For the record:
- The Perry MI tornado warning was issued only after the tornado had been on the ground for eight minutes.
- The tornado 7 mi. northeast of Chillicothe MO was completely unwarned. I have posted the 11pm inbounds and outbounds for anyone who may wish see them.
As frequent readers of StormTrack know, there was a lot of controversy when I began calling attention to this huge issue with the National Weather Service.
Given that chasers were calling the respective NWS offices in these situations and, especially, in the missed EF-2 in Illinois this past Sunday, I have to ask:
Has the NWS exited the tornado warning business and failed to inform us?!
There is no excuse for these. For those of us who are meteorologists, it is especially galling because it makes all of us -- and the field of weather science -- look terrible.
For those who are not aware: I tried bringing all of this -- twice -- to the attention of the very top management of the NWS in January. They insisted there is no problem.
It is unfortunate, but I believe
it is incumbent on us to inform Congress. The general public will continue to believe their "complex situation" excuses because they don't know any better.
Over the summer, we've already had eight precious human beings die in unwarned tornado situations. Do we have to have another (poorly warned) Joplin before anything is done?
Please contact your congressional representatives. It is easy to use their web sites.