In an unspeakable tragedy, the government's warning system failed in Joplin, MO  the evening of May 22, 2011 -- 15 years ago today.  The Result? 161 Perished. Ruskin Heights Tornado about the time it was damaging my future bride's home.   The tornadohad a 71-mile path and was F-5 intensity. Photo from Wikipedia. May 20, 1957, was the date of the Ruskin Heights Tornado and the date the federal government (finally) got into the tornado warning business. Those warnings have saved tens of thousands of lives. On that Monday evening, the Weather Bureau's tornado warning was accurate and their tornado watch -- which had been issued hours earlier -- was right on the money.*  Over time, both the science (our knowledge of how tornadoes function and how best to warn of them) and the technology (radar, weather satellites, then Doppler radar) helped weather science cut the tornado death rate (deaths per million population) by a stunning 95% . Then, shockingly, it all collaps...

This past Friday, we had a great example of how a meteorologist can tell the difference between side-lobes (a false echo that mimics a tornado's circulation on radar) and one indicating a tornado is forming or in progress. I'm going to walk you through it so young meteorologists, in a similar case, won't make the mistake of mistaking side lobes for a tornado.  This case was in north central Texas on February 2nd. I'm using the Abilene/Sweetwater WSR-88D and the software is RadarScope. When I draw on one panel of the screen, it shows up on the other in the same place, so the measurements are about as exact as any in meteorology.  The Thunderstorm Cluster, 4:24pm Above is a cluster of thunderstorms with the two storms with arrows starting to transition to supercells. We already have the northern storm (just south of Aspermont)  moving north northeast. In a situation like this, the storm will likely be "a hailer" -- meaning it is likely to produce hail, possibly ...