Seventy-two tornadoes were reported across Alabama in 2009, a bit less than 2008’s record-setting 93, but dangerous nonetheless.
Not long ago we enjoyed the snowfall. Sometimes Mother Nature can be beautiful. But as we head toward spring, we cannot forget her potential wrath. March, April and May are three of the most likely months Alabamians could encounter tornadoes (potential tornadic activity picks up again each November).
National Weather Service offices throughout the state have deemed this as Severe Weather Awareness Week. Ironically, the thunder and lightning heard across the area early Monday morning trumpeted the beginning of the severe weather season and this week of awareness.
It’s a week devoted toward educating the public on storm history, weather patterns and public safety. A 2010 brochure can be viewed via the Internet at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=swawb2010.
With all of the technology we have available and the increased attention toward public awareness, we must act now to protect ourselves from storms not yet on the radar.
This does not mean rush into the bedroom closet and cover your head with a mattress when you finish reading this editorial. But rather, now is the time — if you have not done so already — to review your family’s course of action in the event there is a tornado warning.
As the weather gradually warms, the likelihood of severe weather grows. That’s why it’s important to have a plan in place, understand the basic characteristics of spring weather patterns and take the threat of severe weather seriously.
Don’t wait until a tornado is in your neighborhood to figure out where to huddle for safety.
Don’t wait until the winds howl to turn on a local television channel out of weather-related curiosity.
Know the threat of severe weather exists long before it arrives.
But just because we do not live in the central U.S.’s Tornado Alley, don’t think Alabama is located beneath a protective atmospheric bubble. Areas such as Arab, Enterprise, west Birmingham, Huntsville, Piedmont and Prattville have all felt tornadoes’ wrath. Don’t think we won’t be under the gun again.
Look at the blue skies and take the nice weather in. It’s the perfect time to plan for the afternoon they turn dark.
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