AccuWeather's Advance Warning Saves Lives and Protects Property
On April 1 - 3, 2024, numerous severe thunderstorms and flooding occurred from Texas to Pennsylvania. AccuWeather was the only known source to provide 12 days of advance notice of the severe thunderstorm risk. AccuWeather also gave two days of additional advance notice over the National Weather Service (NWS) and other known sources regarding flood risk in southwest Pennsylvania including Pittsburgh.
AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologists issued numerous life-saving SkyGuard® Tornado Warnings, which in many cases provided significantly more advance notice than any other known source. These warnings benefited AccuWeather for Business SkyGuard® customers. This exclusive advance notice allowed businesses in these areas to prepare better, ultimately saving lives and protecting property.
- Twelve days in advance, AccuWeather was the only known source to predict that severe thunderstorms would erupt from April 1 - 3 from Texas to the Appalachians. The area predicted correctly captured the vast majority of severe thunderstorm reports on April 1 and 2. Over the next week and a half, AccuWeather's Long-Range and Network team continued to message this severe weather risk continually.
- Five days in advance, AccuWeather was the first to predict some risk of severe thunderstorms on Monday, April 1. This was a day ahead of the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), which, at the time, forecast that "predictability was too low."
- AccuWeather's forecast correctly identified the area of risk from Texas to Indiana.
- This forecast was provided to AFB customers via the Storm Potential Outlook (SPO) product.
- On Monday, AccuWeather consistently predicted that tornadoes were a significant concern, stating "there is a significant risk for damaging winds, tornadoes and large hail." This is in contrast to the SPC, which flip-flopped - first predicting that significant tornadoes could occur, then removing the risk and eventually adding it back.
- AccuWeather provided two days of additional advance notice of the flood risk in southwest Pennsylvania (including Pittsburgh). AccuWeather For Business meteorologists identified southwest Pennsylvania as an area at risk on Saturday, four days in advance of significant flooding. At the same time, the NWS and other known sources issued their Flood Watch on Monday for Pittsburgh.
- Across Central Pennsylvania, in places such as Altoona and State College, AccuWeather provided an additional day of advance notice over the NWS regarding flooding. AccuWeather notified customers on Monday, April 1, that flooding could occur while the NWS Flood Watch on Tuesday, after over an inch of rain had already fallen.
- Across Pennsylvania, AccuWeather's communication of the flood risk was superior to other sources by describing the specific impacts of the flooding and where the concern was the greatest. Examples included:
- "widespread flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas; localized washouts, especially in areas of steep terrain"
- "larger rivers can continue to rise in the wake of heavy rain."
Tornado Warnings and Life-Saving Notifications
AccuWeather's Expert Storm Warning Meteorologists issued numerous life-saving SkyGuard® Tornado Warnings, which, in many cases, provided significantly more advance notice than any other known source. This allowed AccuWeather For Business SkyGuard® customers to receive critical information and take appropriate actions to protect themselves and their property.
Learn more about AccuWeather's life-saving SkyGuard Tornado Warnings.
Specific Examples of AccuWeather's Superior Accuracy™
Jeffersonville, Indiana, and Prospect, Kentucky Tornado
A rapidly developing tornado with peak winds of 120 mph impacted the Jeffersonville, IN, and Prospect, KY, area on Tuesday afternoon.
- AccuWeather's Expert Storm Warning Meteorologists issued a life-saving SkyGuard® Tornado Warning, exclusively providing 4 minutes of advance notice before the tornado developed.
- AccuWeather was the ONLY known source to provide any advance notice of the initial touch down – as the NWS and all other sources did not issue a Tornado Warning for Jeffersonville, IN.
- In contrast, the NWS and all other sources issued a Tornado Warning after the tornado had already formed and been on the ground for 4 minutes.
As a result, people and businesses relying on NWS warnings directly or other known weather sources that simply distribute NWS tornado warnings would not have noticed the imminent life-threatening emergency.
- Government cell phone alerting (wireless emergency alerts) would not have been activated, outdoor sirens would not have been activated, and other emergency notifications from other agencies may not have been issued, as those notification methods depend upon National Weather Service warnings. Only those systems that are based on AccuWeather Warnings, which include National Weather Service warnings but are also supplemented by the expertise of AccuWeather's expert Storm Warning Meteorologists, would have been activated.
Northumberland County, Virginia Tornado
- AccuWeather's Expert Storm Warning Meteorologists issued a SkyGuard Tornado Warning that provided 20 minutes of advance notice before a tornado moved into central Northumberland County, VA, developing an EF1 tornado just south of Callao.
- This was 18 minutes more advance notice than the NWS and other known sources, who only provided 2 minutes of advance notice.
Bourbon and Clark Counties, Kentucky Tornado
- On Tuesday morning, a rapidly developing tornado with peak winds of 100 mph impacted parts of Bourbon and Clark Counties northeast of Lexington, Kentucky.
- AccuWeather's Expert Storm Warning Meteorologists issued a life-saving SkyGuard® Tornado Warning that provided 9 minutes of advance notice before the tornado developed.
- In contrast, the NWS and all other sources did not issue a Tornado Warning until 12 minutes after the tornado had already touched down.
AccuWeather' SkyGuard Severe Weather Warnings
AccuWeather SkyGuard® severe weather warnings protect people and facilities in emergencies, communicated instantly with a high level of accuracy through multiple channels and methods of dissemination, all customized to the client's needs. SkyGuard warnings provide the most accurate, proactive notification of impending threats to specific locations when severe weather threatens human lives, facilities, or business operations – 24/7, 365 days a year. AccuWeather's team of expert meteorologists develop SkyGuard warnings specifically for the severe weather threats and locations that matter to each client, including tornadoes, hail, flooding, ice, black ice, high winds, lightning, and much more. SkyGuard warnings are backed by always on-call expert consultants to help businesses and institutions make early, actionable decisions.
AccuWeather continues to deliver invaluable, life-saving warnings around severe weather events, such as tornadoes, with an average of 16 minutes advance notice compared to government warnings that provide an average of 8 minutes notice. Minimizing false alarms has only added to the credibility and value of AccuWeather's life-saving warnings when the threat is real.
Contact one of AccuWeather's experts and become better prepared for all weather risks.
