Step One- Locate a TV if possible.
We understand that you will not always have access to a television or a weather radio. If you have no way of getting weather information or staying weather aware, using Twitter can be a helpful resource.
Step Two- Find your local National Weather Service’s account.
If more information is needed to stay weather aware, there are other accounts that concentrate on certain things, such as tornadoes and hurricanes.
Your local National Weather Service and local news stations will post information relating to local weather events such as wind and snow. While bigger weather events have their own information accounts, they should still be covered and posted by your local National Weather Service.
Step Three- If the Severe Weather is Tornadic, find the NWS Tornado Account.
Located below is an example of what you would see posted on the NWS Tornado Twitter account.
If a warning is issued for your area, you need to seek shelter immediately. If you have a tornado shelter, get into it. If in a building without a tornado shelter, get down to the lowest floor and into a room furthest from exterior walls and windows. If you are outside, get inside. If you are in a car and the tornado is far enough away, try to change direction and move away from the tornado (The Weather Channel). If the tornado is too close and it is not safe to try to outrun it, try to find a ditch or low-lying area, and get away from any vehicles. If it is not safe to leave the vehicle, duck down underneath the windshield and the windows and cover your head. The National Weather Service advises keeping your seatbelt on and protecting your head from any glass if it breaks. The most vital piece of advice offered is that if you must ride out the tornado in the car, do not take shelter under an overpass. The reason why you shouldn’t take shelter under an overpass is because the wind is actually more substantial here, and you become stationary when you should be on high alert for flying pieces of debris (The Weather Channel).
Step Four – If the Severe Weather is a Hurricane, find the NHC Accounts
If you live on the Gulf of Mexico or the East coast, the NHC_Atlantic account might be the one that interests you the most.
Hurricane Ida became a major threat to the Gulf of Mexico on August 26th, 2021. The storm made landfall in the United States on the coast of Lousiana as a category four hurricane with sustained wind speeds around 150mph. After making landfall, Ida tracked up the East Coast, causing damage even as far inland as the New York City area. Below are some of the tweets the Atlantic National Hurricane Center posted relating to Ida.
Infographics such as these were posted often to keep information about the hurricane new and updated until the tropical cyclone weakens into the post-tropical cyclone stage. The pattern will stay the same for any tropical disturbances that form in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. If you live near the Pacific Ocean and are in an area at risk to tropical cyclones, the NHC_Pacific could be one of your sources of information instead of the Atlantic Ocean account. The NHC_Pacific account posts similar tweets compared to the ones above, but some may be in a slightly different format.
Now that you have had a brief overview of using Twitter in terms of weather awareness, you have the ability to work your way around the weather community! Having access to this kind of information helps you and others to stay informed about any other upcoming weather events and gives you time to prepare should you need to and to stay safe!
**All of the tweets came from the following accounts in the order in which they appeared:
- NWSGSP
- NWSTornado
- NHC_Atlantic
***What To Do if You See a Tornado While You’re Driving