Southeast Texas Severe Weather Preparedness and Safety - Dan Reilly, Katherine Lenninger, Cameron Batiste National Weather Service Houston/Galveston

Southeast Texas Severe Weather
   Preparedness and Safety
 Dan Reilly, Katherine Lenninger, Cameron Batiste
  National Weather Service Houston/Galveston

(Tornado Drill)

National Weather Service
Weather Forecast Office Houston/ Galveston
Core of mission: Issue forecasts and warnings for the
protection of life and property. Also work with partners
to increase weather preparedness through outreach,
education.

                                                           NWS Ops Area During Harvey: Shift Change 8 pm Saturday

Severe Weather Preparedness
• Understand your risk and vulnerability; Are you
  outdoors? In a mobile home? In a flood plain?
• Have a plan for your situation; I’m camping,
  boating today: if thunderstorms approach, I
  would shelter where? When I’m home or at
  work and a tornado is coming, what do I do?       Credit: ABC 33/40 (WCFT-TV) Birmingham

• Have a way to get watches and warnings;
  monitor radar (especially if at outdoor event,
  work project, etc).

How to Get Weather Alerts
Web sites: weather.gov (NWS), many
others *

Cell phones using weather apps and
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)

Weather Radios: weather.gov/nwr

TV/Radio (Emergency Alert System)

Some weather apps have radar,
lightning too!

https://www.weather.gov/subscribe
                                    *   *

WEA Alerts to Cell Phones
Developed by FEMA and wireless carriers; recently enhanced
(WEA 2.0) to allow for longer messages and Spanish language
(only on the newest phones); for more details search WEA and
your wireless carrier.

Watch, Warning, Advisory
Watch: Heads up, be alert conditions favor the
development of the hazard (such as a tornado); be
ready to act. For thunderstorms/ tornadoes
watches typically valid 6 hours or so.
Warning: Hazard has been spotted or detected on
radar. Take action to protect yourself if you are in
the warned area.
Advisory: Less severe than a warning but could
still be life threatening.

Thunderstorm related: Tornado, Severe
Thunderstorm, Flash Flood

Others: Excessive Heat, Winter Storm, Ice Storm,
Hurricane, Storm Surge, etc.

10

Convective Outlooks from the Storm Prediction Center
                                           Day 1, April 22, 2020
                                                                   Tornado

Categorical

                                                                   Damaging Wind

                                                                                   11
        https://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/outlook/

Varies year to year;
Based on 10-year
averages (yellow bars)
here is the ranking:

 1. Heat

 2. Flood

 3. Tornado

 4. Rip Currents

 5. Severe Winds

 6. Extreme Cold

 7. Winter

 8. Lightning

 9. Hurricane?

                         https://www.weather.gov/hazstat/

60

                                   Storm Events by Type and Month for Southeast Texas
                        50

Severe thunderstorms,
tornadoes can occur
any month out of the                                                                                   Hail
                        40
year.
                                                                                                       Wind
Peak in April and May                                                                                  Torn
                        30

                                                                                                       Total

                        20

                        10

                         0
                             Jan     Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec

Flash Flood Climatology SE Texas
Flash flooding can
occur any month out of
the year.

Peaks in Spring and in
Fall!

Galveston Waterspout/Tornado
August 2009

Waterspout came ashore, damaged Dolphin World
Shop and other buildings. Rated EF1 tornado.

Special Marine and Tornado Warnings issued.

Tornadic Waterspout
 May 2020 as Viewed
from Kemah, San Leon
                                         @OUSams

          https://saltwater-recon.com/

                                                   Roger Traugott

EF2 Willis, TX Dec 12th, 2015

Morgan’s Point Tornado (Video Courtesy Port of Houston)

EF-2 Friendswood   Halloween Tornadoes 2015 Early
                           Morning Hours

Pasadena EF2              LaPorte EF2

See a Flash, Dash
Inside!

Leon’s Lightning Safety Rules
       When thunderstorms are in the area,
            No Place Outside is Safe!
       Go inside a large permanent building, like a house or school
           Stay away from plumbing or electrical appliances.
           Don’t use corded telephones, except in emergencies.

             A hard topped metal vehicle is also safe
                 Convertibles, motorcycles and bicycles are NOT safe!

 Use the 30-30 Rule
     If you hear thunder within 30 seconds of seeing lightning, Go Indoors!
     Stay indoors for 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder.
                        When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!

                                                                          Start Game
           Visit the NOAA Lightning Safety website for more information

https://www.lightningsafetyalliance.com/leon_the_lightning_lion.html

Hail Damage/Injuries

                            @wyliebear1, Wylie TX
@YYCguy

AP

Hailstorm Hitchcock/
 Sante Fe April 2013

Cut and Shoot March 27, 2009

                               KTRK Viewer Photos

Indianapolis Stage Collapse
                                   7 Killed, 43 Injured

A spokesman gives the crowd instructions on how to
evacuate if the weather worsens just two minutes before the
stage collapsed

July 19, 2018

Severe Thunderstorm Winds! Duck Boat Accident 2018: 17 fatalities

                                                Duck Boat
                                                Accident

Hail/Wind Safety
• Get indoors into a sturdy
  structure
• Stay away from windows
• In in a car, stay in your
  vehicle; pull over to a safe
  location; encountering hail
  at high speeds → broken
  windshield
• Shelter your vehicle ahead
  of storm

                                 Baseball sized hail doing damage in AL

Stay Informed
• Web: weather.gov/houston
   – Hurricanes.gov
• Twitter: @NWSHouston
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/NWSHouston
• Youtube: youtube.com/NWSHouston
• Weather.gov/subscribe (list of weather apps, sites)
• Find your local emergency management websites and
  social media!

                   Questions?