Storm Reports

Comments emerged on our Facebook page asking why we were not reporting tornadoes that other outlets were reporting.
One "tornado" report came from a location that was not experiencing a storm at the time of the call (storms were one county to the west).

Other reports were based on wind damage.  Straight line winds can reach over 80 mph, similar speeds to that of tornadoes, but they go in a line versus a twist pattern (tornado).  Sometimes, straight line winds can produce damage worse and much more widespread than weak tornadoes.

All indications on the radar showed wind damage being produced, but no tornadoes.  That is why there were many severe t-storm warnings--for the winds.

We will not report every call about tornadoes since many are false or misidentified.  We have received viewer photos of "tornadoes in their neighborhood" when in fact they are sending in pictures obtained on the web.  Last summer, a viewer sent in a (very famous) picture taken in Florida in the 1990s claiming it was a local tornado.

The tornadoes from the other weekend showed up very well on radar, and we had multiple eyewitness accounts from trained spotters.  That was a completely different situation than tonight.