April 27th funnel cloud northwest of Chancellorsville Battlefield
Until last Wednesday’s disaster the largest tornado outbreak the U.S. had seen was the so-called “Super Outbreak” of 1974. That 20th century historic weather event claimed over 300 lives and was a pivotal factor in the National Weather Service’s decision to deploy a nationwide array of Doppler capable weather radars. This technology has provided the public with advanced warnings of tornadoes and other severe weather that has saved countless lives. But what good is such technology and forecast techniques if the public doesn’t get the word?
This struck me first hand during last week’s April 27th tornado outbreak, during which over 300 people again were killed nationwide. Here in the Sterling National Weather Service forecast area the official total of tornadoes that day is 11 as shown in this summary. However that total could easily have been much higher than that as I witnessed funnel clouds on two separate storms in our area, both of which were tornado-warned. Of course this isn’t the only time the ‘Burg and surrounding counties have been under tornado warnings, and I have personally witnessed a number of funnel clouds and a couple of tornadoes that occurred on storms that had no warnings issued on them until I (or other spotters) called in a Skywarn report. The potential is there for a disastrous weather event to happen in the Fredericksburg area that could endanger lives among an unaware public.
What could be done to mitigate this risk? Just as the “Super Outbreak” of 1974 provided the impetus for Doppler radar deployment around the country, I feel strongly that last week’s tornadic outbreak and the resulting destruction should spur our local communities to apply for “Storm Ready” status from the National Weather Service. In our local area King George county has obtained that status, but neither the city of Fredericksburg nor Stafford or Spotsylvania counties have taken the necessary steps to qualify. The basics involve better communications, training, and planning, with a central office of responsibility. All the technology is available to prepare for weather disasters, so why shouldn’t we implement better measures to inform the public and possibly save lives? Severe weather DOES occur around here, and it does so more often than the average person realizes.
