• deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Yeah a lot of people don’t seem to understand that a tornado is a very violent storm but it covers a very small fraction of the storm’s total area. For the overwhelming majority of space in the path of the storm, it just experiences a severe thunderstorm, and every single one of us has experienced that. Only a slim percentage are going to get the funnel.

    The reason you’re supposed to take shelter during a tornado is because oftentimes you don’t have visibility on it, have no idea where it’s going to go, and you might not have enough time to get into shelter by the time you realize it’s on top of you. And just because it’s always good to play it safe.

    But realistically, if you could see the thing, you actually have a pretty good idea of how safe you are from it.

    Tornadoes don’t rip you off the ground from half a mile away, and the vast majority of them don’t throw debris that far either. They’re also not teleporters, and many are short-lived. You can look at them from a distance, just don’t go chasing them, and be within 30 seconds of shelter.