The Curious Case Of The Marion County Tornado Warning

As expected, storms that moved across Alabama last night were mostly below severe limits, and there was little damage. The event was advertised here as a “low end” threat. I know that isn’t sexy, and isn’t what gets shared across social media, but we are here to tell the truth, and not hype up every thunderstorm event to get clicks and likes.

There was only one tornado warning issued in the state, and the case is a bit curious due to the confusion surrounding the message. NWS Birmingham issued a tornado warning for the far northwest corner of Marion County at 5:28p CT.

The polygon (in this case a triangle) covered just a tiny part of the county, for areas well northwest of Hamilton. Only 169 people were in the polygon.

The warning lasted only 10 minutes as the circulation (which was very broad by then), moved into Franklin County and continued to weaken. The warning was cancelled at 5:38 CT.

Despite the tiny polygon, ABC 33/40 provided the usual “wall to wall” coverage, even though it lasted only 10 minutes due to the short duration of the warning. The lives of those 169 people are no less important than anyone else in our TV market; we treat every tornado warning the same. I was in the air flying from New York to Chicago, but pushed the warning out across all social media platforms from the plane. Taylor Sarallo and Brian Peters were in the studio, and did a good job clearly explaining who was in, and who was out of the polygon, during their ten minute segment.

CONFUSION: Looking at the multitude of social media comments last night, it seemed like this event generated more confusion than most others.

From what I can tell, here were the bigger issues…

*Older, legacy systems sounded the warning across ALL of Marion County, not just for those in the actual warning polygon. This includes outdoor sirens, and NOAA Weather Radio (which is still county based, not polygon based). Some in Hamilton, Guin, Winfield, Brilliant, Hackleburg, and Bear Creek went through their tornado warning safety routine, even they were not close to the circulation and never in danger. Some say “better safe than sorry”, but doing this over and over (putting your tornado safety plan in action when you are not under a tornado warning and not in danger) can get old quick, and lead to the “cry wolf” syndrome and apathy.

I know we have a geography literacy issue nationwide, but learn how to find your home on a map, and know where it is in your county. Then, look at the actual warning polygon to see if you are in or out. If you are in, respect the polygon and immediately take tornado precautions. If you are out, no need to do anything other than keep an eye on the weather. Tornadoes, even the larger ones, are tiny compared to an entire county. There is never a need to warn an entire county for a tornado, and the storm based polygons allow for potential errors in the forecast motion of the storm. But even with that room for error, the polygon will cover just a part of a county in just about every case.

*Phone warning messages gone wild. Seems like there were many in the border counties (Sumter, Pickens, Lamar) that received WEA (Wireless Emergency Alert) messages that they were in a tornado warning. The problem is that there was never a tornado warning for these counties during this event. Yes, there were some warnings just across the state line in Mississippi, but that should not have triggered phone alerts in Alabama. Others have reported malfunctions with phone apps, even the ABC 33/40 app, pushing warnings for their area that were never in effect. We are working with our vendor this morning to find out what went wrong. And I will see if I can find out what in the world happened with the WEA alerts that were wrong.

But this is a reminder that phone apps are just one tool; always check with a professional meteorologist (not some rogue Facebook page) you trust to find out where the warning polygons are located and the danger level. If there are tornado warnings in our market, are are always on TV. And, you can also get the information here on the blog, and across my Facebook and Twitter feeds. We spend long hours here before and during severe weather events explaining in great detail the situation, and what to expect. We do our best to keep the posts short; it doesn’t take long to read.

*People don’t have “local channels” anymore. This is an increasing issue with “cord cutting”. Just remember, local TV is FREE over the air. A small antenna connected to your TV will bring in dozens of local stations. And, it is reliable. When you internet connection does down, you still can watch us. ABC 33/40 does stream our weather coverage on the web, all of our apps, and Facebook. Use the STIRR app if you have a set top box like Apple TV or Roku.

The IWT (Integrated Warning Team)… broadcast meteorologists, the National Weather Service, and those in emergency management will be looking at the situation last night, and try and find ways to eliminate the confusion. But, there is only so much we can do…. be sure you understand how polygon warnings work, know how to find your house on a map, and listen to a trusted meteorologist when the weather gets active.

Tags: confusion

Category: Alabama's Weather, ALL POSTS