A lesson in tornadoes’ wake: Warnings work, but human response is key
As huge air masses began to collide last week over the central United States, Michael York, a veteran meteorologist, focused on the data swirling in front of him.
His face lit by screens at a cookie-cutter National Weather Service office in Paducah, Kentucky, Mr. York began sending out alerts midweek about the gathering of a powerful storm.
Finally, as the NWS radar caught the storm spinning off a twister on Friday, Mr. York’s office sent out a plain-spoken plea at 8:33 p.m. to take shelter: “Folks, this is as serious as it gets.”
Thirty miles to the south, in Mayfield, Kentucky, machine shop owner Phil Crowfoot’s weather radio had been blaring since 6 o’clock. He knew the NWS predictions weren’t always perfect. “They’re good about missing snowstorms and stuff. I was hoping this was going to be one of them, too,” says Mr. Crowfoot.
