC and others would have us believe. You can read the full story here.

Climatology, Colorado Weather, Local News, Natural Disasters, Severe Weather, Thornton Weather

Storm Chaser Convention Coming to Denver

January 17, 2008 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

February 15th -17th Denver will play host to the 10th Annual National Storm Chaser Convention. The event will be held at the Raddison Hotel at I-225 and Parker Road (3200 South Parker Road). Most notably, the keynote speakers will be Dr. Josh Wurman and Sean Casey who appeared in the recently aired Discovery Channel special, Storm Chasers. This is a great opportunity for weather enthusiasts to share storm stories, learn more about severe weather and storm chasing, see new weather gadgetry and hear from some of the experts in weather related fields.

To learn more, please visit the National Storm Chaser Convention website at: http://chaserconvention.com

Climatology, Natural Disasters

Hurricane Season Ends – Questions to Answer Though

December 29, 2007 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

The 2007 hurricane season officially ended on November 30th and in the Atlantic, a total of 14 named storms were produced, including six hurricanes, two of which became major hurricanes. The good news is that only one hurricane, one tropical storm and three tropical depressions struck the United States so we escaped relatively unscathed. This does however make one wonder about the accuracy of hurricane forecasts. This is the second year in a row that predictions indicated above normal activity when the opposite turned out to be true.

It is notable that as recently as NOAA’s August hurricane update they said:

NOAA is predicting a very high likelihood (85% chance) of an above-normal 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, a 10% chance of a near-normal season, and only a 5% chance of a below-normal season, according to a consensus of scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center, National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Research Division, and Hydrometeorological Prediction Center.

There’s that word again – CONSENSUS! Let’s take a look at the facts:

– The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season was below normal and tied for 2002 as the most inactive since the El Nino depressed 1997 season in terms of storm energy.
– The North Atlantic was not the only ocean that experienced quiet tropical cyclone activity. The Northern Hemisphere as a whole is historically inactive. How inactive? One has to go back to 1977 to find lower levels of cyclone energy as measured by the ACE hurricane energy metric. Even more astounding, 2007 will be the 4th slowest year in the past half-century (since 1958) .
– Fewest Northern Hemisphere hurricane days since 1977 – the 3rd Lowest since 1958 (behind 1977 and 1973).
– When combined, the 2006 and 2007 Atlantic hurricane seasons were the least active since 1993 and 1994.

ThorntonWeather.com has to wonder – If we can’t accurately predict short term climatological events such as hurricanes, how can those that make up a “consensus” accurately predict and gauge man-made climate change on a global scale?

Click here to view NOAA’s 2007 hurricane season summary.

Climatology, National Weather, Natural Disasters

Wrong again? Despite predictions, 2007 may rank as most inactive hurricane season in the last 30 years.

October 29, 2007 Thornton Weather Leave a comment

This marks the second year in a row forecasters predicted above normal hurricane activity only to have it be the opposite. Despite the “sky is falling” predictions about how global warming is the cause of all sorts of disasters, including an increased threat of hurricanes, we find the opposite is actually occurring. For more information see this page from the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies.

Weather, natural disasters & climate news and information.