Springtime is often time for tornadoes

Warm spring days are a welcome change to the chilly drizzle of winter.

• Photos

Rainier Ehrhardt/File

Former board chairman of the Silver Bluff Fire Department Napoleon Roberson looks at damage to two of three fire trucks at the Silver Bluff fire station. Severe storms swept through the area last April.

Advertisement

But it's exactly that combination that makes this time of year prone to severe weather -- especially tornadoes.

"Springtime is the most critical," said Steve Naglic, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in West Columbia, S.C.

Tornadoes are spawned from frigid weather drifting east from the Plains and the balmy air of the Gulf of Mexico heading north. This combination brews severe weather, but it's the jet stream that hovers over the area this time of year that produces tornadoes.

Every thunderstorm has what's called an updraft and downdraft, which is basically the air moving between the ground and the clouds. The jet stream stirs these drafts and changes the wind direction at various altitudes; given enough force, these spinning winds become twisters.

Doppler radar is advanced enough that forecasters can usually spot the rotation within the thunderstorm and give about a 14-minute warning before a tornado touches down. If the storm is small, however, it's likely to be closer to two minutes.

A good way to gauge the severity of the storm is the size of the hail it produces.

Naglic strongly suggests residents invest in a weather radio that will sound an alarm whenever a tornado watch or warning is given by the weather service.

Mobile home residents should head for a sturdier structure when the alarm sounds or a tornado warning is in effect, said Howard Willis, the director of Richmond County Emergency Management. A tornado warning means a tornado has been spotted in the area and residents should take immediate shelter. A watch means there is the threat of a tornado forming.

If you're on a road or out in the open when you see a tornado, take shelter in a ditch or a low spot. It's not absolutely safe, but there's a better chance the wind won't pick you up, Willis said.

Whatever you do, "don't run from a tornado. It can change paths and then you're caught," he said.

The threat of tornadoes subsides around mid-May, but flooding is a year-round concern. Downtown Augusta is largely protected by the levee, and Richmond County is a collection of rolling hills. But several creeks, including Rae's and Rocky, feed into the Savannah River and place the county at risk of flooding, said Terri Turner, the assistant zoning and development administrator.

Willis warns motorists not to try to ford water-covered roads.