I seen a funnel cloud today?????

Question

It was sunny where I was at, however while driving (looking for turtles to help across the road) my son and I spotted a funnel cloud a couple miles away in some storm clouds. i have never seen one and took pictures.....My question is, why was there not any warning? We were not even under any watches? I live in Kansas, tornado alley, and this disturbed me a lot. Can I trust the weather men to report these and why was it not reported? Thanks a lot

Answer 1

Aye, if there's no spotters in the area to report to the weather service, the doppler radar is the only thing to alert the meteorologists... the odd shifting motion that show up on doppler can be blocked by heavy rain, etc. They're really doing the best they can, and their best is really quite good.

Whether what you saw was really a funnel cloud or not is hard to tell without seeing the photos.
-You could take a Storm Spotter's class, they're offered now and again- check with the local police or weather station for the next one. They tell you how to identify the real twisters from other kinds of harmless rotating clouds, and how to report what you found to the authorities.

Answer 2

If it was an actual funnel cloud, it may have not been strong enough rotation to show up on radar. Warnings are only issued when such things are spotted (by radar or by trained spotters.) For what you saw, a tornado watch was all you should have needed to warn you that you were in danger, and a thunderstorm watch or warning indicates there could be weather every bit as dangerous as a tornado. Such times are not particularly good for taking children out in the open for recreational purposes. NOAA does what it can to protect you, but you have to listen to them when they say conditions could turn dangerous.

Remember, tornados form quickly and often at the edge of the storm. That means a partly sunny sky is not any type of evidence a tornado isn't around.

Also, thunderstorms often have shapes and movements in them that look to untrained eyes like a funnel cloud. It's possible that what you saw was not a funnel cloud at all.

Did you call 911 and report it? If you had been the only one to see it and it touched down and destroyed a town without warning, it could have been largely your fault that a warning wasn't sounded.