In This Book:

Thunderstorm Risk CategoriesWatch vs Warning

New Enhanced Fujita ScaleFirst Alert Ready Checklist

First Alert Ready Plan

What is a Tornado?

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air in contact with the

ground and often accompanied by severe thunderstorms.

Tornados are the most destructive of all atmospheric phenomena and

occur on all continents, but are most common in Australia and the United

States.

There are twice as many tornados and tornado related deaths in Texas than any other state. In the past 85 years, more than 6,000 tornados have occurred in Texas killing more than 1,110

people.

Winds recorded have reached up to 300 MPH!

• Most tornados only last about two or three minutes. The more destructive, or “killer,” tornados last about 15 minutes. • Tornados can measure from three feet to 2 miles in diameter. • There are about 1000 tornados recorded each year in the United States. • Tornados occur most frequently in the months of April, May, and June. • Tornados generally happen between 3:00PM and 7:00PM.

Did you know ......

Anatomy of a Tornado

Anatomy of a Super Cell

1. Warm air rises throughstorm system and hits cooler airof the jet stream. 2. Warm air twists. As speedincreases, more air is drawn up through the low pressure area in the vortex. 3. As the vortex gets stronger, the funnel begins to drop.

Map of Coverage Counties

The First Alert Weather System warns you and your family when severe weather approaches your area. First Alert is tied

directly to the National Weather Service. When a weather warning is issues, this Central Texas map appears in the corner of your screen. Warnings and Watches are color coded to let you know what kind of severe weather is headed your way.

First Alert Ready Watch vs Warning

What Makes a Storm Severe?-Hail Quarter Size or Larger-Winds in Excess of 58 MPH

-A Tornado

Severe T-Storm WatchSevere storms are POSSIBLE in and close to the watch

area. A tornado or two can’t be ruled out.

Tornado WarningA tornado has been OBSERVED on radar or by a storm

spotter in your county. Seek shelter immediately.

Tornado WatchSevere storms and tornadoes are POSSIBLE in and close to

the watch area.

Severe T-Storm WarningA severe storm has been OBSERVED on radar or by a

storm spotter in your county. Seek shelter immediately.

Get to Know Matt Hines!

Award winning Chief Meteorologist Matt Hines came to Cen-tral Texas News Now 25 in December of 2007. Matt’s entire on-air career has been spent in the great state of Texas (Cen-tral Texas, Amarillo, Lubbock)! He leads a team of meteorolo-gists that uses the most advanced weather equipment in Cen-tral Texas and has set the standard for forecasting accuracy in the area. Matt has earned the National Weather Association Seal of Approval. This seal requires an examination and on-air evaluation. Once you earn the seal, you have to accumulate continuing education credits and renew every three years.

Matt grew up in Plano, Texas just north of Dallas. He knew at a very early age that weath-er was his passion. One of his first weather memories is watching his neighbor’s fence blow away as a tornado went through his neighborhood. From then on, he knew he was destined to become a meteorologist.

After high school he went to Lubbock, Texas where he attended Texas Tech University. He majored in broadcast journalism, but transferred his credits to Mississippi State Uni-versity where he completed the course work for the Broadcast Meteorology Program in 2003. While taking classes online, he worked as an intern at KLBK-TV in Lubbock. He was quickly promoted to their sister station KAMC-TV and became the weekend meteo-rologist in 2000.

After his work in Lubbock was finished in 2003, Matt moved to Amarillo, Texas where he worked at KAMR-TV. He started as the weekend meteorologist, then became the morning meteorologist, and eventually worked his way up to interim Chief Meteorologist during the spring of 2007.

Matt has covered numerous severe weather and tornado outbreaks both in the field and in the studio.

Other than weather, Matt has many other interests and hobbies. He’s an avid Dallas and Red Raider sports fan. He also enjoys traveling, spending time with his family, cooking or sampling new and different cuisine, and of course storm chasing. Matt’s daughter Addi-son and son Austin (twins) keep him very busy when he is at home!

Matt understands that weather is very important to you and looks forward to giving you his forecasts weekdays at 5, 6 and 10 p.m!

First Alert Ready Kit Check List

Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation

Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food

Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both

Flashlight and extra batteries

First aid kit

Whistle to signal for help

Dust mask, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place

Moist towelettes, garabage bags and plastic ties for personal san-itation

Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities

Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)

Local maps

Through the First Alert Ready Campaign, the Central Texas News Now Weather team is educating and empowering Central Texans to takesome simple steps to prepare for and respond to po-tential Severe Weather Threats. First Alert Ready asks individuals to do three key things: get an emergency supply kit, make a family emergency plan, and be informed about the different types of emergencies that could occur and their appropriate responses.

All Central Texans should have some basic supplies on hand in order to survive for at least three days if an emergency occurs. Following is a listing of some basic items that every emergency supply kit should include. However, it is important that individuals review this list and consider where they live and the unique needs of their family in order to create an emergency supply kit that will meet these needs. Individuals should also consider having at least two emergency sup-ply kits, one full kit at home and smaller portable kits in their workplace, vehicle or other places they spend time.

