Wichita Kansas and tornados
Wife and I will being staying in Wichita Kansas in May. We are concerned about tornados. Are we overreacting ? Any advice would be appreciated.
Forum Discussion
One thing you will find in Oklahoma and Kansas, is that when the weather gets rough, the local TV stations interrupt regular broadcasting, and just do weather until the threat passes. Even if that means all night. No commercials, JUST weather - alternating between broadcasts from the studio and airborne/ground spotters. It is amazing. They will zoom in on the storms, right down to the street intersections, and show you exactly which direction it is going. As long as you know where you are in reference to their map, you should be able to evaluate how much danger you are in.
NOAA weather radios are good, but they just repeat info plugged into them. It is VERY hard to discern where the storms are just by using a weather radio if you are unfamiliar with the area/counties. Also, unless you have your weather radio set for the alerts in the counties surrounding you, it will be going off for every warning within it's signal range, even if that warning is 100+ miles away. I would suggest you rely more on the local TV channels.
The technology is present now to allow forecasters to "know" when the storms will be bad. The forecasters then share this info, and make sure the public knows the area is at an increased risk for dangerous tornados. If you here them discussing how tomorrow evening might be bad, take note, they aren't kidding....
Hopefully, your campground owner will be a local native, and he/she will know what you need to do. Ask when you check in - sometimes there are local public shelters, though often you cannot take pets. The campground *may* have a tornado shelter on the property, but don't bank on it. The construction requirements and associated insurance costs make shelters pretty impossible for the private owner. At least that was our experience up until our family sold our campground in 2007.
NOAA weather radios are good, but they just repeat info plugged into them. It is VERY hard to discern where the storms are just by using a weather radio if you are unfamiliar with the area/counties. Also, unless you have your weather radio set for the alerts in the counties surrounding you, it will be going off for every warning within it's signal range, even if that warning is 100+ miles away. I would suggest you rely more on the local TV channels.
The technology is present now to allow forecasters to "know" when the storms will be bad. The forecasters then share this info, and make sure the public knows the area is at an increased risk for dangerous tornados. If you here them discussing how tomorrow evening might be bad, take note, they aren't kidding....
Hopefully, your campground owner will be a local native, and he/she will know what you need to do. Ask when you check in - sometimes there are local public shelters, though often you cannot take pets. The campground *may* have a tornado shelter on the property, but don't bank on it. The construction requirements and associated insurance costs make shelters pretty impossible for the private owner. At least that was our experience up until our family sold our campground in 2007.
