FARGO - Residents in the metro should be spending more time in their basements this summer - at least if they heed the number of severe storm warnings issued this summer.
There seems to be an unusual number of tornado warnings triggering sirens this summer, including one issued Tuesday morning, said Dave Rogness, the county's emergency manager.
"It's not consistent and not predictable," he said. "One year we may have several. One year we may not have any."
Cass County doesn't track how many tornado warnings are issued in a given year, and the National Weather Service was unable to provide those statistics Tuesday.
While the number of severe storms may vary each season, the technology to pinpoint potential tornadic cells continues to improve, said Brad Hopkins, a weather service meteorologist in Grand Forks.
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Thirty to 40 years ago, meteorologists relied on eyewitness touchdown reports or characteristics in cloud formations to issue warnings, Hopkins said.
"But by the time those usually showed up in those old systems, the tornado was usually already on the ground or forming," he said.
Today's technology allows meteorologists to see tell-tale wind patterns within a cell, often offering an earlier warning, Hopkins said.
The weather service issues warnings when the storm shows strong signs that a tornado is likely to form, using both trained weather spotters and radar.
"You try to avoid crying wolf, but if there's a strong indication, you have to ask yourself the question, 'Do you issue and have something not happen or do you not issue and something does happen?' Hopkins said. "You have to walk a fine line."
A powerful windstorm that swept through the area on Memorial Day produced three small tornadoes.
The weather service was still assessing the damage from Tuesday's storm, Hopkins said.
A higher-than-normal frequency of storms can be both a good and bad thing, Rogness said.
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On one hand, residents might get complacent after several alerts and ignore the notifications instead of taking cover, he said. In years with no storms, however, people tend to forget what to do in an emergency.
Sirens warned of a storm capable of creating a tornado on the Fourth of July in Fargo. Yet many people continued to light off fireworks throughout the heavy lighting and rain, Rogness said.
"You always have human nature to deal with, no matter what," he said.
Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist said law enforcement sounds warnings sooner than they used to, and it's a message for residents to get inside and get information on the storm.
"People get so used to having those warning systems, and if they don't go off, that's when they get really upset," Bergquist said.
"When they go off, there is a reason," he said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Heidi Shaffer at (701) 241-5511
