2012 Hurricane Season Teaches Tornado Lessons

The 2012 Hurricane Season, which ended November 30, will of course be remembered for Hurricane Sandy just in the same vein that the 2005 Season is most remembered by Katrina.  Sandy, a very well forecast Tropical then 'Extra-tropical' cyclone changed the landscape of much of the Northeastern United States and will have done so for generations.  Prolific flooding, storm surges of huge amounts of water into areas residents did not expect flooding, and an unprecedentedly impactful hit on the "city that doesn't sleep" certainly brought a new respect for these tropical systems to this and following generations.  Other than the potential strength of these Hurricane/Nor'easters, there was another lesson learned this season in a smaller and less impactful tropical storm that raked across the state of Florida by a lesser headlined storm, Tropical Storm Debby. (See WeatherCall Affiliate Station WTSP 10 News coverage here.)

In that is was the 7th straight year for no major hurricane (Category 3-5) made landfall on United States soil, Tropical Storm Debby produced a series of tornadoes even before making any landfall.  This is not uncommon, to the right of the center of tropical storms and hurricanes, but Florida residents were reminded of the surprising frequency of tornadoes with tropical storms.  At its highest wind speeds, Debby was 'only' a 60 mile per hour tropical storm.  In this interesting link to the National Hurricane Center, Debby's forecast is shown first moving west, then north, before changing direction entirely and moving across the northern Florida peninsula. But as Debby sat in the Gulf of Mexico, it continued to pound much of Florida with heavy rains.  It brought rains that the drought ridden state had desparately needed.  Unfortunately, what is fairly common with tropical systems near land, many of these rain bands produce DANGEROUS TORNADOES as shown on the graphic on the left (Click for larger image).  This June 24, 2012 outbreak spawned 11 confirmed tornadoes resulting in one fatality.

The good news is that the 2012 Hurricane Season has finally come to an end, and we can let our guard down from this threat for until June.  However, remember that while tornadoes have formed every month of the year, the perfect gift of Peace of Mind is a WeatherCall Gift Card to a friend or loved one.  They work everywhere the National Weather Service issues tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings.  Learn more about this potentially life saving gift here.

Brad Huffines, AMS Meteorologist, National Notification Consultant, Media/Industry/Web, WeatherCall