New tornado language could be coming to Oklahoma

An experiment using attention getting terms when issuing tornado warnings in Missouri and Kansas this year could spread to other states like Oklahoma. The new warnings contain words like catastrophic and even unsurvivable to describe approaching tornadoes. Chief Meterologist Steve Piltz in the Tulsa National Weather Service Office says the concept is a good one that Oklahoma has actually been doing for several years, but they have not been using the 'shock' language included in the Missouri and Kansas experiment.

Piltz says ‘unsurvivable’ may be a little over the top, but he’s interested in seeing how the experiment works in the test states this season, and what happens from there.