sly red cid 07:02 AM 04-20-2013
What do you all do when there is a tornado watch? Sit tight till the actual warning comes? If this is at nap do you get everyone up(no naps then), sippy cups, diapers, wipes, snacks, and lovies and hunker down in the 'safe' room? My 'safe' room is our 3X4 1/2 bath downstairs on the first floor.
Blackcat31 07:07 AM 04-20-2013
SilverSabre25 08:50 AM 04-20-2013
A watch merely means that conditions are, or could be, right for a storm to develop that *could* have the capacity to *maybe* spawn a tornado.
Do you see all the *potential* in that definition?
You might be under a tornado watch from noon to 8 PM on a hot, humid, still day and never see a cloud in the sky, much less a tornado. In fact, this is what happens most of the time! Where I am, this happens frequently during the summer and my county gets actual tornado warnings maybe three times a year, on average. The vast, VAST majority of the time, those warnings are merely for rotation in the clouds, and on the extreme southern end of my county. We have actual tornado touchdowns even more rarely. It would be ridiculous to hunker down and be scared every time there was a watch!!
But, I'm in central OH. When there's a warning my first move it to find out where the "bad" cell of the storm is and if it poses no danger to me...I don't wake kids up, I keep us near our safe space but not necessarily in it and I closely monitor the situation for further developments. So far, we've never had a situation serious and close enough to warrant actual sheltering. But, I'm confident in our live doppler radar and in my own weather spotting abilities. Being a nerd helps, lol. If I see something scary (wall cloud, rotation, birds not singing, cats going insane), I would never hesitate to shelter immediately.
No matter where you are, it is silly to disrupt naps for anything short of a warning. You also don't want to over-react and scare the kids. If YOU stay calm, THEY are more likely to be calm.
You may find that you're more comfortable if, when you know there's a watch, you have a bag prepared with the emergency supplies, check flashlight batteries, etc (all without scaring the kids!) and have it near your safe spot. That's what i do.