We are heading into severe weather season in the US soon (and by soon I mean tomorrow) (disclaimer, this is all general advice. pay attention to the official weather sources in your area for alerts and important information. I am not an expert, weather info is just a hobby for me.)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Weather Service (NWS) has (for now anyways) the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) which is a great source of information to stay weather aware.
The SPC puts out Convective Outlooks. These show where thunderstorms and severe weather have the potential to pop up. (With temperatures warming up, the movement of warm air leads to convection in the atmosphere which results in thunderstorms and sometimes severe weather. There is a good blog post going into more detail here)
Specifically, the outlooks are:
Day 1 Outlook (today and early tomorrow morning)
Day 2 Outlook (the next 24 hours following early tomorrow morning)
Day 3 Outlook (the next 24 hours)
Day 4-8 Outlook (the next days, but these are never too certain due to the way the models work)
These outlooks are timestamped with Zulu time aka Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). You can see how that compares to your local timezone here.
Today (3/13/25), the weather outlook is okay, just a slight risk of thunderstorms across the US. However, Friday (3/14/25) and Saturday (3/15/25) both have a widespread risk of severe weather including strong winds and tornadoes.
If you are in any of these colored regions, stay weather aware! Now, this doesn't mean you have to panic, but keep an eye on the weather reports in your area!
I tend to check the SPC in the morning so I know when I have to really be paying attention to the weather for the day/coming days.
Below is more info on the color coding which you can read more about here. (In addition here is a powerpoint from the NWS with more information "12 Things You Need to Know: Severe Weather Outlooks")
Tips on staying weather aware, it's important to have access to several weather sources.
Check the SPC for updates!
Find your closest NWS Forecast Office via zip code on weather.gov
Keep an eye on the local news and local weather reports
Consider getting a weather radio! (info here from NWS) This is good for if you lose power/internet as you can check the automated radio stations near you
Check the radar (I use the radarscope app) but you can check online with websites like radar.weather.gov or wunderground.com
Ryan Hall Y'all is a youtube channel that livestreams during most severe weather outbreaks
More weather info:
Severe Weather 101
How NOAA Satellites Help Us Stay Ahead of Severe Weather Season
How to Use and Interpret Doppler Weather Radar
TropicalTidbits - Info on hurricanes and other tropical weather
NWS - Emergency Supplies Kit Info
Weather Prediction Center - similar to SPC but more generalized
What to do During a Tornado (via NWS):
Stay Weather-Ready: Continue to listen to local news or a NOAA Weather Radio to stay updated about tornado watches and warnings.
At Your House: If you are in a tornado warning, go to your basement, safe room, or an interior room away from windows. Don't forget pets if time allows.
At Your Workplace or School: Follow your tornado drill and proceed to your tornado shelter location quickly and calmly. Stay away from windows and do not go to large open rooms such as cafeterias, gymnasiums, or auditoriums.
Outside: Seek shelter inside a sturdy building immediately if a tornado is approaching. Sheds and storage facilities are not safe. Neither is a mobile home or tent. If you have time, get to a safe building.
In a vehicle: Being in a vehicle during a tornado is not safe. The best course of action is to drive to the closest shelter. If you are unable to make it to a safe shelter, either get down in your car and cover your head, or abandon your car and seek shelter in a low lying area such as a ditch or ravine.
NOAA and NWS are under threat from everything going on right now. (Hundreds of weather forecasters fired in latest wave of DOGE cuts.) They provide vital services and do very important research about our weather and climate. While 5calls.org does not currently have a template centered on NOAA/NWS, they have similar ones that you could reference, modify, and use. (I have modified one below that you might consider using.) (5calls.org also has other very important scripts that you might use for other issues.) Please consider calling your representatives and telling them how important weather information is to everybody and that they should be protecting it, not defunding it. Not only for severe weather, but for climate change research and more.
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from [CITY, ZIP].
I'm calling to demand that [REP/SEN NAME] oppose any legislation, or efforts by the executive branch to dismantle or abolish the National Weather Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The recent reduction in staff is unacceptable, and will put Americans' lives and property at risk to severe weather. Reduced warning capabilities will put lives at risk and could potentially make response and recovery more hazardous and more expensive.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
IF LEAVING VOICEMAIL: Please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied.
While this is geared towards the US, a lot of this information can be applied via resources specific to your country. And finally, to quote Ryan Hall, Don't be Scared, Be Prepared.
The three obvious ingredients in the earth’s transformation from brown to green: rain, warmth and daylight.
A slightly less obvious ingredient: lightning.
Notice how the season’s first thunderstorms appear to give spring a turbo boost …? After the flash and bang subside, the world seems to green-up overnight.
It’s not just your imagination; lightning, believe it or not, is a natural fertilizer; it breaks up inert nitrogen in the atmosphere, which combines with oxygen, then dissolves in rain.
The rain becomes a nitrate-rich stew that feeds the earth’s flora and, in turn, us fauna.
If you want to get technical, the chlorophyll boost is called atmospheric nitrogen fixation.
Summary: Peter is scared of thunderstorms and doesn't want you to know
Warnings: just a lot of fluff
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You two are right now asleep, well you are. Peter is laying on his back wide awake trying to suppress the feeling of tears away. He has been afraid of thunderstorms ever since he was a little kid. He'd always hide underneath the blankets, humming a song or he would go to Aunt May's room to cuddle with her.
He feels so stupid, no other sixteen-year-old boy is scared and on the verge of tears because of a lousy storm. It's hard for him to not flinch or move, scared that he'd wake you up.
Another blast of thunder erupted from the sky making Peter whimper and hide underneath the comforter. Soon after you woke up to light humming. You looked around the room and realized that your boyfriend was under the comforter making the humming noise.
"Peter? What are you doing?" You asked and went underneath the comforter too. Once you did his humming immediately stopped and he closed his eyes trying to pretend he was sleeping. You just smiled lightly and rolled your eyes. "Pete, what's wrong? I know you're awake" you said and started to lightly twirl strands of his hair between your fingers.
He turned around facing you with a tear-stained face. "Oh, Baby what's wrong? Is there anything I can do to help?" You asked. Peter just looked up at you and then nuzzled his head into your chest. "Your gonna laugh at me though" he complained, You looked at him "Bub I'm not going to laugh, I promise. You can tell me".
Peter looked up at you again and mumbled "I'm scared of thunderstorms." If you weren't so close to him you wouldn't have heard. "Baby that's okay a lot of people are scared of them" You soothed and started to play a bit with his hair. "Yeah, Babys and little kids, not teenagers," He said and another crack of lightning and thunder happened. Making him whimper and hug you squeeze your torso even more than he was already.
"Okay Pete, I need to be able to breath" You lightly laughed a bit. He pouted and loosened his grip a little, looking up at you.
"Don't worry, it'll be okay. The storm will go away soon" you said and brought him into your arms, holding him.
"In and out, there we go" You soothed him. You exaggerated your breathing as he followed suit.
You brought your right hand up to the back of his head and ran your fingers through his hair. He snuggled into you more and basically purred like a cat as you held him to you.
I don’t think anything I could ever do would even think to come close to being as funny as this perfectly timed video I got of a thunderstorm paired with my oddly specific reaction.
every time there's a thunder storm i stumble outside into the driving rain like a spastic baby dear just ripped from its mother's womb and born into the fucking apocalypse
