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Terrible loss of life, and the thought of these monster tornados striking at night is terrifying. Maybe it could have been worse though.

Most of the warnings issued were accurate, from what I've read [0]. I really hope we continue to invest in these short-term weather forecasts. Clearly there have been recent advances, and we can still do better.

[0] https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2021/12/a-critical-gap-in-tor...

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We're up to 15 mins of very precise and accurate advanced tracking now. They can zoom in and show you the specific area of rotation in the doppler images, and can accurately predict tornado from that data well in advance of visiual confirmation. They can also tell when the tornado is on the ground by the signature of the debris being thrown around. It is all very much improved from when I was a kid. Money in research in this field has not been wasted.

I wonder how much Twister, the movie, helped with there knowledge share.

I think some of the commentary / additional data said they were trying to raise awareness or something?

Twister wasn't written in a vacuum, just with a Hollywood twist. Storm chasers have definitely been helping improve science. Some are definitely reckless, but someone's got to shove that enema of science gear up that twister's backside!

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