Big storms really do聽keep meteorologists awake at night, but the most dangerous ones aren鈥檛 the epic disasters you see on聽the Weather Channel. No, the greatest threat to your safety likely isn鈥檛 a scale-topping hurricane or a tornado that scours a hole in the earth. Instead, it will be a聽preventable tragedy, the result of an everyday storm we ordinarily wouldn鈥檛 think twice about.聽
Take some examples that all happened this summer. Strong winds ahead of a severe thunderstorm in July on a lake near Branson, Missouri, killing 17 passengers鈥攖he highest death toll of any single U.S. thunderstorm since 24 people died in the EF-5 tornado that tore through Moore, Oklahoma, in 2013. Fourteen people were in August when a strong thunderstorm struck a casino in Oklahoma City where people were waiting for a concert to begin. Earlier that聽month, an intense in Colorado Springs injured 16 people when ice pelts as large as baseballs hit the area.
What can we learn from these incidents? The threat posed by storms聽at outdoor events is far greater than you might think鈥攂ut the harm is also entirely preventable. 聽
Now, I鈥檓 not here to feed potential weather phobias; I've spent years聽聽in a way that counters the hype you hear everywhere else. The weather on most days will behave normally and most people will get through most thunderstorms just fine. But things can change in a hurry and staying a step ahead of mercurial weather could make all the difference鈥攅specially if you鈥檙e going to be spending an extended amount of time outdoors.
The thing is, severe-weather warning systems聽have聽improved by leaps and bounds over the past few decades, which means you really have no excuse to venture outside鈥攂e it just into town or into the backcountry鈥攚ithout some inkling of what type of weather to expect. Weather models and forecasting techniques have advanced to the point that NOAA鈥檚 can issue accurate severe thunderstorm forecasts many days in advance.聽Doppler weather radar allows meteorologists to see damaging winds and tornadoes before they strike, giving people in harm鈥檚 way up to an hour of warning, in some cases. While meteorologists still have plenty of work to do on the 鈥攊t's around 70 percent for tornado warnings and 50 percent for severe thunderstorm warnings鈥攎ost dangerous storms are predicted accurately聽in advance.
You carry all this tech in your pocket. Modern smartphones are equipped with wireless emergency alerts that push flash flood and tornado warnings right to our screen with an annoying tone to catch our attention. Severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings also come across most reputable weather apps, television, and radio the moment they鈥檙e issued.
It鈥檚 up to us to hear and heed those warnings. Here are the best ways I鈥檝e found to do just that.
Check the聽Storm Prediction Center Website
The best way to keep up with severe weather forecasts is to check the 鈥檚 website at least once per day. The agency issues severe weather outlooks on a 1-5 scale ranging from 鈥渕arginal risk鈥 to 鈥渉igh risk.鈥 These forecasts are also relayed through local offices and local news broadcasts.
Download the RadarScope聽App
You can keep up with storms in real-time by downloading weather apps capable of displaying聽radar. The best app for this is RadarScope (found on and ). The only downside is that the app costs $9.99. I'd argue that $10聽is well worth it if you鈥檙e serious about tracking storms, but if you鈥檙e only looking for the location of storms at a glance, radar images from free apps like Weather Underground should work just fine.
Use Your Phone Like a Radio
Always keep your activated鈥攁t least for tornado warnings. You can also receive watches and warnings in real-time through any reputable app like those run by the Weather Channel, Weather Underground, AccuWeather, or WeatherBug. It鈥檚 also a great idea to have a on hand. These devices are like smoke detectors for the weather, sounding a loud siren when a watch or warning is activated for your preferred counties.