There are all these tornado warnings on the news, saying one will go through
Mississauga (were I live), Brampton, Toronto, and other near-by cities. The few days have been scorchnig and I am guessing the cold air is creating this tornado. What amazes me is the last tornado that happened here was when I was 6! Even then it was so small, that no one noticed it, all that happened was a smoke stack fell over. Well anyway this problem is making me nervouse...

Bah. Its not gonna happen. Never does. Last year, we had on tv
"ohmygosh! tornado's heading everywhere! Heading for barrington(where I live)!"
There were storm clouds everywhere, and the air was crackling with electricity. Then......the clouds went away and the sun came out. They never come.

We get alot of Tornado watches too, but very rarely get a tornado, and for that I am glad.

Why do people persist on living in areas that come equiped with natural disasters?

I live in Norway. The only thing we get is the occasional high wind that will take away your laundry and place it on your neighbours lawn, and some floods now and then. All you gotta do is to NOT live in low areas, and Norway is full of high places... so it kinda works out well :)

True Tom, I was just kind of born and raised here (and we rarely get them really :) LOL)


How about Blizzards and the like though?

But Norway it's too cold, isn't it?

So cold that people get blue skin :Tom: LOL

@Tom:
Natural disasters in Chicago? Come on, nothing happens here let alone natural disasters! I have never seen a tornado and one has never come close to my field of vision.
Actually, Tom, if you were going to live in a place where natural disasters were nonexistent, I would say the best bet would be a small concrete box in antarctica 2 miles below the ground and surround by 100 feet of reinforced steel. :D

To get back on topic....

How big does the warning state the Tornado will be?

They usually don't say. In terms of "area that is in danger" we are talking all of northern Illinois, all of Iowa, southern half of minnesota, little bit wisconsin, little bit of missouri and half of indiana. About 500000 square miles. A lot, I know, but they are always very general.

Edit: sizes of actual tornados are impossible to predict, as is where they will touch down. You can't really say "its going to start here, stop here, and it will be exactly this size." you never know. Its impossible to tell.

You just draw a big square and say "somewhere in here"

*cough* svalbard *cough*

Iceland sukcs. Volcanoes, avalanches, stupid people, bad roads, no trains, puffins, wind, RAIN, earthquakes

all that crap

So....has this topic turned into "all natural disasters in any place?"

on the topic of iceland......what is it like there? are there lots of forests? whenever I imagine iceland, i just imagine this frozen icy rock that is completely barren. Whats it like? isn't surtsey around there? that is a coooool volcano! :ok:

That's a tornado watch, not a warning. Watches cover large, rhomboidal areas that often include parts of several states. A tornado watch means only that atmospheric conditions in the region are favorable for tornado formation. It by no means guarantees that a tornado, or even a severe storm, will occur in the watch area. Tornado warnings, on the other hand, are issued on a county-by-county basis and indicate that a tornado has been seen and reported by someone in the field or is indicated by a radar signature. If a tornado warning is issued for your county, you should consider taking shelter unless you're acutely aware of what the storm is doing and are certain that it's not heading for you. If nearby storm sirens are going off at the time, you should seriously consider taking shelter, especially if you cannot actually see the interesting part of the storm due to clouds, darkness, or what-have-you.

As for why people live in disaster-prone areas, everyone's got their own reason. Personally, I enjoy severe weather. That's not why I came to Oklahoma, but I wouldn't leave because of it, either. Huge storms are awe-inspiring for me, and if I didn't have other responsibilities that take a higher priority, I'd be chasing them all over the plains in the spring with the rest of the nutjobs.

Well, there was an F5 tornado in the Chicago area in 1990 that killed 29 and injured 350. That's pretty significant, and not all that long ago. A little before your time, though. Then there was the 1995 heat wave - certainly not the most exciting kind of natural disaster, but it did result in over 700 deaths.

We have mountains, forests (not big ones, though), glaciers, rivers, lakes, and right now it's just over 20°c outside.
And yes, Surtsey is here, close to Vestmannaeyjar. Nice place.

@Puffin: so it's a reasonably pleasant temperature. I'll go there one day If I find something interesting to do there (sorry!) :bye:

@fruitpie: actually it is a "tornado warning" just that "these are the areas most in danger of being affected."

Edit: well, you DO live in Oklahoma, which is the tornado capital of the world so I suppose I should take your judgement..... :D