This is a true story of the events of that March evening years ago. It was about 10 o’clock in the evening when the call came in and pierced my eardrum and my quiet evening. After a moment scanning our Doppler radar, satellite pictures and current conditions, it was pretty apparent that a tornado was not happening and in fact the sky and radar picture were clear.

‘Sir, there is no tornado”, I replied. “You idiot! It’s right in my back yard!” he yelled some more. The only way he could have had a tornado in his back yard was if he was calling from Lubbock, TX but he assured me that he was right here in Kentuckiana. I asked him if it was raining where he was and he answered no. Then, I asked if he saw any lightning or heard any thunder. Again, he said no. Then I asked if it was windy and he said no. No? It’s just one of the basic ingredients with a tornado that you must have wind but he said no. I gave up. “Why do you believe you have a tornado in your backyard?” I asked one last time. “Because’, he said, ‘it’s darker than normal.” Remember, it was 10:00 at night. That poor man must have a tornado in his backyard every night in the year.

Why did I tell you all of the above? During the course of a severe weather season, you’ll get disturbed by the fact that you just had one whale of a storm and there weren’t any warnings issued. There is no argument that you just had one whale of a storm but was it severe? This is where it gets ticklish.

There are only 3 criteria for a storm to be considered severe. One, if it produces a tornado. Two, if it generates winds of 58 mph or greater. And, three, if it produces ¾ inch diameter hail or greater. If a storm generates winds of up to 50 mph or half inch size hail or almost continuous lightning, it is not called severe.

How can you determine the wind without a wind gauge or the size of the hail without getting beaned in the head as you run out in a hailstorm with a ruler? If winds approach or exceed 58 mph; shingles may come off the roof, large tree limbs will break and shallow rooted trees may be pushed over. Hail, 3/4 inch in diameter is considered the size of a penny.

There are storms that don’t show up on radar to be severe but can produce momentarily produce severe weather. Report those storms to your local law enforcement agency to relay to the National Weather Service and drop us a line at stormteam@whas11.com.

Stay safe.