Tornado Emergency
When a large, extremely violent tornado is about to impact a densely populated area, the Weather Service has the option of issuing a severe weather statement with unofficial, enhanced wording; this is called a tornado emergency. This category of weather statement is the highest and most urgent level relating to tornadoes, albeit unofficially. The first tornado emergency was declared on Monday, May 3, 1999, when an F5 tornado did major damage in the Oklahoma City area. In some cases, like the F3 that struck the Indianapolis, IN area on Friday, September 20, 2002, a Tornado Emergency has been declared in the initial issuance of the Tornado Warning.
The levels of severity increase as follows:
- Convective Outlook mentioning tornado potential
- Public Severe Weather Outlook mentioning tornado potential
- Tornado Watch
- Particularly Dangerous Situation Tornado Watch
- Tornado Warning
- Tornado Emergency
Tornado warnings can also be intensified by added wording mentioning that the storm is life-threatening, that it is an extremely dangerous situation, that a large, violent and/or destructive tornado is on the ground, etc.
Read more about this topic: Tornado Warning
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