The threat of severe thunderstorms continues even with the arrival of winter

One of the scariest weather scenarios is a nocturnal tornado hitting a densely populated community during the cold months when people don’t expect such bad weather. That same situation occurred last Tuesday with a series of severe thunderstorms that swept through northern Texas. The incident is a stark reminder that severe thunderstorms and tornadoes are not limited to the warm season and severe storms are a danger even during the cold months.

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The tornado that hit Arlington, Texas last week caused damage to the EF-2 as it passed just south of the heart of the city. The tornado landed as part of a larger period of severe thunderstorms that swept the southern plains before Thanksgiving.

Bad weather remains an ever-present threat even as the weather gets colder and we relax into a vacation mindset.

Even though the frequency and coverage of severe storms during the fall and winter months pale in comparison to what’s possible in the spring, it’s still a threat we need to take seriously.

Indeed, the processes that drive the spring and winter outbreaks of bad weather have a similar origin. The jet stream bends south over the United States as colder temperatures migrate south. These dips in the jet stream allow vast low-pressure systems to cross the country, producing active weather conditions from border to border.

While these storms are best known for heavy snow in the northern states, the southern side of these winter storms can drag warm, humid air north from the Gulf of Mexico. The combination of strong upper level winds, a powerful surface cold front and unstable air provide the perfect environment for severe thunderstorms to develop.

Heavy storms at the end of the season are no joke, especially the risk of tornadoes. A strong EF-2 tornado cut through the heart of Mobile, Alabama on Christmas Day 2012. An F4 tornado crossed eastern North Carolina in late November 1988, killing several people as it meandered along a route more than 80 miles long.

A tornado story during the month of December between 1950 and 2018 reveals a pattern that favors the southeastern United States. The threat tends to focus on the lower Mississippi Valley as winter storms sweep across the plains and move east to the Midwest.

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Tornadoes are always dangerous, of course, but tornadoes that form in winter require a little extra caution.

The first threat we don’t usually face in spring is that it gets dark much earlier in the day at this time of year. Many people, whether we like it or not, still like to peek out to see if they can see a tornado before diving into cover. It’s a terrible habit we have to break, but it’s especially concerning in winter when it’s often too dark to see tornadoes coming until it’s too late.

The second threat is that we’re not used to paying attention to severe weather warnings when it’s this late in the year. It’s easy to change the weather when you’re expecting a cold rather than a dangerous storm. Listening to adverse weather forecasts and urgent alerts from the National Weather Service should be a year-round habit rather than just something to worry about in the warmer months.

The best practice to protect yourself from the elements is to make sure you have more ways to receive alerts as they are issued. Take a moment to verify that emergency alerts are enabled on your smartphone. Many people disable these push alerts when they go off at an inopportune time. This is a big mistake. These alerts, which sound the moment a tornado warning is issued for your location, have been credited for saving countless lives.

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While they’re a bit outdated given today’s advanced technology, a trusty NOAA weather radio is still a fantastic investment. These devices can be programmed to chirp like a smoke detector when a clock or bad weather warning is issued for your county. Reliable weather apps, local TV stations, and radio stations are also fantastic resources for receiving urgent weather alerts in a timely manner.