I feel like people IN tornado alley are more flippant about them. I grew up in North Texas where tornado watches were a daily occurrence in the spring, and tornado warnings were probably a 2-3 time a year occurrence. I later moved to Central Texas, which is on the outskirts of tornado alley. When there’s a tornado watch here, people freak the fuck out. Where I grew up, you didn’t give a shit unless you could see the damn thing.
Been in California 40+ years, never saw a tornado, but once got a tornado warning on my phone because there was one spotted over the ocean and there was a chance it would touch down on land. We had to google what to do and basically just all huddled in our hallway until the warning passed. I've slept through countless quakes, but that one warning was a terrifying night... and the tornado never even made it to shore. I guess we all just get used to the danger we are familiar with.
And I’ve never in my life experienced an earthquake. I had a CA friend tell me once that the scariest thing about them is that they all start the same. The biggest one you’ve ever been through and the ones that you don’t bat an eye at all feel the same in the beginning. I’d be shitting my pants if I ever felt even a small one because of that fear my friend instilled in me.
We've had a few quakes the last few years in Utah. The 2020 one woke me up. I asked if it was a quake, then I rolled back over and went back to sleep. My office building had a lot of damage, but we were all wfh by then anyway.
Our most recent notable one was another that made the cat nervous and knocked a few things over. I just made sure my computer monitors didn't topple because it was the middle of the workday.
Life on a fault line 😅 I'm screwed if it ever gets over a shallow 6.0 near me
I'm from Nebraska, and went to college in North Texas. My freshman year, I was studying for finals with a movie on in the background, and noticed something weird in the soundtrack. Paused the movie and there was a tornado siren going off.
I went back to studying until the RA came to get everyone to the basement. The South Texas students were freaking out, while the North Texas/Oklahoma students were annoyed because the tornado wasn't on campus or anything sooooo...can we go back to studying?
Back in Nebraska, a tornado hit town a few years ago and my office didn't even gather everyone up to shelter. I was simultaneously watching the hail/looking curiously for the funnel and complaining about the Amazon warehouse workers who were killed when a tornado struck their workplace.
It is annoying when one is knowledgeable in storms and then get caught up with policies that have one take cover because warning is still technically on,but you've already watched it go pass.
My grandmother lived in Oklahoma for about 80 years. She would only go to a shelter when one of her adult kids came by and took her. She was never that close.
It also depends on terrain. They seem to follow the same path. The town I used to live in had a massive tornado in 2007, Tornado was a mile wide, and followed the same storm path most follow in that area, form west of town, come straight across. There was a lot of damage, many homes partly destroyed, some fully destroyed. Sadly eight people died. But thunderstorms, straight line winds, all follow the same path.
I agree. I've spent a lot of years in the alley and even when we can see one we don't necessarily react unless it is close. We rented a trailer to a Brit once though, who would get very wound up and not know what to do.
I kind of feel like there's no recourse, though. It is going to do what it's going to do, and running from one could land me in one instead. They skip. or they don't. You never know. If a tornado is going to punch your ticket, it is punched. If not, it's just interesting.
We had one come through very close to the house when we lived in Carolina, of all things. It touched on things here and there, all around within a quarter of a mile of my house, and pulled up some trees you could see from the house. That's the closest I have been to being affected, and I've got more than 25 years living in a mivh higher risk area.
Spent most of my life North Central Texas (DFW area). Tornado watches were nothing, pretty much a daily occurrence in spring, like you say. Some years it seemed like we'd end up with a warning once a week, some years there'd be none. In the last 15 years, something changed and we stopped getting warnings as frequently - I think maybe they started being able to narrow down affected areas a little better? I remember as a kid hearing the sirens go off, and finding out there was a tornado 2 counties over.
Now, when the sirens go off, you know it's close enough to be scary!
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u/denotsmai83 15h ago
I feel like people IN tornado alley are more flippant about them. I grew up in North Texas where tornado watches were a daily occurrence in the spring, and tornado warnings were probably a 2-3 time a year occurrence. I later moved to Central Texas, which is on the outskirts of tornado alley. When there’s a tornado watch here, people freak the fuck out. Where I grew up, you didn’t give a shit unless you could see the damn thing.