False tornado warning in LA

[Tim Vasquez]

I am surprised there has been no mention of this. The EAS system was activated.

Tim

WFUS56 KLOX 211553

TORLOX

CAC037-211615-



BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED

TORNADO WARNING

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA

839 AM PDT SAT AUG 21 2004



THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OXNARD HAS ISSUED A



* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  CENTRAL LOS ANGELES COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA



* UNTIL 915 AM PDT



* AT 825 AM PDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING

  A LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO 7 MILES SOUTH OF

  GLENDALE...OR ABOUT NEAR DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES...MOVING NORTHEAST AT

  20 MPH.



* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...

  PASADENA BY 850 AM PDT

  MOUNT WILSON BY 905 AM PDT



WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON DOPPLER RADAR...IT MEANS

THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY

ALREADY BE ON THE GROUND...OR IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SHORTLY. IF YOU

ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...MOVE INDOORS AND TO THE

LOWEST LEVEL OF THE BUILDING. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF DRIVING...DO

NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER A HIGHWAY OVERPASS.



THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A

WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS

AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN

INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO

COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.



IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A

SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE

NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.



LAT...LON 3413 11837 3400 11822 3425 11788 3441 11808



$$



WOFFORD





WFUS56 KLOX 211558 CCA

TORLOX

CAC037-211615-



BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED

TORNADO WARNING

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA

839 AM PDT SAT AUG 21 2004



PLEASE DISREGARD THE PREVIOUS TORNADO WARNING. NO TORNADO EXISTS. 



$$



WOFFORD

 

[nickgrillo]

Yes... I saw this when it was first issued. I even looked at the LA radar real quick as it looked so convincing!

As for this... was it a good idea for the NWS not to mention it was a Test? It probley got some people looking for shelter.

:?:

 

[Dan Cook]

Maybe they panicked after watching "Day After Tomorrow"?

 

[nickgrillo]

Maybe a false spotter report?

Maybe the MET from DTX that issued the TOR for a county with not even a drop of precip issued this warning. :lol:

 

[Jeff Wear]

As for this... was it a good idea for the NWS not to mention it was a Test? It probley got some people looking for shelter.

I don't think very many people out there even knew about it since hardly anyone there owns a Wx Radio and they don't have sirens there. It's good this wasn't a real warning though....that would be pretty bad if the NWS issued a warning 28 minutes after radar began tracking a "large and extremely dangerous tornado".

WFUS56 KLOX 211553


* AT 825 AM PDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO

 

[nickgrillo]

But all TOR's automatically get replayed on television. Correct? Therefore... everybody in LA with their TV's on heard it.

 

[Larry J. Kosch]

Read it all...

If you had taken the time to read all the way thru the warning copy you will see this warning addium:

PLEASE DISREGARD THE PREVIOUS TORNADO WARNING. NO TORNADO EXISTS.

The addium was dated with the same exact time as the warning was issued. So this was a planned test. Only those people that read the first ten lines probably went off in a panic like headless chickens running around. BAWK BAWK BAWK!!!

 

[Jeff Wear]

But all TOR's automatically get replayed on television. Correct? Therefore... everybody in LA with their TV's on heard it.

Perhaps someone who works in broadcast media could give a more definitive answer (and if I'm wrong please feel free to correct me), but I think it depends on if the station's or cable company's EAS receiver is programmed to automatically interrupt the broadcast. If this warning was broadcast on any other station besides TWC, then I'm surprised that whatever reaction there was to the warning isn't being reported by any news agency nationally or locally. Although the warning was issued at a time not many people over the age of 10 are awake and watching TV (9am on a Saturday morning) - I believe a warning like this in a county with 10 million people would have gotten at least a few thousand calls to all the TV and radio stations as well as 911.

 

[Jeff Wear]

If you had taken the time to read all the way thru the warning copy you will see this warning addium:

Quote:
PLEASE DISREGARD THE PREVIOUS TORNADO WARNING. NO TORNADO EXISTS.


The addium was dated with the same exact time as the warning was issued. So this was a planned test. Only those people that read the first ten lines probably went off in a panic like headless chickens running around. BAWK BAWK BAWK!!!

That was acutally separate from the first warning and issued 5 minutes later. The time of 8:39 on both the warning and the "unwarning" was incorrect - the first warning was actually issued at 8:53 and the second one was issued at 8:58. You can tell what time the warning was issued by looking at the first line of the header in the warning. The string of six digits at the end of the first line denote the day of month and the time (Zulu) that the warning was sent out....

here is the first line in the first warning
WFUS56 KLOX 211553

and here is the first line in the second
WFUS56 KLOX 211558


Even on "real" warnings there may be a difference between the time in the first line and the time listed further down in the header - but the time in the first line will always be when the warning was issued.

 

[Morgan Palmer]

At most stations that are 24/7 manned, the master control op is the filter that EAS passes through. The EAS decoder goes off, and the MCO has the responsibility/option to put it on the air.

And at most stations that have a weather department, they have their own systems that do weather warnings so NWS warnings are never put directly on the air from the EAS box.

mp

 

[Mike Hardiman]

But all TOR's automatically get replayed on television. Correct? Therefore... everybody in LA with their TV's on heard it.

Wrong. In many places, it is not automated. El Paso is one of them. Emergency Management, in their infinite wisdom, entrusts control of EAS to a commercial rock radio station, KLAQ. We need to call them up and manually record a warning, then they rebroadcast it... when they get around to it.

 

[bill mudd]

Being in LA and reading this warning was really funny - a snowballs chance in hell (especially at 830 am?)
Even funnier were the 2 actual tornados last week reported in San Bernadino - 1 hour east of LA - 200 yards wide lasting 5 minutes - if only it had remioved some of this hideous sprawl....

 

[Carrie Halliday]

I came across the tor warn after it came out. ??? I thought that they were just bored and trying to stir up some fun.

 

[Mike Smith]

It is now a headline on the "Drudge Report." www.drudgereport.com

 

[Jay Press]

Sorry about the delay in responding to this message. I was just searching through some old posts and came across this one. I remember this day well. It was early one Saturday morning while I was watching cartoons with my kid and all of a sudden, this tornado warning pops up on the TV. I remember there was some tropical moisture in the area but did not believe that there was a tornado around. They did not say anything about disregarding the previous warning though. I checked the radar and nothing......... I always wondered about that day and now I know!