Thunderstorm Safety and Preparedness
By Jonathan Erdman
2 days ago
At a Glance
- There are simple steps everyone can take to be prepared when severe weather strikes.
- That includes knowing where to take shelter if a warning is issued.
- It also means you need multiple ways of receiving watches and warnings.
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Severe weather safety requires planning ahead of time to ensure you're both aware of the forecast and can also receive watches and warnings from the National Weather Service.
A recent example: Destructive hail up to the size of softballs and winds up to 90 mph swept through parts of the Carolinas on April 20, 2024. Rock Hill, South Carolina, was particularly hard hit.
One Rock Hill resident told the Associated Press, "There was just zero warning that it was gonna hit."
But that wasn't true. The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning 26 minutes before it arrived in Rock Hill.
(For even more granular weather data tracking in your area, view your 15-minute details forecast in our Premium Pro experience.)
Rarely "strikes without warning": It's cliché and it usually isn't the case. The National Weather Service almost always has a warning in effect for severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and flash flooding.
For example, the NWS-Indianapolis office had warnings in effect for 92% of all severe thunderstorm, tornado or flash flood events in central Indiana in 2023, according to its report.
So, what may have been a "struck without warning" case may have instead been a case of "not receiving the warning."
How you can be prepared: First, you should know where you'll go in case a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning is issued, whether you live in a home, apartment, manufactured home, are at work or driving.
Next, you need to have not just one, but a few ways of receiving watches and warnings, including NOAA Weather Radio, an alert from your smartphone, and local media sources such as radio or TV.
Don't count on an outdoor siren to warn you inside your home, or wake you at night. Tornado sirens are meant to warn those outdoors to seek shelter. You may live too far away from the nearest siren to hear it.
(Further beef up your forecast with our detailed, hour-by-hour breakdown for the next 8 days – only available on our Premium Pro experience.)
Turn on alerts: One great use of a weather app is its ability to alert you when the NWS issues a watch or warning.
Here are instructions on how to turn on NWS alerts within The Weather Channel app.
The most serious NWS warnings, such as tornado warnings and flash flood emergencies, will trigger a wireless emergency alert on your phone. You can make sure those are turned on by looking for "Government Alerts" in your notification settings.
Check your forecast: With all the above steps taken care of, you just need to see if severe thunderstorms are possible in your area.
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On The Weather Channel app, if you see a day with a lightning icon, tap on that day to get more forecast details and see if it mentions a "potential for severe thunderstorms."
If severe weather is possible within a couple of days, you can check the "Hourly" forecast to see when the threat is.
If it's forecast to happen at night, make sure the "Do Not Disturb" feature on your smartphone is turned off at night, so any watches and warnings can wake you up. Make sure your smartphone is fully charged, as well.
On the day of severe weather: Now that you're aware of the threat, you just need to keep your smartphone with you as you go about your day.
Not all severe thunderstorms occur with a watch in effect.
But, if either a severe thunderstorm or tornado watch is issued for your area, The Weather Channel app will alert you. That means conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms or tornadoes in your area, usually within six hours or less.
If you'd like to see if thunderstorms have already formed or if warnings have been issued for nearby areas, you can always tap on "Radar" in The Weather Channel app and turn on "Severe Alerts" to give you perhaps a little more heads up on what may be coming.
Take action when a warning is issued: When your local NWS office issues a warning for your area, you'll get an alert on The Weather Channel app.
This is when you need to act on the plan you developed before the storm and take shelter immediately. Don't waste precious seconds or minutes looking out the window thinking you may see something. The storm may be moving fast or just turned severe and you may not have as much time as you think.
Stay in your shelter until the NWS either cancels or expires the warning in your area.
The severe weather threat will have ended once the watch either expires or has been cleared.
If you follow these tips, it's unlikely you'll get surprised by a severe thunderstorm. You'll also see that most severe weather strikes "with warning."
MORE ON WEATHER.COM
- What Makes A Storm Severe
- 15 Severe Safety Tips That Could Save Your Life
- What Meteorologists Call Types Of Tornadoes
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. His lifelong love of meteorology began with a close encounter with a tornado as a child in Wisconsin. He completed a Bachelor's degree in physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then a Master's degree working with dual-polarization radar and lightning data at Colorado State University. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on X (formerly Twitter), Threads, Facebook and Bluesky.
