Fake Tornado Reports Are Not Funny

For anyone that knows me, they know that I have pulled some pranks. My friends know that I will do anything to make them laugh or smile. The guy who posted this picture to Facebook last night was probably trying to do the same thing. I get it. But, posting fake tornado reports is not funny. It's dangerous. It creates false panic. And, it wastes time for those trying to warn people in the line of storms. The pic above was NOT from Region 8 yesterday. It is a picture from Marshall Brozek in Moore, OK in 2013. Let me explain more about the picture above:

Its' a picture of a tornado that killed 25 people in Moore, Oklahoma on May 20th, 2013:
NWS-Norman
It's the picture of a tornado that killed kids, pregnant mothers, dads, sons, and daughters. Here are their names, ages, and links to their lives:
Terri Long – 49
Megan Futrell – 29
Case Futrell – 4 months
Shannon Quick – 40
Sydnee Vargyas – 7 months
Karrina Vargyas – 4
Jeany Neely – 38
Antonia Candelaria – 9
Kyle Davis – 8
Janae Hornsby – 9
Sydney Angle – 9
Emily Conatzer -9
Nicolas McCabe – 9
Christopher Legg – 9
Cindy Plumley – 45
Deanna Ward – 70
Rick Jones – 54
William Sass – 63
Gina Stromski – 51
Tewauna Robinson – 45
Randy Smith – 39
Leslie Johnson – 46
Hemant Bhonde – 65
Richard Brown – 41
Kathryn Begay – 90

(List compiled by KFOR)

It's a pic of a tornado that lead rescue workers to spend days looking for victims, like these workers in Plaza Towers Elementary School:
Pic: Oklahoma National Guard
So, I don't find fake tornado reports funny. Most of the time, we can easily identify a fake report through metadata, recognizing the particular tornado, weather conditions, or geographical references. However, judging by the over 100 shares on Facebook, the public does not know that this is a fake report.  

I blocked out the dudes name because I've done some things in my past that I thought was funny and it wasn't. I hope he realizes that things like this matter and I hope others learn from his mistake.

Enjoy the sunshine today,
Ryan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Hazy Sky Comes From Africa

Image
Many of you have probably noticed the HAZE over the past day or two. You may have also noticed that it's not like our normal summer haze. It has a little bit of a "dusty" look to it... Well, that's because it is from the Saharan Desert! As you can see in this animation, the general wind flow is from East to West in the lower latitudes. If the wind patterns are just right... that dust is scooped northward into Region 8: The above animation is a forecast over the next few days. Notice that while the dust is still moving across the Atlantic, it will lesson over Region 8. Yesterday was probably the worst day: One good thing about having Saharan Desert Dust over the Atlantic is that it helps suppress hurricane development. Have a great day! Ryan
Read more

Severe Weather Possible: Memorial Day Weekend

Image
First off, I think we are going to salvage a lot of the weekend. If you have outdoor plans, you will want to watch the TIMING of the storms, but don't cancel your plans. Here are the bullet points as of today (5/24/17): A few spotty storms are possible on Friday evening, but we are not too worried about these storms and anything that develops should not last long. On Saturday, most of the day will be dry. The greatest threat is Saturday EVENING. Greatest threat: STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. Hail is possible Tornado threat is LOW. A lot of Sunday AFTERNOON may be dry.  Memorial Day looks dry. So, let's dig into some specifics. Remember, we are still FOUR days out and this forecast may change a little. As of now, here's where I think the greatest risk will be on Saturday and Saturday night: For us in Region 8, we may see several hours of dry weather on Saturday. The latest data shows that most of the rain between 1PM and 7PM will be north and west of us: Later Saturday evening and Sa...
Read more