Severe storms and tornadoes
Learn to identify alerts, know the highest risk zones and discover how to protect yourself during severe storms and tornadoes.
⚠️ Watch vs Warning: what's the difference?
WATCH
Tornadoes are possible in your area. Atmospheric conditions are favorable for severe storm formation that may produce tornadoes.
- Review your family emergency plan
- Check your supplies kit
- Identify your nearest shelter
- Stay informed with Canal Meteo
WARNING
A tornado has been sighted or detected by radar. There is imminent danger to life and property. Seek shelter immediately.
- Go to shelter NOW (basement or interior room)
- Stay away from windows and exterior doors
- Protect your head with pillows or mattress
- If in mobile home, leave immediately
🆘 TORNADO EMERGENCY
This is the highest NWS alert level. Issued when a violent tornado has touched down with confirmed catastrophic damage and severe threat. Seek shelter in the safest possible location immediately.
📊 Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale
EF0
EF1
EF2
EF3
EF4
EF5
🗺️ Tornado Alley: the most active zone
What is Tornado Alley?
It's a region in the U.S. Great Plains where most of the world's most intense tornadoes occur. The flat terrain allows cold Canadian air to collide with warm, moist Gulf of Mexico air, creating perfect conditions for supercells.
Main season: April to September, peaking in May and June.
🛡️ Safety recommendations
At home
- Go to basement or interior room without windows
- Avoid rooms with large windows
- Cover your body with mattress or thick blankets
- Use bicycle helmet to protect your head
- Stay away from heavy appliances
- Know multiple escape routes
In vehicle
- Never try to outrun a tornado in a car
- Seek shelter in nearby solid building
- If no shelter, exit car and lie in low ditch
- Cover your head with your hands
- Avoid overpasses and bridges
- Don't shelter under bridges (tunnel effect)
Outdoors
- Find nearest building immediately
- Avoid areas with trees or power poles
- Don't shelter in mobile homes or trailers
- Lie face down in low area if no shelter
- Protect head and neck with your arms
- Move away from debris that could fly
💡 Facts and curiosities
Warning time
The average warning time before a tornado touches down is only 13 minutes. That's why acting fast is crucial.
Rotation
Most tornadoes in the northern hemisphere rotate counterclockwise. In the south, they rotate clockwise.
Variable size
Tornadoes can range from a few meters to over 2 km wide. The El Reno tornado (2013) reached 4.2 km.
Record speed
The fastest winds ever recorded in a tornado reached 512 km/h (318 mph) in Moore, Oklahoma in 1999.
Nocturnal tornadoes
Nocturnal tornadoes are especially dangerous because they're hard to see. Always enable NWS alerts.
Mobile homes
Mobile homes are extremely vulnerable. They account for many tornado deaths despite being a minority of homes.
🚨 Stay alert in real time
Monitor weather conditions and receive instant alerts with our tools.
Information sources
Information based on data from NOAA/National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center and Ready.gov.