[Threestep2]

You cannot live life in a cage because of what might happen! Butter is bad for you, do not eat tuna, stay away from coffee, do not use a cell phone, cars are dangerous, gas is too expensive ...

Weather is a part of our world we do not have a lot of influence on. We can move. Will it be better at the next stop? It is too cold in CO, too rainy in WA, earthquakes in CA, hurricanes in FL, tornados in KS, humidity in DC ...

Make the best of it if you cannot change it. Life is too short not to live it.

[NicoleC]

I'm with Zenjenn, earthquakes never bothered me much, I just made sure I was prepared to sit it out without help if it did collapse all the infrastructure, which is not that hard of a project.

Tornadoes scare the beegeezus out of me, even though I slept through one once when it took out half of a guest ranch I was staying at. (Yes, in California!) And where I am, the sirens don't reach. So I got a weather radio and built a storm shelter and stocked it with the necessities in case I got stuck in it (it's under the house), and voila! No more slightly irrational tornado panic.

[Bravo35223]

Originally Posted by zenjenn

Well, I have no idea where Bamabound is planning on moving, but I'd think Jubs dissatisfaction comes from the area lived in and not from N. Alabama overall.

I know I've only been here a week and all, but seriously, Huntsville is almost indistinguishable from my town in California in terms of basic qualify of life, qualify of schools, etc. I was never scared of earthquakes, but to me tornadoes are the superior natural disaster in terms of advanced notice and potential for destruction. Tornadoes destroy more frequently but when a big enough earthquake hits it can knock out a whole region with no warning. Yes, most of them are just a fun rumble but a big one will hit and Californians can do nothing about it but bolt shelves to walls and have provisions on hand for when that eventuality occurs.

Yet, even though I was not afraid of earthquakes at all, I am still nervous about tornadoes only because they are new to me. Same with the brown recluse spiders making me nervous even though I lived with a black widow infestation under my house in California and thought nothing of it. When you move someplace new of course it is natural to be more sensitive to the new dangers of that area. I actually keep LOOKING for brown recluse spiders because I know once I see them a dozen times they will be less scarey. The fear of the unknown is always worse.

Zenn:

You will find that there is a tremendous amount of technology in place to alert you when tornados come...- and they do. I've been to Southern California many times and being a weatherman there must be pretty boring! The weather is so nice all the time...

The National Weather Service and the local TV stations have invested millions in radar technology. It's so sophisticated it's down to the "street level". So, when a tornado actually forms, their ability accurately track the storm is excellent.

Additionally, weather sirens will sound very loudly when the weather starts to get bad....so its hard to 'get caught with your shorts down' with the technology now.

Here is a fact that will help you.

As a generality, even though tornados can move in any direction - over 90% of the time they move in an East/Northeasterly path....

I know you will be glued to the TV the first time we have a tornado warning. ALL stations will go to weather coverage CONTINOUSLY and suspend all programming until the danger has passed.

Watch the path of the storm on TV. Notice how it goes east-northeast.

What does this mean to you from a practical standpoint?

1) If the storm is east of you...the danger has already passed.

2) If the storm is north of you...the likelihood it will come South is phenomenally low.

3) If the storm is 50 miles south of you - the odds it will come due north are also extremely low.

4) LAST: IF the storm is west-southwest of you - it is likely headed somewhere near you....

It will take you awhile to get over the fear of tornados. They can come at any time but most often in the late afternoon and early evening hours. When we are having one and it is bedtime, I watch the TV weatherman and once I see situation #1 - #3 above, I go to bed and sleep peacefully....there's no danger....yes driving rain can still be coming down, but the tornado itself is not a threat in situations 1-3...(you will have to get comfortable with driving rain, bc we GET IT)....

Next, for more peace of mind, go to Radio Shack and buy a Weather Radio ($30) and put it in your bedroom. If a tornado comes at 3 am, it will sound an alarm and wake you up...

Then, you go to the TV...always go to the TV Zenn...

RE: The spiders. Get a good pest control company and have them visit your home once a month.....

john

[Bravo35223]

Zenn...

Here is your link to your local Nexrad radar station....

Save this in your Favorites on your browser....This is excellent radar and you can zero in on your neighborhood by using your mouse....when we have a storm coming, I usually go to my local radar first to see how it is shaping up.

Current Hytop Nexrad Radar Map : Weather Underground

[Historic Bessemer]

Originally Posted by Jubs01

BAMABOUND
As someone that was not born here,I think I could tell you a lil bit more about moving here. DON"T!!!!!! My husband and I moved here from South Fla.We thought N.Alabama was a beautiful place and it is and we wanted to raise our kids in the country.We've been here for 12 yrs. now at the same location. We are still treated as outsiders,We have been acused of many things we didn't do and if you have kids,The school system sux,The drugs are out of control. and there's nothing for them to do here but to get caught up in crime or drugs.Piedmont is the drug capitol!!! As for tornados,If I knew they're were so many severe storms,tornados and so many warnings. We would of never moved here!!!!They scare the chit out of me and I've been threw many hurricaines in 30 yrs. time,including ANDREW and I would rather have to deal with hurricaines then tornados.
Many people think I'm crazy,But at least we had alot more time to get ready and find safe places. These dam tornados just drop down on you without any or very little warning.Also ask the people here about the 1993 F-5 tornado that started in Ragland and went threw Piedmont then killed 21 people in a church in Gosden and then ended up in NW Georgia.OVER 50 miles it traveled.
Or the kids that were killed in a school last year.Lets face it,There are more tornados here then they're saying and I can say that from experiance!!!!! Be smart,Rent a place here first before you buy.I wish I would of done that!!! If you don't like it here you can move alot easier!!

bitter much?

