How are tornado data used?
High-quality tornado data are important in a number of areas:
(1) Verification – the occurrence of a tornado is used for ECCC alert verification, and allows forecasters to see how well their warnings perform and how they may be improved.
(2) Climatology and risk analysis – many organizations depend on knowledge of tornado risk, including municipalities, provinces, emergency managers, companies with electrical transmission lines, nuclear plants, insurance and reinsurance companies, etc.
(3) Science process studies – scientists that study how tornadoes form and what clues to formation are apparent in radar, satellite and lightning data need to know where and when tornadoes occurred and how strong they were.
(4) Climate change studies – to have an observations-based understanding of trends in tornado occurrence due to climate change, a high-quality, long-term tornado data set is required.
(5) Raising awareness – many Canadians may not be aware that they live in tornado-prone regions, so better tornado data helps to raise the level of awareness and increase knowledge about what actions to take in the event of a tornado.
