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Severe Weather Terminology (United States)
This article describes severe weather terminology used by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States. The NWS, a government agency operating as an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) branch of the United States Department of Commerce (DoC), defines precise meanings for nearly all of its weather terms. This article describes NWS terminology and related weather scales used by the agency. Some terms may be specific to certain cities or regions. Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) product codes assigned to each term for NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) broadcasts are included in parentheses following the title of the described alert type if used; products that do not have a specified code are identified where applicable as Non-Precipitation Warnings/Watches/Advisories (NPW), Coastal Flood Warnings/Watches/Advisories (CFW), Marine Weather Statement (MWS), Surf Discussion (SRD) or Winter Weather Warnings/Watches/Advisories (WSW) as defined by NOAA. D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the purposes of protection, safety, and general information. It is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) branch of the Department of Commerce, and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, within the Washington metropolitan area. The agency was known as the United States Weather Bureau from 1890 until it adopted its current name in 1970. The NWS performs its primary task through a collection of national and regional centers, and 122 local Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs). As the NWS is an agency of the U.S. federal government, most of its products are in the public domain and available free of charge. History Calls for the creation of a government weather bureau began as early as 1844, when the electrical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NWS Weather Map Example 3
NWS may refer to: *National Weather Service, a U.S. government agency charged with issuing weather forecasts, advisories, watches, and warnings on a daily basis * National Woolsorters' Society, a former British trade union *News Corporation's NASDAQ ticker symbol for Class B stock * NWS (TV station), a television station in Adelaide, South Australia *Nuclear Weapons State, a term relating to the U.S., Russia, China, United Kingdom and France in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty * Not work safe, a web acronym interchangeable with the more widespread NSFW ("not safe for work") * Netherlands Worldwide Students, a worldwide network of Dutch students enrolled in foreign universities * North Warning System, a series of radar stations across Arctic North America * Nintendo World Store, Nintendo's showcase store in New York City *NWS Holdings, a listed company in Hong Kong *North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1999 Bridge Creek–Moore Tornado
On the evening of Monday, May 3, 1999, a large and exceptionally powerful F5 tornado registered the highest wind speeds ever measured globally; winds were recorded at by a Doppler on Wheels (DOW) radar. Considered the strongest tornado ever recorded to have affected the metropolitan area, the tornado devastated southern portions of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, along with surrounding suburbs and towns to the south and southwest. The tornado covered during its 85-minute existence, destroying thousands of homes, killing 36 people (plus an additional five indirectly), and leaving US$1 billion (1999 USD) in damage, ranking it as the fifth-costliest on record not accounting for inflation. It was the first use of the tornado emergency statement by the National Weather Service. The tornado first touched down at 6:23 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT) in Grady County, roughly south-southwest of the town of Amber. It quickly intensified into a violent F4, and gradually reached ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tornado Emergency
A tornado emergency is an enhanced version of a tornado warning, which is used by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States during imminent, significant tornado occurrences in highly populated areas. Although it is not a new warning type from the NWS, issued instead within a severe weather statement or in the initial tornado warning, a tornado emergency generally means that significant, widespread damage is expected to occur and a high likelihood of numerous fatalities is expected with a large, strong to violent tornado. These enhanced warnings are intended to convey the urgency of the weather situation to the general public, who are advised to take safety precautions immediately if they are in or near the projected path of a large tornado or its accompanying thunderstorm; tornado emergencies are usually identified following the preceding storm summary in the tornado warning product, which itself will denote visual or radar confirmation of "a large and extremely dang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two together, may be called a polygon. The segments of a polygonal circuit are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon's '' vertices'' (singular: vertex) or ''corners''. The interior of a solid polygon is sometimes called its ''body''. An ''n''-gon is a polygon with ''n'' sides; for example, a triangle is a 3-gon. A simple polygon is one which does not intersect itself. Mathematicians are often concerned only with the bounding polygonal chains of simple polygons and they often define a polygon accordingly. A polygonal boundary may be allowed to cross over itself, creating star polygons and other self-intersecting polygons. A polygon is a 2-dimensional example of the more general polytope in any num ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Storm Spotter
