Buzzwords you could hear during severe weather
FOX Weather meteorologists use technical terms to describe weather phenomena. Here is a quick glossary of terms you may hear during severe weather coverage.
Watch vs. Warning: Here are the differences between the two
The primary goal of any statement issued by the NWS is to protect life and property.
When severe weather strikes, the FOX Weather team provides coverage of these storms as they unfold. Here is a guide of some of the words you may hear our meteorologists say while talking about severe weather.
Dust devil
They grow from the ground when the sun heats up the surface of one spot more than another, causing air to rise quickly. Different wind speeds at different altitudes may cause the rising column of air to spin. The rotating column then picks up dirt and debris along the surface.
Dust devils are generally smaller and less intense than a tornado, according to the National Weather Service. They typically span 10 to 300 feet across and stretch 500 to 1000 feet into the air.
Even though they may not be classified as a tornado, dust devils can still do damage.
Take a look at how the dust devil dwarfed cars.
(Charlie Fayers via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Funnel cloud
A forming tornado is called a funnel cloud before it hits the ground. Once the funnel touches down, it is called a tornado. Not all funnel clouds become tornadoes.
Funnel cloud spotted from Disney
(Joey Boudreaux)
Hook echo
When a hook echo is seen on the radar, it is an indication that a tornado is likely associated with a thunderstorm. This is one of the signatures that helps provide meteorologists with "radar confirmation" of a tornado.
This is radar of a tornado of an EF 5 tornado in Oklahoma. Take a look at the hook on the left which is a classic tornado signature on radar. The bright red is actually car parts, branches anything lifted thousands of feet into the air by the tornado's vortex, according to the NWS.
(NWS / Norman / NOAA)
Landspout
Landspouts occur when winds at the surface collide. They will begin to make their own vortex, and then a developing thunderstorm passes overhead.
Updrafts from the passing thunderstorm will pull this rotating vortex skyward, giving it a tornado-like appearance.
Multi-vortex tornado
A tornado with two or more condensation funnels at the same time is a multi-vortex tornado. They also often rotate around a common center or parent circulation or each other. These tornadoes can be especially damaging, according to the NWS.
Multi-vortex tornado seen in the Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans East, on March 22, 2022.
(FOX Weather/WVUE / FOX Weather)
Particularly Dangerous Situation
The NWS will issue a Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) Watch or Warning to highlight a significant threat of severe weather.
"PDS Tornado Watches are issued when the forecaster has high confidence that multiple strong (EF2-EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale) or violent tornadoes (EF4-EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale) will occur in the watch area," FOX Weather meteorologist Greg Diamond said. "There is no specific criteria to issuing one. It is at the discretion of the forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center."
WHAT IS A ‘PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION’?
What is a 'Particularly Dangerous Situation' Tornado Watch or Warning?
PDS Tornado Watches are issued when the forecaster has high confidence that multiple strong or violent tornadoes will occur in the watch area.
Tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that drops from a cloud and touches the ground. It forms within a supercell thunderstorm due to the up and downdrafts creating wind shear (wind that changes directions or speed with height) and starts the column spinning.
THIS IS THE LIFE CYCLE OF A TORNADO
Tornadoes can occur year-round, but the most likely time for outbreaks is in the spring, with a second tornado season in the fall.
Georgia tornado from April 6, 2022
(Brandon Copic/LSM)
Tornado Alley
Tornadoes can occur anywhere in the world.
Twisters are more common across the U.S., from the Plains to the Appalachians. An area between the Great Plains and the Midwest was nicknamed "tornado alley" by two Air Force weather officers stationed in Oklahoma in 1948.
Cold dry air from the Rockies mixes with warm dry air from Mexico and warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. The combination can sometimes create severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
TORNADO ALLEY: 7 THINGS TO KNOW
Clash of the Air Masses makes Tornado Alley a classic weather set-up for tornado formation.
(FOX Weather)
Tornado Emergency
The NWS rarely issues a Tornado Emergency when there is a, "severe threat to human life and catastrophic damage are imminent or ongoing," from a confirmed tornado.
"The way we need to think of it is an enhanced tornado warning, the National Weather Service calling extra special attention to this cell, and its potentially dangerous tornado on the ground, said Brigit Mahoney on FOX Weather.
Tornado outbreak
A tornado outbreak is generally a cluster of tornadoes occurring in the same period of time. NOAA calls it 10 or more tornadoes from a single, organized weather system. Here is how a tornado outbreak happens.
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Map showing the locations of the 79 Tornado Warnings during a tornado outbreak issued between Nov. 29-30, 2022.
(FOX Weather)
Watches and warnings
The NWS issues advisories, watches and warnings. A watch means that conditions are right, for example, for tornado formation. If a tornado is imminent or on the ground a Tornado Warning is issued.
WATCH VS. WARNING: HERE ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THESE WEATHER TERMS THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE
You can set up notification alerts on your FOX Weather app. to be alerted no matter where you are.
Waterspout
A waterspout is a rotating column of wind over the water. It can be tornadic and drop from the cloud. If a tornadic waterspout makes landfall, it is called a tornado.
A fair-weather waterspout forms at the water and stretches up to a cloud similar to the way a dust devil forms on land.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TORNADO, WATERSPOUT, LANDSPOUT AND DUST DEVIL?
Four waterspouts spin off the Spanish island of Majorca on Sept. 16, 2022.
(Anton Adanero Guinea / FOX Weather)
Wedge tornado
A wedge tornado is actually a slang term for a large tornado that is at least as wide as it is tall. Ropes and cones are other types of tornadoes.
Wedge tornado from Kansas.
(Heather Brinkmann/FOX Weather / FOX Weather)