Tornado outlook, watch, or warning: when to prepare and when to shelter

Days ahead · Start planning

An outlook shows where severe storms may develop

The Storm Prediction Center issues severe-thunderstorm outlooks for broad areas. The categorical scale runs from Marginal through Slight, Enhanced, Moderate, and High risk. Those categories describe the expected coverage and intensity of severe storms; they do not say that every person inside a shaded area will experience a tornado.

• Use an outlook to identify a day when plans may need to change, especially if you will be outdoors, traveling, or far from a sturdy shelter.
• Read the outlook text and hazard details. The overall category can reflect damaging wind or hail even when the tornado probability is lower.
• Any thunderstorm can produce lightning and heavy rain. A low or unshaded tornado risk is not an all-clear for every hazard.
• Recheck later forecasts because the timing, location, and expected hazards become clearer as the event gets closer.

Hours to days ahead · Refine the plan

A forecast adds local timing and expected conditions

Your local National Weather Service forecast describes expected weather for a specific place and period. It can mention severe storms before any watch exists, but a forecast is not itself a tornado watch or warning. Use it to choose a safe schedule and to learn when storms are most likely.

1. Confirm the county or location where you will actually be.
2. Identify the nearest sturdy shelter before storms arrive.
3. Charge phones and keep Wireless Emergency Alerts enabled.
4. Have more than one reliable way to receive warnings, including NOAA Weather Radio where practical.

Tornado watch · Be prepared

A watch means tornadoes are possible in and near the area

Tornado watches are issued by the Storm Prediction Center and usually cover a large area containing numerous counties or parts of states. A watch does not mean a tornado has been detected. It means the atmosphere can support tornado-producing storms and people should be ready to act quickly.

• Bring outdoor plans closer to a sturdy, accessible shelter.
• Clear the shelter area and place sturdy shoes, helmets, and a flashlight nearby.
• Make sure children, visitors, and anyone needing mobility help know the plan.
• If you are in a manufactured or mobile home, decide early where the substantial shelter is and how long it takes to reach it.
• Keep monitoring conditions. A warning can be issued without a watch already in effect.

Tornado warning · Take action

A warning means shelter immediately

A local National Weather Service office issues a tornado warning when a tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. The warned area is much smaller than a watch and is tied to the storm's expected path. Do not wait to see a funnel cloud, and do not spend warning time comparing apps.

1. Go to a storm shelter, safe room, basement, or a small interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building.
2. Stay away from windows, doors, outside walls, and large open rooms.
3. Get low and protect your head and neck from flying debris.
4. Leave a mobile home, tent, or vehicle for the closest substantial shelter when it can be reached safely. An overpass is not safe shelter.
5. Continue following the warning until it expires or officials say the threat has passed; more storms may follow.

Tornado emergency · Highest urgency

An emergency is a rare, enhanced tornado warning

The National Weather Service reserves the term Tornado Emergency for an exceptionally dangerous situation involving a confirmed violent tornado and a severe threat to human life with catastrophic damage expected or occurring. It is not a separate forecast or a reason to wait during an ordinary tornado warning. Every tornado warning requires immediate shelter.

Before, during, and after

Build the plan before seconds matter

The safest response is easier when the decision has already been made. Choose the best available shelter at home, work, school, and the places you visit regularly. Practice getting there and account for pets, nighttime alerts, and people who need help moving.

• Do not open windows; use that time to reach shelter.
• Do not use a highway overpass as tornado shelter.
• Afterward, avoid downed power lines and damaged buildings.
• Keep monitoring official information because multiple rounds of severe storms can occur.
• Use text messages when possible to tell family you are safe; they may work when voice networks are congested.