Weather Watches and Warnings
There are four types of severe weather condition announcements people need to know and how to take action if they hear them:
Tornado watch: Conditions are favorable for a tornado. People should be alert for approaching storms.
Tornado warning: A tornado is imminent or has been sighted. People should seek shelter immediately.
Severe thunderstorm watch: Conditions are favorable for a thunderstorm and damaging straight-line winds or large hail.
Severe thunderstorm warning: Severe thunderstorms with damaging straight-line winds and large hail are imminent or occurring.
- By Brian Gray
MONROE - Weather spotters and weather enthusiasts in Green and Lafayette counties were able to learn the signs of severe weather this week.
Anton Kapela taught classes in Monroe, Monticello and Darlington Tuesday and Wednesday to explain what to look for when it comes to severe weather.
Kapela has been a warning coordination meteorologist for more than 30 years and has always been interested in weather.
He compared his job to an emergency room doctor when a severe weather report is announced.
"Phones are ringing and there's a lot going on," Kapela said. "Decisions have to made whether to issue a warning or not."
Kapela said it's important people be able to understand what they're looking at when they see dark clouds and feel the weather begin to change.
"Weather spotters are taught to recognize cloud features that indicate tornados or heavy rains, large hail and damaging winds," he said.
With Tornado Awareness Week just a month away, April 20-25, it's a good time for people to be aware of what to look for, Kapela added.
Tornados have been recorded in every month except for February, Kapela said. There were two tornados in January, he added. Neither of them resulted in serious injuries. Still, it's unusual to have tornados in January, he said.
The number of tornados vary from year to year and there's no way to know how many will take place in any given year.
Kapela said there were 18 tornados in 2007, 13 in 2006 and 62 in 2005. In 2005 a tornado caused extensive damage in Stoughton.
Knowing which cloud formations will likely result in tornados and which will cause heavy rains or damaging winds is important, Kapela said.
He said this year the National Weather Service is doing something different when it issues severe weather warnings.
Instead of issuing them for an entire county, they will be issued for specific parts of a county. For example, if a tornado is spotted near New Glarus, a tornado warning will be issued for only the northern half of the county.
It's entirely possible people who live in the southern half of the county won't experience the severe weather, Kapela said.
"The warnings are going to be more specific," he said.
More information is available at www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx or at www.weather.gov/milwaukee.
Anton Kapela taught classes in Monroe, Monticello and Darlington Tuesday and Wednesday to explain what to look for when it comes to severe weather.
Kapela has been a warning coordination meteorologist for more than 30 years and has always been interested in weather.
He compared his job to an emergency room doctor when a severe weather report is announced.
"Phones are ringing and there's a lot going on," Kapela said. "Decisions have to made whether to issue a warning or not."
Kapela said it's important people be able to understand what they're looking at when they see dark clouds and feel the weather begin to change.
"Weather spotters are taught to recognize cloud features that indicate tornados or heavy rains, large hail and damaging winds," he said.
With Tornado Awareness Week just a month away, April 20-25, it's a good time for people to be aware of what to look for, Kapela added.
Tornados have been recorded in every month except for February, Kapela said. There were two tornados in January, he added. Neither of them resulted in serious injuries. Still, it's unusual to have tornados in January, he said.
The number of tornados vary from year to year and there's no way to know how many will take place in any given year.
Kapela said there were 18 tornados in 2007, 13 in 2006 and 62 in 2005. In 2005 a tornado caused extensive damage in Stoughton.
Knowing which cloud formations will likely result in tornados and which will cause heavy rains or damaging winds is important, Kapela said.
He said this year the National Weather Service is doing something different when it issues severe weather warnings.
Instead of issuing them for an entire county, they will be issued for specific parts of a county. For example, if a tornado is spotted near New Glarus, a tornado warning will be issued for only the northern half of the county.
It's entirely possible people who live in the southern half of the county won't experience the severe weather, Kapela said.
"The warnings are going to be more specific," he said.
More information is available at www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx or at www.weather.gov/milwaukee.