tornado advisory terms

[Jonathan Lighter]

Exactly.

JL
On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 11:48 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: tornado advisory terms
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Up in NJ, a tornado warning means a tornado, or at least the
> indication of one on radar.
>
>
> http://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=phi&wwa=tornado%20warning
>
> AT 1133 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO
> INDICATE A TORNADO. THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR CHESTER...OR 11
> MILES WEST OF MORRISTOWN...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
>
> DanG
>
> On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 10:55 AM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: tornado advisory terms
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Yeah, but get this. Every fifteen minutes last night we were
> > getting "Tornado Warnings" from the National Weather Service in
> Morristown,
> > TN.  To my surprise, each one of these warnings (and they were indeed
> called
> > "Tornado Warnings" both on screen and in the voiceover) was a warning for
> > "severe thunderstorms that could produce tornadoes."  More startling, the
> > voiceover went on to say "This tornado will be at X at such-and-such a
> time,
> > at Y, etc., etc.," The word "tornado" was explicitly used even when there
> > was no tornado. And, fortunately, there mostly wasn't.
> >
> > To use "tornado" to mean "violent thunderstorm" can only lead to
> confusion
> > and possibly worse. In fact, in my day (i.e., before this year) a
> "Tornado
> > Warning" was indeed issued only when a funnel cloud (aloft or on the
> ground)
> > had actually been sighted. Anything short of that was a "Tornado Watch,"
> > which would be issued if tornado-spawning thunderstorms were possible.
> > (Actual advancing thunderstorms came under the heading of "Severe
> > Thunderstorm Warning.")
> >
> > I don't understand (and therefore fear) the change in terminology.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 10:33 AM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> > > Subject:      tornado advisory terms
> > >
> > >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > Having spent a harrowing night among tornadoes, I notice this morning
> that
> > > standard dictionaries (including the OED) fail to record the quite
> widespead
> > > use of two complementary weather terms:  "tornado (or storm) watch" vs.
> > > "tornado (or storm) warning."
> > >
> > > A "watch" is announced when conditions are specifically propitious for
> the
> > > meteorological event.  A "warning" is issued, more urgently, when the
> event
> > > is actually occurring in the vicinity--as when a tornado has been seen
> at
> > > ground level.  The terms and the distinction may be somewhat technical,
> but
> > > they are commonly employed by government agencies and the media, and
> they
> > > are expected to be understood by the public--whose lives may depend on
> the
> > > understanding!
> > >
> > > --Charlie
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org