TornadoAlert Device

[Nathan Parker]

I keep seeing these pop up on HAM Radio Sites:

Tornado Alert TORNADOALERT Early Alert Tornado and Severe Weather Detectors | DX Engineering

Free Shipping - Early Alert Tornado and Severe Weather Detectors with qualifying orders of $99. Shop Weather Station Accessories at DX Engineering.

www.dxengineering.com

Has anyone used this, and what would it do that a good, cheap, NOAA Weather Radio or GRLevel3 not already do?

I'm honestly skeptical about it and just curious as if anyone has actually tried one.

Thanks!

 

[Jamie H]

Sounds like it just records electircal activity in the atmosphere?

 

[Drew Terril]

I don't know anyone who has tried one, but it definitely smells like snake oil to me. I've yet to see any verifiable data that shows it actually does what it claims to do. Assuming it detects electrical activity in the atmosphere, there's an incredible amount of variance with tornadic storms as far as electrical activity goes. If it *did* work as intended, you'd think every weather office and news station would have one.

 

[Nathan Parker]

True. I found one a lot cheaper from a weather store I used to order all my weather stations from (until I went to work for the manufacturer). I may pick one up for the fun of it to test out next severe weather season and report back here. If it turns out to be junk, I have a neighbor that collects all my old unused tech and plays with it, so he can have fun with it.

 

[Nathan Parker]

Got my hands on one. Still highly skeptical it's going to be useful at giving a heads up on potential tornadoes (although time will tell). I may still keep it since it at least does a decent job of telling me if there's lightning nearby. I have a lightning sensor on my tempest and access to ENTLN, but today my Internet was out most of the day, making it difficult for me to monitor lightning in my area (except occasionally on my cell phone). That'll change as soon as I get my hands on a Baron MTN Receiver since I'll be able to access lightning data over the XM feed. At least the TornadoAlert made me aware that there was lightning in the area when I was without Internet. I wouldn't rely on it even has a dedicated lightning detector over ENTLN or even my Tempest, but at least I could get a rough estimate at nearby lightning when I had no other reliable form of access.

My home Internet over cable has has its share of outages lately, which is why I can't wait to get my hands on MTN. We can't get fiber here, and the only other copper phone line provider goes out if it sprinkles. I had a point to point wireless connection which was worse (their engineering team wasn't up to speed), and 5G at home won't lock a signal here since I'm between cell towers (my cell phone and mobile hotspot is OK but never going to be perfect where I'm located). Thought about trying StarLink, but I've heard it''s not good for video conferencing, video uploading, or major storms.

 

[Mike Smith]

There have been lightning-based "tornado detectors" around since the 1950's. I had one of them which went by the brand name, "Sferics." Kansas City was bombarded with advertising for them after the 1957 Ruskin Heights Tornado (44 killed).

It was a radio (left) and the tornado detection was on the right. It sounded a piercing siren when the amount of lightning reached the red on the right indicator.

As far as I could tell (even though I was a boy). the lightning it detected was the same as you would hear as static at the bottom of the AM radio dial (<550). Obviously, it didn't work very well and certainly would not have warned of a tornado associated with a low-topped CB.

You can also see on the radio dial the symbols for the government's "CONELRAD" at 640 and 1240 kc.

 

[Nathan Parker]

Fun post! I've discovered my TA is picking up something else non-weather related that has been interesting. I need to cross-check it with an AM radio.

 

[Nathan Parker]

I had a chance to test this during a recent storm. About 40-45 minutes before the NWS issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, the TA went off and issued a Severe Storm alert. We did receive an intense thunderstorm and some small hail. There was also wind shear in the area. Not sure if it ever amounted to a tornado (I don't recall hearing the NWS saying a tornado occurred, nor was a tornado warning issued).

So it did at least a decent job giving me heads up of a severe thunderstorm. How well it'd work before a tornado I'm still not sure. Earth Network's Dangerous Thunderstorm Alerts would probably work just as well or better. I can see this to be at least useful to alert me when I need to grab my machine and fire up GR or Baron MTN, especially if my phone wasn't working well. I could also see this useful in a home with spotty cell coverage or no Internet has a 40-45 minute "heads up" before the NWS issues a warning. I'm still not sure it's overly "magical".

 

[Nathan Parker]

I had the unfortunate chance to test this last night during a tornado warning, so I have a chance to give a fully-objective review of it now.

First of all, what it's not:

• It does not replace a good NOAA Weather Radio, and you still want a good NOAA Weather Radio to wake you up for an actual Tornado Warning
• It does not replace radar. You still need to be looking at radar, especially SRV, to track where a tornado is actually headed.

With that said, here's where I've found it to be useful:

Last night, it was overall quiet outside, then my TA went off with a "Severe Storm" nearby alert. So I ran to my office and fired up radar. Sure enough, there were a couple of thunderstorm cells nearby, and we received the thunderstorms with hail. I didn't think the storms would be "that" intense, so I signed off my computer and was getting ready for bed.

Then the TA went off again with the "Tornado Likely" message. I was on my way back to my office to fire up my computer/radar again, when we were officially put under a Tornado Warning, so I took cover and tracked on my iPad during the storm.

Plus our power went out during the storm, and since I wasn't hanging on my phone to conserve battery, the TA would chime when the storm was severe enough that I needed to actually spend time firing up my phone and using battery on it.

A replacement from radar or a NOAA weather radio? Absolutely not. Is it a useful "extra layer" to "get my attention" before a major weather event that I need to be more "weather aware" and monitoring radar and NOAA Weather Radio? Yes. Plus it works as a decent Lightning detection backup if my power/Internet is out and my lightning sensor is down (and I'm conserving battery on my iPhone)

Overall, it was worth the money. It's not "magical", and I wouldn't over-hype it, but used responsibly, it's a useful "extra layer" alerter in my toolbox.