SPRING: SEASONOF THE TORNADO; STORM-WATCHERS KEEP EYES TO SKY FOR COUNTY

Advancements in tornado tracking will aid Dave Hitt as he prepares for the upcoming tornado season.

Hitt, the Cape Girardeau County emergency management director, said a new Emergency Alert System will enable someone from his office to issue an alert over the radio or on television that specifies the location of a tornado.

The way the system is now, when a tornado warning is issued it is for the entire county.

"With the new system, when it is implemented, somebody can say it's heading for Oak Ridge or it's coming down Highway 74," Hitt said. "Then the people in that area will be better warned."

This is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Missouri.

A tornado watch is when conditions are favorable for the formation of a tornado; a tornado warning is when one has been spotted.

One method of tornado warning that Cape Girardeau County doesn't employ is sirens. Scott and Perry counties have weather sirens, but Hitt said he isn't in a hurry to set up any here. He said studies have shown sirens are not that effective for people who are indoors.

Storm-spotters throughout the outlying areas of Cape Girardeau County provide Hitt an early warning system.

"By the time a storm gets to Cape County we have a pretty good idea what's going on," he said.

Alvin Frank Jr. of Delta has seen a number of tornadoes since becoming a storm-spotter in 1979. The last one was two years ago south of Delta.

As the county's advance warning system, Frank and the other 20 to 25 storm-spotters in the county watch clouds during bad weather to see if they are moving in different directions or swirling. This is an early indicator of a tornado.

Since most of the storm-spotters are volunteer firefighters, they have radio equipment to contact the emergency management center or rescue workers.

Frank, who is chief of the Delta Volunteer Fire Department, said most storm spotters work out of their homes.

Researchers have made great strides in predicting tornadoes. They know the conditions that are favorable for formation and understand what a tornado does once it touches the ground.

Pat Spoden, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., said advancements are made every year through different fields of tornado research.

Doppler radar and the powerful computer system attached to it has been the biggest benefit for meteorologists. But that device would not be as beneficial if it were not for storm-spotters in the field relaying physical confirmation of what the scientist is seeing on the screen.

"We are in an area that can have tornadoes at just about any time of the year," Spoden said, adding that tornado season peaks in April and May.

Being far enough south to allow for some warm days during the winter is one reason the Midwest is a prime spawning ground for tornadoes. When warm air clashes with an approaching cold front, the ensuing thunderstorm can be serious. It is from these storms that tornadoes erupt.

Differing wind speeds and directions are elements responsible for a tornado. But even when researchers know the conditions are right, tornadoes don't always form. What causes a tornado during one storm and not another is one of the mysteries researchers are trying to uncover.

Spoden said this region has about 40 severe thunderstorms a year. "But tornadoes are actually very rare," he said.