[zenjenn]

Thanks John! Very helpful post. One thing that makes me nervous is right now, I live in a 2nd floor apartment, and I understand that it's best to be on ground level (or lower) during a tornado. It's a temporary living situation so knock on wood this fall will be a mild season in terms of these storms.

I already have Cook's Pest Control bookmarked for when we buy our home. The apartment complex has regular pest control service and I havn't seen a brown recluse here yet. I DID see a brown recluse within 3 minutes of looking at a house we were considering. It had tons of crawl space, attics, and a giant wood pile piled up against the house. Yikes. I'm not buying THAT brown recluse/termite/and whatever else situation!

[thebigr]

Thanks John, very good info, never knew that and I thought I was a weather channel expert. I have already been through a tornado once and when I was living in South Dakota had one in my rear view mirror for a few miles.
Don't worry about Jubs01, most people in South Florida are very bitter. One thing I will not miss.
Always loved thunderstorms, when I was young my dad and I would sit on the porch and watch them come while my mom and sisters would be in the basement. I would always go to the basement before my dad, maybe he was just being macho!

[Bravo35223]

You bet Zenn....we're here to help....

You are right, the lower you can get the better. If your new home has a basement, go down there - BUT ONLY - after you have watched TV carefully. The vast, vast majority of the time the weatherpeople come on regarding a tornado, it's nowhere close to your particular location.

The TV stations in Birmingham will show a weather map that stretches from Huntsville to Montgomery to Mississippi to Atlanta. It's a huge area geographically and has almost 2 million people in it (I know, I know - tiny compared to Cali!!!)

Similarly, your TV in Huntsville will show an area from near Nashville to near Birmingham and over to Chattanooga. It will have a lot of coverage of Southern Tennessee, bc viewers in that area are counting on the Huntsville TV stations' coverage for safety.

What's the point? The weatherpeople will often come on TV when there is a tornado ANYWHERE in the coverage area....so frankly, from any viewer's standpoint....the vast majority of TV broadcasts will be about a tornado that is not closeby to where you are at all... Ya - you are having heavy rain, but that's nothing. Most storms that have heavy rain come through very fast with a cold front behind it and you may get an inch of rain in an hour and then its gone. You get a HUGE DUMP and sometimes, sometimes, somewhere in that big long storm, a tornado pops out. One thing you can be comfortable with is that they just don't come out of nowhere on a pretty day....they are associated with big storm fronts that are going to bring a lot of rain in a short period of time. The weatherpeople see these fronts when they are in Kansas and start tracking them about two days out...tornados result from the clash of warm moist area from the Gulf of Mexico and cold Canadian area coming from the mid-west....

The Fall is our mildest time of year. We have fewer storms in the Fall than anytime....Spring is stormy and Summer can be too....

Like I said, when we get our first bad storm systems, get comfortable in front of your TV and watch...after a few storms, you'll become much more comfortable with it. The vast majority just bring a big rain dump...

Much of getting comfortable with tornados is educational and understanding how they track directionally....

Honestly, after having spent a lot of vacations in Southern California, your biggest weather adjustment won't be tornados....it will be cold, wet days in January, getting used to big windy rainstorms (with no tornados) and the hot, humid summers. Spring and Fall are colorful and beautiful....

You will indeed have the pleasure of experiencing four seasons....

[zenjenn]

Well I did live a bit further inland than most people think of when you say "California", so I am accustomed to freezing temps in the winter and hot temps in the summer - it's the rain and humidity that will be new. I was here in the summer and with modern AC in the picture, I honestly don't find "95 with humidity" any more uncomfortable than "110 and dry" (which is how it was where I lived - I didn't live in a beach town). Yes, the humidity is harder if you are exerting yourself, but for day to day living I think the higher temp is worse than a lower temp with humidity - especially when it's a merciless 110+ blazing sun baking your car and you try to get your kids belted in to that oven. Yuck. Every degree of real heat and direct sun goes up exponentially with the car situation.

[Southlander]

Originally Posted by Bravo35223

The Fall is our mildest time of year. We have fewer storms in the Fall than anytime....Spring is stormy and Summer can be too....

Woah, Bravo, 20-some years ago this month Huntsville experienced a killing tornado through the Parkway/Airport Road intersection about 5 p.m....it gutted a bunch of apartments, tossed cars, dumped the roofs of several adjacent stores into the floors, with staff and customers underneath...spring and fall tend to be worse for tornado outbreaks. Identify a shelter and how to get to it, prepare in your own home, watch the TV weather and have a weather radio, and be aware of what's going on if there's a storm approaching. I think all the TV stations have preparedness guidelines on their Web sites.