Are TORNADOES a concern when deciding to move to DFW? (Dallas: mattress, home)

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by alooper

Hello All,

My wife and I are thinking about moving to Dalls, Fort Worth, Frisco area. There is a lot of opportunity for both of our career fields. We currently live in Fresno, California with similar temperatures to Dallas. Some people call Fresno the "Armpit of the world," but we have three small children and the crime out here is horrendous. It is just getting to be too much for us, and we are tired of the California Central Valley among other things.

Currently, both of our jobs allow us to afford a home anywhere to 600k-700k in California. If we are able to get decent jobs in Texas, we will really consider moving there. The other day I was telling my wife, "I have never met a single person who didn't say that absolutely loved Texas." And that is true. A lot of our friends have moved that way and they LOVE LOVE LOVE Texas!

One major concern I have is that I don't know ANYTHING about tornadoes. I have lived in California all my life, and lived with earthquakes and such, but tornadoes are crazy to me. Is it something I should be concerned with? In my mind, I think of them like the movies, and families running for safety.

1. Do tornadoes happen at night when you're asleep?
2. How is it when you have children in Elementary school and a tornado warning occurs: safety, concern?
3. If your entire family is out in a public area (on a weekend) what do you do if a tornado forms near you?
4. How far away can you be from a tornado before it is "too late?"
5. Do people own tornado shelters in their homes -- how do you protect yourselves?

I would really appreciate any feedback from anyone. A tornado is really my ONLY concern for moving to DFW area. Thanks again,

Alooper

Others have helped, but don't you believe them, you have to regularly dodge giant funnel clouds on morning commutes as groups of them sweep along, sucking up everything in their path! Between that and the landsharks its amazing that there's anyone left here to talk about them!

No, in all seriousness, tornados occur quite rarely, and even when they do it's not like a hurricane or earthquake which causes widespread damage to an entire area. Tornadoes can be devastating to a very specific area when they hit, but they're kind of like nature's giant pencil eraser - you could have three homes, with the ones to the left and the right suffering minor damage on each side while the one in the middle is destroyed. Although it looks dramatic when such damage is caught on camera, bear in mind that it looks more dramatic BECAUSE of the focused nature of the damage.

In terms of actual risk, you are far Far FAR more likely to be severely hurt in an auto accident than to be hurt by a tornado. As one other poster noted tongue-in-cheek "also watch out for the sharks". The risk posed by tornadoes may be slightly more than that of being struck by lightning, but not much if so.

[RMFW]

The above post is definitely right in pointing out the bore bizarre nature of tornados. I once saw a house that had is roof torn clean off, but there was fine china and tea cups still sitting on a shelf undisturbed. A tornado is truly one of nature's most mysterious acts.

[alooper]

Haha

[alooper]

Awesome thank you for the information. You made me laugh, too. One last question, when the news tells you a tornado warning is in effect what does it say specifically? Are they able to tell you that a possible EF4 is in blah blah county by 7pm until 9pm? Just curious.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by alooper

Awesome thank you for the information. You made me laugh, too. One last question, when the news tells you a tornado warning is in effect what does it say specifically? Are they able to tell you that a possible EF4 is in blah blah county by 7pm until 9pm? Just curious.

They can tell you a tornado is or may be on the ground. They can't tell you the rating until after initial damage assessments are done.

[afoigrokerkok]

Originally Posted by alooper

Awesome thank you for the information. You made me laugh, too. One last question, when the news tells you a tornado warning is in effect what does it say specifically? Are they able to tell you that a possible EF4 is in blah blah county by 7pm until 9pm? Just curious.

No. A warning is issued either when one is spotted or when radar indicates a thunderstorm is rotating strongly enough (most tornado warnings are actually false alarms). Warnings are effective immediately, usually for 30 minutes to an hour or so.

They can't tell you an EF number until it is rated after the tornado strikes.

As far as EF4 tornadoes, an F4/EF4 or F5/EF5 tornado (the "F" scale was replaced by the "EF" scale in 2007, but the numbers are comparable) has NEVER struck Tarrant County - the county in which FW is located. An EF4 struck Granbury, 35 miles away, last year. Before that, there had not been one in the entire state since 1999.

The last time an F5/EF5 ever struck anywhere in Texas was 1997 and one has never struck closer than about 75 miles from Fort Worth.

[RMFW]

Yeah, usually you'll just hear about how there might be or are reports of tornados in xyz part of the county and to seek shelter immediately if you are in that location, etc. etc. and that there is still a tornado warning in effect for all of a,b,c, and d counties.

If there are reports of a clearly visible major tornado (likely to be EF3 or higher) they'll just say that there are reports of a "major tornado near ---- heading toward ---•••---" but as mentioned you won't know for sure just how big it is, it's path, etc. until you are watching the news or swapping stories the next morning.

[alooper]

Thank you all so very much. I greatly appreciate it.

[afoigrokerkok]

Originally Posted by alooper

Thank you all so very much. I greatly appreciate it.

They're not to be taken lightly. I know people who don't pay any attention at all to the weather when there are thunderstorms, who never even know about tornado watches, etc. I'm not advocating that at all. What I'm saying is don't not move here because of tornadoes. Once you are here, take reasonable precautions.

I should mention TX is only about #10 among the states for tornadoes per square mile and, more specifically, not even in the top 20 for violent tornadoes (4 and 5) per square mile as TX tornadoes are more likely to be weaker than those in states to our north and east.

Every state in the US has had tornadoes, including California. While not the Fresno area, Northern California had some a few weeks ago.

[Texan1010]

Texas weather is bipolar!!!