Fall Severe Weather Awareness happening this week October 6th-12th

ARK-LA-MISS ( KTVE/KARD ) —

Severe weather is not something new here in the Ark-La-Miss, as we experience it throughout the year, but it is very unpredictable. Although there is another severe weather awareness week for the Springtime, this one is to remind us of the hazards of severe weather and how to prepare for them.

As Fall continues, the “second wave” of severe weather starts to ramp back up. Although the stuff covered in this week is very similar to what is covered in the Spring, it here to keep us in check and make sure that keep in mind that severe weather is just as much possible during this part of the year as it is in the Spring.

Really our severe weather season in this part of the country tends to kind of get going again in the fall. It kind of tapers off in the summertime, unless we have a tropical storm or a hurricane come in.

Chris Nuttal | Warning Coordination Meteorologist for National Weather Service at Shreveport

Separate days are then set aside to talk about different hazards of severe weather and preparedness. These days include; severe weather preparedness, severe weather hazards like hail and wind, flash flooding, watches and warnings, safety for mobile home, tornadoes, and for the winter season winter weather hazards.

The first few days talked about preparedness and having a plan, severe thunderstorm hazards and then today, October 9th, was about tornadoes. Tornadoes are particular dangerous because they can bring some widespread damage, and happen at any point during the year.

So we’ve recorded tornadoes in our area in every single month out of the year. It can happen anytime, day or night, anytime of any month of the year, so it’s always good to be prepared. So this is really the best time, you want to be prepared before sever weather happens, that way you know what to do when it happens.

Chris Nuttal | Warning Coordination Meteorologist for National Weather Service at Shreveport

Although meteorologists have many tools to predict and watch the weather, like radars, weather spotters are crucial in spotting severe weather. Skywarn are spotter classes for people wanting to be able to call in and report any severe weather event.

Although these classes are held throughout the year there was a class held this past Monday, in West Monroe, to help get more spotters out in the field. Although having a plan in place already is important, having something confirmed helps people act more quickly.

Storm spotters provide us very valuable ground truth information that lets us know what’s happening with the storm and then we can add that information to our warnings. When you add that confirmation statement into the text of all of our warnings, we’ve found that it kind of spurs people to take action more quickly.

Chris Nuttal | Warning Coordination Meteorologist for National Weather Service at Shreveport

Severe weather is talked about a lot here in the Ark-La-Miss throughout the year, but it is very much important to keep mentioning it. Hurricane Helene and Milton are both great examples on unpreparedness of some areas, but also on how preparedness and planning can help save lives.

If you want to learn more you can visit NWS Shreveport here and head to any of the tabs on preparedness and learn more about the hazards.

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