Unusual severe storm warning issued for U.S.
April 14, 2012
MIDWEST – Forecasters are taking the unusual steps of warning Americans 24 hours in advance just how bad a â€ślife-threateningâ€ť system of storms could be that are expected to start tearing through the Midwest starting Saturday afternoon, in a path ranging from Minnesota to Texas to Oklahoma. Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, is projected to receive the brunt of the damage, which could include thunderstorms, tornadoes and base-ball size hail. Here are some details on why these early warnings â€“ which came on Friday â€“ are so unusual. What happened the last time: The first high-risk warning more than a day early came in April 2006, when nearly 100 tornadoes tore across the southeastern U.S. In all, a dozen people died and more than 1,000 homes were damaged in Tennessee. The weather service is now testing words such as â€śmass devastation,â€ť â€śunsurvivableâ€ť and â€ścatastrophicâ€ť aimed at getting more people to take heed. The warnings are being experimented with in Kansas and Missouri. The â€ślife-threateningâ€ť warning for this round of storms, despite the dire language, was not part of that effort but just the most accurate way to describe what was expected, a weather service spokeswoman said. This is only the second time in U.S. history that the National Weather Service has issued a severe storm warning 24 hours in advance- a clear indication of the seriousness of the threat. People in affected areas should seek shelter immediately if life-threatening storms or severe weather approaches. â€“The Extinction Protocol