This Week is Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week
Monday, April 21st, 2014 -- 9:41 AM
-Clark County Emergency Management, Wisconsin Emergency Management, ReadyWisconsin and the National Weather Service have teamed up for Wisconsin?s Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week, this week, April 21st-25th.John Ross, Clark County Emergency Management Director, talked about the mock tornado watch and warning taking place on Thursday.
John said, "The tornado drill itself is planned for Thursday, April 24th. There will be a mock tornado watch issued state wide at around 1pm and at approximately 1:45 then a mock tornado warning will be issued. If there is severe weather in the state of Wisconsin on Thursday, the drill will be postponed until Friday. If there's bad weather on Friday, then the drill will be canceled. Having said that, if there's cloudy skies, the drill will go on as planned, as long as there is no severe weather in the area."
John hopes that everyone will take the opportunity to practice.
"I would encourage everyone to practice their procedures for sheltering when a tornado warning is issued," said John. "Know where the shelter areas are, not only at home, but at school or at your place of employment. It's good practice. It's once a year that we do it, I would encourage people to practice more than once a year, but, at a minimum, during the statewide tornado drill. And if you can't do at that time, pick another time to do it."
In a typical Wisconsin year, the state usually sees about 23 tornadoes. However, there are outliers.
John said, "Statistics show that Wisconsin averages about 23 tornadoes each year. Obviously that's an average, some years are higher, some years are lower. In 2013, the weather service reported 16 tornadoes touched down in Wisconsin. 6 of them happened one evening on August 6th and 7th. That was a particularly active night for storms. However, in 2012, there were only 4 tornadoes reported in Wisconsin by the National Weather Service. In 2011, 38 tornadoes, so you can see where the number fluctuates. Normal tornado season in Wisconsin is generally considered April to August. Tornadoes can happen any time. In January of 2008, there was a tornado in Kenosha, Wisconsin, so they can come at any time of the year."
Once again that mock tornado watch and warning will occur on Thursday, April 24th between 1pm-2pm.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.