Though the warning time for severe weather has grown steadily with better technology, tornadoes and damaging wind and hail still strike unannounced. Storm Prediction Center updates outlook. Devices that detect lightning and impending tornadoes could be used now.
Storm spotters report.
The average warning for a tornado with winds of 158 mph or faster the kind that account for most deaths is 18 minutes, about triple a decade ago. Its goal was to find links among precipitation production, lightning generation and wind motion inside the most ferocious thunderstorms on Earth. Supercells come in at least three types, based loosely on their look and, more importantly, on how much precipitation they harvest. Even these leave scientists puzzled, however, says his colleague, Steve Rutledge of Colorado State University. Quite frankly, we don t understand the environmental conditions that set up to allow either an LP or an HP storm to form.