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Weather myths

Separating facts from fiction can save your life in serious storm

By Jamie Simpson, James Cummings

jcumming@DaytonDailyNews

Editor's note: The following story first appeared in the Dayton Daily News in 2003.

You're driving along when a sudden storm kicks up, and a moment later you spot a funnel cloud bearing down on you. You believe you shouldn't be caught out in the open, so you jump out of the car near a major highway and take shelter beneath an overpass.

You have just made a mistake that could lead to serious injury or death.

There is a myth that highway overpasses are a good place to ride out a tornado. The opposite is true. Wind currents are concentrated and increase in speed as they are squeezed under overpasses. This boost in wind velocity can cause flying debris to slam harder into your body as you crouch under an overpass, increasing your risk of injury.

The myth about hiding under overpasses probably can be traced back to television footage shot in Kansas in 1991, according to the National Weather Service. The dramatic film, which was reshown often on news and reality-video programs, shows a group of people seemingly escaping injury by crouching under an overpass as a tornado passed.

Several factors led to the Kansas group's escape despite the bad decision, the weather service said. For one thing, the Kansas tornado was fairly weak, plus it never hit the spot where the people were hiding.

Eight years later, three people in Oklahoma were not so lucky. All were killed near or underneath highway overpasses when a series of powerful tornadoes struck.

There has always been folk wisdom about the weather, and some of it can be helpful. For instance, a red sky in the morning generally does mean a storm is coming, while a red sky at night can indicate bad weather is ending.

Some weather myths, however, can be dangerous. Here are a few common beliefs you and your family should discard.

• MYTH: You should open windows if a tornado is approaching.

TRUTH: Stay away from all windows. It won't make any difference whether the windows are open or closed if your home is struck by a tornado. In fact, open windows can allow more blowing debris to enter the home.

•  MYTH: The southwest corner of the house is the safest location during a tornado.

TRUTH: Recent research has shown it may be one of the most dangerous places to be in the basement. Tornadoes coming from the southwest can move a house off its foundation, causing it to collapse in the southwest corner. Always go to the lowest level and center of a house during a warning. A small interior room such as a bathroom is structurally the strongest. Cover your head.

• MYTH: Cars are safer than mobile homes during a tornado.

TRUTH: Neither is safe. Get indoors if possible.

• MYTH: You can see all tornadoes.

TRUTH: A tornado is just a rotating column of air, so you don't see the tornado, you see the debris within and around the tornado. Some weak (but still potentially deadly) tornadoes can have very little debris. Also, some tornadoes can't be seen because of heavy rain.

• MYTH: Tornadoes are the No. 1 weather killer in the United States.

TRUTH: Extreme heat probably causes more deaths than any other weather phenomenon, but heat-related deaths are more indirect. The other top killers in order are flash floods, lightning, tornadoes and hurricanes.

• MYTH: The only time to worry about tornadoes in the Miami Valley is from March through July.

TRUTH: Tornadoes can happen any time of the year. The Van Wert tornado in 2002 was in November and the 2000 Xenia tornado was in September.

• MYTH: A tornado is almost always preceded by a funnel cloud before it touches the ground.

TRUTH: Tornadoes can materialize very quickly, so a funnel cloud is not always present to give warning.

* MYTH: You can outrun a tornado in a car.

TRUTH: Tornadoes are unpredictable and can move at up to 70 m.p.h.

• MYTH: Doppler radar will observe all tornadoes.

TRUTH: Doppler, although much more accurate than earlier radar, cannot see the very smallest of tornadoes that are rope-like in size. Also, because of the curvature of the Earth, Doppler radar can only see the upper portions of storms that are more than 60 miles away. This is why we should take all severe thunderstorms seriously; even if there is no warning, a tornado is still possible in some circumstances.

• MYTH: Mobile homes attract tornadoes.

TRUTH: Mobile homes are not more likely to be hit, they are just more vulnerable to wind damage because of their weaker construction.

• MYTH: Tornadoes, like lightning, never strike the same place twice.

TRUTH: We know this is not true, as Xenia has been hit three times in the past 30 years.

• MYTH: Tornadoes are increasing in frequency.

TRUTH: The number of reported tornadoes has increased slightly, but this is attributed to population density increasing, as well as the advent of video cameras.

• MYTH: Tornado damage is caused by rapid reduction in pressure.

TRUTH: The pressure reduction is minimal. All damage is because of very strong winds. Roofs are not sucked off houses; the roof acts just like an airplane wing and is lifted as strong winds blow over it.

• MYTH: Tornadoes can suck things up from the ground as they were at the beginning of the movie Twister.

TRUTH: This is not true. That is why if you are stuck outside in the path of a tornado, you should lie in a ditch. But always cover your head to protect yourself from flying debris.

• MYTH: Tornadoes never strike big cities.

TRUTH: St. Louis, Miami, Wichita, Birmingham and Nashville have all had direct hits. With suburbs growing in size and area, highly populated areas are becoming more vulnerable.

• MYTH: Tornadoes only exist over land.

TRUTH: They are only called tornadoes over land, but waterspouts (tornadoes over water) can be just as dangerous. Although most common off the south Florida coast, waterspouts are seen on Lake Erie almost every summer.

• MYTH: Thunderstorms are not as dangerous as tornadoes.

TRUTH: Winds with the most severe thunderstorms can be 80 to 100 mph, stronger than the weakest tornadoes.

• MYTH: Lightning never strikes the same place twice .

TRUTH: Lightning can and does strike the same place numerous times. The following strike will not be immediate, but once electrical charges build up again, a second strike is possible.

• MYTH: Traveling through moving water is safe if it is shallow.

TRUTH: It takes only six inches of swiftly moving water to knock a grown man off his feet. It takes only two feet of swiftly moving water to carry a bus away in the current.

• MYTH: It is the rubber tires on a car that keeps you safe from lightning.

TRUTH: It is the metal frame of the vehicle that provides safety. The electrical current will remain on the outside of the car if lightning strikes it, because the metal offers the path of least resistance for the current to travel into the ground.

• MYTH: It is unsafe to touch a person just struck by lightning.

TRUTH: The electrical charge is gone very soon after the strike. It is important to check the medical condition of a lightning-strike victim immediately, because breathing and heartbeat are often stopped with a strike. CPR can often save a life.

• MYTH: After a thunderstorm passes, if the rain stops and you have blue sky above, the threat of lightning is over.

TRUTH: Not necessarily. If you can still hear thunder, you can still be hit. Lightning can strike up to 10 miles away from a storm.

• Jamie Simpson is chief meteorologist at Channel 7 (WHIO-TV). His weather column appears weekly in the Dayton Daily News. Write to Jamie Simpson, WHIO-TV, 1414 Wilmington Ave., Dayton, OH 45420 or e-mail jamie.simpson@cox.com.