Storm spotting is a form of weather spotting in which observers watch for the approach of severe weather, monitor its development and progression, and actively relay their findings to local authorities. History Storm spotting developed in the United States during the early 1940s. A joint project between the military and the weather bureau saw the deployment of trained military and aviation lightning spotters in areas where ammunitions for the war were manufactured. During 1942, a serious tornado struck a key operations center in Oklahoma and another tornado on May 15, 1943 destroyed parts of the Fort Riley military base located in Kansas. After these two events and a string of other tornado outbreaks, spotter networks became commonplace, and it is estimated that there were over 200 networks by 1945. Their mandate had also changed to include reporting all types of active or severe weather; this included giving snow depth and other reports during the winter as well as fire report ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skywarn
Skywarn (sometimes stylized as SKYWARN) is a program of the National Weather Service (NWS). Its mission is to collect reports of localized severe weather in the United States. These reports are used to aid forecasters in issuing and verifying severe weather watches and warnings and to improve the forecasting and warning processes and the tools used to collect meteorological data. Reports are also used by local emergency managers and public safety organizations. Skywarn consists of a network of severe storm spotters who observe weather conditions and make reports of severe weather to their local NWS offices. These spotters are regularly trained by personnel from the local NWS offices. In many areas, classes are conducted each spring in advance of the coming severe weather season. Many SKYWARN spotters use methods to communicate with one another during severe storm events. A notable example of this is through the use of amateur radio nets, which is still an important method since s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weather Radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the intensity of the precipitation. Both types of data can be analyzed to determine the structure of storms and their potential to cause severe weather. During World War II, radar operators discovered that weather was causing echoes on their screen, masking potential enemy targets. Techniques were developed to filter them, but scientists began to study the phenomenon. Soon after the war, surplus radars were used to detect precipitation. Since then, weather radar has evolved on its own and is now used by national weather services, research departments in universities, and in television stations' weather departments. Raw images are routinely used and specialize ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tornado Warning
A tornado warning ( SAME code: TOR) is a severe weather warning product issued by regional offices of weather forecasting agencies throughout the world to alert the public when a tornado has been reported or indicated by weather radar within the parent severe thunderstorm. It can be issued after a tornado, funnel cloud and rotation in the clouds has been witnessed by the public, storm chasers, emergency management or law enforcement, and indicates that residents in the affected areas should take immediate safety precautions. A warning should not be confused with a tornado watch, issued in the United States by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) and in other countries by applicable regional forecasting agencies or national severe weather guidance centers, which only indicates that conditions are favorable for the formation of tornadoes. Although a tornado warning is generally a higher alert level than a tornado watch, in the U.S., it can be surpassed by a higher-level alert—struc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tornado Outbreak
__NOTOC__ A tornado outbreak is the occurrence of multiple tornadoes spawned by the same synoptic scale weather system. The number of tornadoes required to qualify as an outbreak typically are at least six to ten, with at least two rotational locations (if squall line) or at least two supercells producing multiple tornadoes. The tornadoes usually occur within the same day or continue into the early morning hours of the succeeding day, and within the same region. Most definitions allow for a break in tornado activity (time elapsed from the end of the last tornado to the beginning of the next tornado) of six hours. If tornado activity indeed resumes after such a lull, many definitions consider the event to be a new outbreak. A series of continuous or nearly continuous tornado outbreak days is a tornado outbreak sequence. In the United States and Canada, tornado outbreaks usually occur from March through June in the Great Plains, the Midwestern United States, and the Southeaster ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, behind the state capital, Oklahoma City. It is 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of OKC. Norman was settled during the Land Run of 1889, which opened the former Unassigned Lands of Indian Territory to American pioneer settlement. The city was named in honor of Abner Norman, the area's initial land surveyor, and was formally incorporated on , 1891. Norman has prominent higher education and related research industries, as it is home to the University of Oklahoma, the largest university in the state, with nearly 32,000 students. The university is well known for its sporting events by teams under the banner of the nickname "Sooners," with over 85,000 people routinely attending football games. The university is home to several museums, inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
