Credit: @colefurd/Twitter
Throughout last week across the area, it was Severe Weather Awareness Week. And that has taken on a new importance after 2021’s severe flash floods, tornados, and a hurricane.
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The week is set aside every year to increase awareness of various types of hazardous conditions the region can experience and what preparedness actions to take.
The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey covers the Philadelphia-area as part of a 122-office network nationwide. The National Weather Service provides weather forecasts, climate data, watches, warnings, and advisories for their 33-county forecast area, including Lower Bucks County.
“Locally, the last few years have been especially active with regards to severe weather. In 2018, for the area our office covers, our region had a record number of flash flood warnings. In 2019, our region had a record number of severe thunderstorm warnings. And just last year (2021) a record number of tornado warnings were issued,” said Sarah Johnson, the warning coordination meteorologist.
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“Across the country over the past few decades we have seen an increase in the number of severe weather reports and severe weather warnings; this trend is not entirely due to meteorological reasons, part of the reason for this trend is we have better ways to detect severe weather (for example, the nationwide network of doppler radars was upgraded with dual-pol capability about 10 years ago, which makes it much easier to detect hail and debris lofted by storms), and more population in once very rural areas to report damage due to severe weather,” she said.
Those “dual-pol” radar upgrades, or dual polarization, are part of the initiative to bolster the surveillance network and provide meteorologists with faster and higher quality data to make more informed decisions. In the Philadelphia-area, there are two of these radars, one in Mount Holly and one in Dover, Delaware.
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The radar, combined with various observational tools, cooperative programs and a trained spotter network, are just some of the ways the meteorologists on staff gather information.
Meteorologists also work hand-in-hand with local broadcasters and emergency managers to ensure the message to the public is unified and increase cooperation, regardless of the weather.
When bad weather threatens, the key to remaining safe is to receive the watches and warnings quickly.
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“We encourage everyone to have multiple ways to receive weather watches and warnings. This may include methods such as weather radio, Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) on smartphones, commercial TV and/or radio, internet, and reliable and reputable apps,” said Johnson.
The meteorologist also recommends one of these methods used to wake you up, if needed.
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“For example, websites may be a great way to receive warnings if you are sitting in front of a computer, but would not be very useful when sleeping or participating in other activities,” Johnson said.
So with a multitude of severe weather affecting the area, what can you do to prepare?
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“The key thing for people to do well ahead of any severe weather is develop and review a preparedness plan. This will include preparedness for multiple hazards. For Lower Bucks County, this will include preparedness for severe thunderstorms (damaging winds and hail), lightning, tornadoes, flash flooding, tidal and river flooding, and although this time of year, we’re more concerned about the previously mentioned hazards, winter weather should be included too. There are some great resources at ready.gov as well as weather.gov/safety Some things to consider include: 1) Knowing where to shelter if a tornado warning is issued. For most residences, this will be a small interior room on the lowest floor available to you, but for mobile or manufactured homes, the best option may be in a community storm shelter. In schools and offices there should be a designated storm shelter location, 2) Learning about your own flood risk and knowing where to go should a flood or flash flood threaten and 3) Assembling or reviewing an emergency kit.”
Severe Weather Awareness Week ran until the end of last night, but you can find weather information anytime at the National Weather Service website, and preparedness information from Bucks County and PEMA/Ready PA.
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