What was the warning time for the incredibly devastating Oklahoma tornado?

My local news (not in Oklahoma, so I guess they can say whatever they want) reported a 16 minute heads up.

They said it was a longer warning time than in the big storms of 1999. And as I recall everybody then said the warning probably decreased fatalities.

I would argue it is less about climate change, and more about living in “Tornado Alley”. Sort of like people in Florida wondering what’s up with all the hurricanes.

I heard 16 minutes as well. Also, after Sunday’s tornadoes, they said there was more to come. That wasn’t really a warning perse, but it did let people know the bad weather wasn’t over yet.

Here, from an emergency weather warning service I get at work:

The tornado that formed west of Moore, Oklahoma yesterday went from EF-1 to EF-4 strength within 10–15 minutes, responding to favorable conditions aloft (powerful wind shear coupled with an explosively unstable atmosphere).

Tornado Watches were posted roughly 2 hours ahead of time, Tornado Warnings issued by the OKC NWS at least 30 minutes in advance.

The problem? If you don’t have a basement or underground shelter the odds of surviving a direct hit from an EF-4 are small – even well constructed brick and mortar homes can be scraped down to foundation with an EF-4’s 180–200 mph winds

@josie, the people talking about climate change are NOT simply referring to the simple fact that there was a tornado in “tornado alley,” but rather the fact of the severity of the tornado and the frequency of similar storms. A tornado this severe is not something we saw often just a few decades ago.

@GracieT
A tornado this severe is not something we saw often just a few decades ago.

How do you know that?
The Fujita scale wasn’t even in use until the 70s. The EF scale was not used in the US until five years ago.
The 10 deadliest tornadoes in the US occured before 1955, and three or four of those were in the 19th century.
Were tornadoes that occurred 300 years ago mild windstorms in comparison to today. How do you know?

Seems to me that time wasn’t the issue here, more pressing was the woefully inadequate buildings, which considering they’re located slap bang in the middle of “tornado alley” surely should’ve used stronger building materials, they looked like they came apart like matchsticks.

Personally, I think that Climate Change / Global Warming has altered our weather patterns & it is leading to increased devastation from the tornadoes that form. If people do not have access to a storm shelter, then their chances of getting blown to pieces increases. I think that construction should begin immediately on rooms in schools to be storm-proof. We have the technology to build structures like this, but too frequently this is a consideration that is not addressed – just like school buses are not required to have seat belts. People tend to live in areas that are prone to tornadoes because it is where their families are & where their jobs are. Too many of us simply do not have the financial funds to relocate out of ‘tornado alley’, just like the people in Florida & Louisiana are vulnerable to hurricanes, many of them do not have the funds to move to a safer location. All of us are vulnerable to the ‘wrath of nature’.

I’m listening to the Oklahoma governor on CNN right now.

There was also new information on German news. A water pipe broke near the school’s shelter.

Climate change might make severe tornado more likely, not tornadoes as such, some scientist was quoted.

Is it true that some schools there didn’t have shelters?? Can’t believe this.

@mattbrowne I’ve heard that was true; however, I don’t know if there is much that can be done about that. Many schools can easily have 1000+ students (my school 3x that), and I don’t know if it is possible to build a shelter to house those many people.

@PhiNotPi It is possible, just not very likely without a public outcry.

But here is a thought, why not combine the two? Put the schools in shelters underground in areas prone to tornadoes. Then not only will the kids be safer but they can be opened to the public during emergencies.

I found this Link on Climate Change / Global Warming contributing to tornado formation

http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2013/05/21/are-there-more-tornadoes-because-of-global-warming/

You might find this to be interesting reading.

@PhiNotPi – How can Oklahoman politicians refuse to raise taxes in order to pay for the building of shelters in every school inside Tornado Alley? How can Oklahoma citizens vote for politicians that do not make building shelters for school children a top priority? The more I think about the event, the more I am convinced that we can’t blame nature for the death of the school children. We have to blame the adults. The will be more EF4 and EF5 tornadoes. Especially in Tornado Alley. In Moore there was one in 1999. Why didn’t the local people learn from this? I’m stunned. I saw a lot of expensive damaged cars. Plenty of gas-guzzling SUVs. Why not drive smaller cars and spend the saved money on shelters? The dead children should be a dire warning.

@Linda_Owl – Excellent article, thanks for sharing this!

@mattbrowne I have wondered the same thing about folks who live in hurricane prone locations.

The two senators from Oklahoma, Imhoff and Coburn are very anti-FEMA, wanting to drastically cut its’ budget and scale it back. FEMA was in Moore the very next day.
They also voted against Sandy Relief. Article . It will be interesting to see how they vote for aid to Moore.

Apparently many people do not have shelters and if you’re the person who has put one in, you might have 30 people sheltering in there.

I tend to agree with people like @mattbrowne who say the schools at least should have had a shelter. I would also say future regulations should insist on higher building standard and the inclusion of shelters. Even if they’re community shelters. Tornadoes in Tornado Alley shouldn’t be a surprise and should be prepared for.

@Bellatrix – If people are really poor and cannot afford a tornado shelter in their home, we can’t blame them. But I suspect some of them are not that poor (from the tv footage I saw), but prefer to spend their money on stuff they don’t really need, like big fancy cars, when more inexpensive ones would get them from A to B just fine.

The government can make sure there are community shelters. It can also be a requirement of developers who are building new residential estates. It can be part of the building regulations. I do agree that there will be some people who can’t afford to put a shelter in after the fact or put it off preferring to think ‘it’ will never happen to them.

We have similar discussions here about bush fire areas and flood prone zones. Should people be allowed to build in those areas or should there be requirements for fireproof shelters etc.