First Alert Ready Word Find

AIRDRY FRONT HUMID RADAR SUNNY WARNING

COLDFORECAST

LOWSTORM

TORNADOWEATHER

WET

CLOUDFOGHIGH

LIGHTNINGRAIN

THUNDERWATCHWIND

Rain Gauge Barometer Satellite Wind Vane

Thermometer Cloud Wind

Anemometer

Weather Radar Balloon

Thunder Meteorologist

1. A _______ measures atmospheric pressure.2. An _______ measures wind speed.3. A _______ is someone who studies the atmosphere.4. A ________ is created when cool air and warm air come to-gether.5. When a meteorologist wants to find out what is going on in the upper levels of the atmosphere, he/she uses a _______ _6. A _______ is an instrument which indicates where and how strong rain is.7. A ______ measures the direction of the wind.8. ______ always follows lightning. 9. A ______ is used to take pictures of the clouds from space.10. A ______ measures how hot or cold the air 1s.11. To measure how much precipitation has fallen, a meteorologist uses a _______ _12. ______ is the atmosphere in motion.

Puzzles and Games courtesy of: Meteorology Made Easy: A Young Person’s Guide to Understanding Weather by Mark Scirto

Test Your Severe Weather Knowledge

Fill in the blanks with the following weather words

A: 26B: 25C: 24 D: 23 E: 22 F: 21 G: 20 H: 19 I: 18J: 17K: 16L: 15M: 14

N: 13O: 12P: 11Q: 10R: 9S: 8T: 7U: 6V: 5W: 4X: 3Y: 2Z: 1

Severe Weather Secret Message

Decode the message using the special code below

7

2 23

25 ____ ____

____ ____ ____ ____ ________ ____ ____ ____ ____

____ ____ ____ ____ ____22 21 18 9 8

26 22 9 7 9 22 15 26

2 ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____26 15 4 26 8

First Alert Ready Emergency Plan

At Home•Take cover in the center part of the house on the lowest floor. •Rooms such as closets or bathrooms are ideal. •Under sturdy furniture. •Stay away from windows. •A basement offers the greatest safety.

At Work/School•Move to a designated shelter area. •Hallways on the lowest floor are the best. •Under sturdy furniture. •Stay away of auditoriums, gymnasi-ums, and other structures with long, wide, free-span roofs.

On the Road•If possible, leave your car and get into the nearest ditch. •Cover your head with your hands until the tornado passes. Don’t drive toward flooded roads, TURN AROUND DON’T DROWN•DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO!

In Mobile Homes•Mobile homes are vulnerable to overturning during strong winds. •Evacuate immediately when strong winds or tornados are possible.•If there is no shelter nearby, leave the trailer and take shelter in a ditch.

Severe Weather Safe Spot

Locate the safest room in this house in case of severe weather

First Alert Ready EF Scale

65-85 mph86-110 mph111-135 mph136-165 mph166-200 mph

200+ mph

EF-0

EF-4EF-3EF-2EF-1

EF-5

What is the EF Scale?The EF Scale has been the measuring scale in the United

States since 2007. The EF scale uses three-second wind gust estimates based

on a more detailed system for assessing damage, taking into account different building materials.

First Alert Ready Thunderstorm Risk Categories

Long-lived, very widespread and

particularly intenseTornado outbreak

4- HIGH(HIGH)

Outbreak of severe storms

Catastrophic damage possible

Widespread, intense storms

3- MODERATE(MOD)

Numerous severe storms likely

Damaging stormsDamage possible, more widespread

More persistent and/or

widespread, a few intense

2- ENHANCED(ENH)

Scattered severe storms

Intense storms possible

A few reports of damage

1- SLIGHT(SLGT)

Few severe storms

*All categories can produce significant severe weather**Risk based on probablity; does not guarentee severe weather at your location

Find Central Texas News Now

HELP! Matt Hines got lost while tracking weather! Can you get him back to Central

Texas News Now?25 cells diameter theta maze

Copyright © 2018 JGB Service, http://www.mazegenerator.net/

1. What makes a storm severe?

3. Where is the best place for you to go in your house during a tornado?

2. What’s the difference between a watch and a warning?

Answer the following questions to see if you are First Alert Ready!

Severe Weather Trivia!

B)There is no difference

A) A room with windows

A) Hail 1” or larger

A) A watch means severe weather is a possbility, A warning means take immediate action

B) Center part of the house on the lowest floor.

B) Strong winds greater than 58MPH

C) Tornado

Answer key: 1) all answers are correct, 2) A , 3) B

First Alert Ready App Alerts/iPhone

Why have App Alerts turned on? Having your First Alert Ready App Alerts is important when severe weather hits. It sends a notification to your phone the moment any dangerous weath-er is detected.

>Open the First Alert Weather App on your iPhone>Tap the three bars in the upper left hand corner

>It will open up the side bar that will look like this>Tap the settings tab

>It will open the settings page>Slide the bar over and it turns the bars blue. These are all customizable and you can select which Alerts you would like to have on your device. >Now your App is First Alert Ready!

First Alert Ready App Alerts/Android

Why have App Alerts turned on? Having your First Alert Ready App Alerts is important when severe weather hits. It sends a notification to your phone the moment any dangerous weath-er is detected.

>Open the First Alert Weather App on your Andriod Phone>Tap the three bars in the upper left hand corner

>It will open up the side bar that will look like this>Tap the settings tab

>It will open the settings page>Slide the bar over and it turns the bars blue. These are all customizable and you can select which Alerts you would like to have on your device. >Now your App is First Alert Ready!

Thanks to everyone in Central Texas for trusting us with your weather! I hope you find our First Alert Ready in-formation useful and informative. We love helping you learn about severe storm season in Central Texas. Our mission is to make sure you have the knowledge to protect you and your loved ones when severe weather strikes! As always, we are here for you before, during, and after the storm. If you are prepared, then you will always be First Alert Ready...

Matt HinesChief Meteorologist