Because there has been so much interest pertaining to the second of my two books the past few days, I want to -- for the first time -- discuss the several negative, over the top 'reviews' posted at Amazon. All of these came from National Weather Service (NWS) employees and groupies (amazingly, the NWS has groupies). While they usually go a good job when tornadoes threaten, in this case the NWS's and local emergency management's operational errors on May 22, 2011, caused the Joplin tornado to produce  the only triple digit death toll from a single tornado since the federal civilian tornado warning program began in the late 1950's.  Rather than calmly discussing the points made in my book, there is a lot of mudslinging and over the top nonsense. Here is an example from one of the one-star reviews: ...[him] claiming that the NWS was issuing faulty forecasts of where the tornado was heading. Th[at] may well have been done... Even this one-star reviewer has...

There was a troubling article in the Washington Post  Thursday documenting the trend toward less accurate tornado warnings from the National Weather Service as compared with just ten years ago.  You can find the article here . Jason Samenow wrote a great article on a complex subject. However, there is one comment I wish to make and that is to advance another hypothesis as to the startling decline in NWS tornado warning accuracy: retirements. Most of my contemporaries from college and elsewhere who spent their careers in the National Weather Service retired several years ago. As a friend of mine says, "you can't teach experience." So, I believe the NWS may have an "experience gap" in addition to one or more of reasons offered in the article. At AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions , we do not  have the decline in tornado warning accuracy that is affecting the National Weather Service. If you wish to have excellent quality tornado warnings and warnings of othe...

Several times during WeatherCon (see below), I was asked about my "Joplin book." That book is When the Sirens Were Silent  which is the story of why more than 100 or so of the 161 people who died in the Joplin Tornado died unnecessarily due to serious flaws with the warnings that day. The book in paperback sold out within months of its release but we didn't believe there was sufficient interest to justify a second printing. A "long overdue call to action." So, we published it for Kindle , Nook and the free Kindle Cloud Reader at a bargain price ($2.99!) because we really want people to read it so this type of disaster will never occur again.

Mindy and I had a great time today talking about storm warnings for Dallas' WBAP Radio's WeatherCon. Lots and lots of great questions and interest about weather and, especially, about my book Warnings .  Thanks to everyone who came out today. Hope you get through the rest of storm season unscathed.

Here we go again. Southern Oklahoma and north central Texas (including the Metroplex) this afternoon and evening. You may recall that, for tornadoes, 5% (brown) is the threshold of a significant threat. In addition there is the threat of very large hail. For hail 1" in diameter, 15% (yellow) is the significant threat. The hatched area is where hail larger than 2" is forecast. Again, this includes the Metroplex. Note: I am on my way to Dallas today (see below) so I may or may not be able to update due to travel  considerations.

The folks at WBAP have been kind enough to invite me to speak at their 2017 "WeatherCon" this Saturday at 11am. The event is being held at the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field. It opens at 10am and continues until 3:30. A Google map is here . While I give talks all over the nation on various topics, I will be presenting my favorite talk Saturday. It is The Phantom Crashes  which is the terrific story of how Dr. Ted Fujita discovered and conquered the downburst, once the #1 cause of commercial airliner disasters. This is the talk that the late astronaut Gene Cernan called "the best he'd ever seen." Mindy and I will be there selling copies of Warnings  (autographs are free!) and we would love to have you come by the table talk with us. See you Saturday!!

Detroit and the surrounding area should keep an eye on the weather The caution extends to our friends in the Windsor, ONT area as well. The 5% (brown) area is a significant tornado risk, so please keep up on today's weather.