Local News

Memories might make more heed warnings

System changed for issuing alerts

by Deb Egenberger

April 18, 2008

It’s a long-running joke in Nebraska: If you don’t like the weather, wait an hour.

That saying is so true that natives—and even many transplants—have become overly complacent to severe weather warnings.

“Unfortunately, people tend to take the attitude that it won’t happen here or it won’t happen to them,” said Dawson County Emergency Management Director Brian Woldt.

That’s obviously not true.

The tornado that ripped through the Gothenburg area a year ago not only changed the landscape of many farmsteads but it also may have changed the way people heed National Weather Service warnings.

“Now we know it does happen here,” Woldt said.

The tornado rated between F2 and F3 on the Fujita scale with winds between 158 and 207 mph. It destroyed or severely damaged at least 15 homes, tore up countless roofs and toppled at least 32 pivots.

Woldt said he hasn’t seen any official damage totals but estimates the cost of clean-up at more than $1 million.

“That’s major impact,” he said.

The last time the Gothenburg area had significant tornado damage was 1975, Woldt said.

That storm hit south between Gothenburg and Cozad and also north of Gothenburg damaging nine homes for a total property cost of $287,290.

In the years between, residents here may have developed a casual attitude about severe weather, Woldt said.

“I think people will probably take the sirens more seriously this year,” he said.

And with good reasons.

For one, Woldt said he now has a laptop computer with Internet service in his vehicle. That allows him to not only watch the sky as storms develop but also to keep tabs on the National Weather Service.

What that provides for Dawson County, he said, is earlier warning of severe storms.

The National Weather Service is also targeting areas more closely with weather warnings.

Steve Kisner, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Hastings, said the storm-based warning system is not new.

“We’ve used the concept in-house for years,” he said, “but now we’re expanding it to the public.”

Previously, NWS warnings were issued by county regardless of where in the county a storm was brewing.

With the storm-based warnings, Kisner said the weather service can pinpoint more closely areas that are likely to be affected by severe weather.

Computer software allows forecasters to draw polygons on the map indicating the likely path of a storm. With visual warning devices such as Internet and television, the public can see exactly where a storm is traveling.

“We’re trying to minimize areas of false alarm,” he said.

Radio announcers also receive the exterior points of the warning area to make their announcements more specific.

Hopefully, Woldt said, that means more people will heed the early warnings.

And there will likely be a few occasions this spring and summer for the sirens to blare.

“My storm spotter friends are saying we’re still in the same weather patterns as last year,” Woldt said. “That means we’ll probably see some severe weather again this year.”

Lessons learned from tornado