How many people use SPC's Storm Reports?

[Anthony Petito]

Looks like I can't create a poll here, but I was curious how many people use/view SPC's Storm Reports area? I'm working on a pretty neat project with it and curious as to how many people might use it.

Thanks

 

[Robert Dewey]

I do...

 

[Shane Adams]

I view them, but take them with a grain. They're just second-hand reports received from LSRs of individual NWSFOs, and are subject to scrutiny. I know that when I've called in tornadoes via 911, they never appear on this page. The ones I've called in directly to the NWS are there everytime. I don't think it's a coincidence.

 

[Ben Cotton]

I use them (esp the map) to get a general overview of where reports have been received, but only as a first look. If I see an area of interest, then I'll go to http://kamala.cod.edu and look at the actual LSR text.


Ben

 

[Jeff Snyder]

They're good as long as you take them with a grain of salt... A lot of the long-track tornadoes will generate many LSRs (and thus appear in the log as numerous tornadoes). Some long-trackers will generate 10-15 LSRs along the way...

 

[Nic Wilson]

Yes I use the SPC storm reports, but here is another caveat that must be kept in mind if using it for research purposes.

The timestamps on the SPC reports must be taken with a grain of salt. Usually the LSRs are timestamped as to when the report is received by the specific NWS office, as opposed to when it actually occurred in most cases. This is why it should be stressed that spotters note the time of the severe weather occurrence, because in many instances when there is active severe weather and it is difficult to get thru to the local NWS office, there is a delay in the relay of the report. Hopefully an NWS employee can give us their estimate of the accuracy of the storm report timestamps, but there have been published papers that note an alarmingly high amount of LSRs may be off by as much as 10-15 minutes.

 

[mikedeason]

I use the SPC storm reports as well. I like to take the CSV formatted data, import it into ArcView with 88D level III data and street level shapefiles in order to see how well the time of the reported events jive with my own observations as well as how the radar echoes looked at that time.

Regards,

Mike

 

[Andy Wehrle]

I use them, but just to get a rough idea of where the strongest storms have occurred that day. Several times I've seen confirmed tornadoes never show up on those lists/maps. The May 6th Lake Winnebago tornado never appeared in the SPC Preliminary, I'm guessing because it was submitted in the LSRs as a "waterspout". The May 23, 2004 Stoughton-Albion tornado WAS submitted in the LSRs as a tornado report by a trained spotter but still does not appear on the SPC list. And I submitted my 3/4" hail report to MKX but it does not appear on the SPC list OR in MKX's Storm Data. :x

 

[Scott Olson]

I usually sprinkle some salt on my storm reports before consuming them. They seem to come in most handy when I take a quick glance to see what I missed out on while I was stuck at home.

-Scott Olson

 

[Carla Bisby]

I view them.

 

[Glen Romine]

I don't ussually use salt - as I find there is typically enough salt in food already. But, when I do use salt - I like sea salt - if taken with a grain of salt it is better than normal table salt - but without the fortified minerals. Oh wait, this is a thread about storm reports - somehow I got to thinking it was about salt. I use the SPC storm reports. As mentioned above - I think most folks realize these are not the final word or truth on where tornadoes occurred and how many - but it is still the most reliable source of information available that I know of on a national scale.

Glen

 

[Aric Cylkowski]

Sure, with a big grain of salt.

 

[Craig Maire II]

SPC storm reports

I use them, of course its with a grain of salt.

 

[Joe Nield]

Originally posted by Nic Wilson
Hopefully an NWS employee can give us their estimate of the accuracy of the storm report timestamps, but there have been published papers that note an alarmingly high amount of LSRs may be off by as much as 10-15 minutes.

I'm the Storm Data focal at my office (IND), and, while I've not seen the research regarding the accuracy of storm reports, I do not doubt the validity of those findings in the least. I have stressed to our staff (and I stress to all spotters at each spotter talk I give) that it is very important to ask the caller or, if reporting, to stress to the one taking the report, whether or not the report is current, or if it took place five, ten, fifteen minutes ago. Some quality control is possible through a quick glance at the radar data to make sure that the report isn't TOTALLY out to lunch (i.e. baseball hail five minutes ago when the storm has been out of the area for an hour), but, aside from that and a few other checks we make, we're at the mercy of those reporting in.

In addition to making my job of entering reports into Storm Data easier, a more specific and accurate LSR gives better information for the public, which is a win/win for everyone. Overall, I'd say we do a fairly good job. Thankfully, though, the reports do not become official until someone has checked over the event and entered it into the database.

 

[Jay Press]

Storm Reports

Are there any other places that offer storm reports with hail/wind/tornadoes?