I’m sure many of you have heard a local television meteorologist (perhaps Mike Morgan) yell “tornado on the ground!!” during severe weather coverage. For some, this may bring about excitement, while for others it may trigger fear or dread. I get a completely different response all together. I feel a visceral anger and intolerable annoyance every time I hear this phrase. We meteorologists often refer to the American Meteorological Society’s Glossary of Meteorology as the bible of all things weather. In the glossary, you will find the following definition for tornado.
Tornado – A violently rotating column of air, in contact with the ground, either pendant from a cumuliform cloud or underneath a cumuliform cloud, and often (but not always) visible as a funnel cloud.
Did you pick up on the key phrase there, “… in contact with the ground..”?This is the root of my anger for everyone who says “tornado on the ground.” A tornado, by definition, cannot exist if it isn’t in contact with the ground. Thus, the popular phrase is redundant and just plain silly. It would be like describing a four-wheeler as having four wheels. Yet, as simple as this is, respectable meteorologists at television stations and in the government utter those four terrible words all too often, “tornado on the ground.” You will see some recent examples below.
Chicago radar with the phrase "tornado on ground."
Tornado reports from the Storm Prediction Center. Describes a tornado being "50% to the ground." Apparently the government agencies don't know the definition of a tornado.
Tornado on the Ground!!
I’m sure many of you have heard a local television meteorologist (perhaps Mike Morgan) yell “tornado on the ground!!” during severe weather coverage. For some, this may bring about excitement, while for others it may trigger fear or dread. I get a completely different response all together. I feel a visceral anger and intolerable annoyance every time I hear this phrase. We meteorologists often refer to the American Meteorological Society’s Glossary of Meteorology as the bible of all things weather. In the glossary, you will find the following definition for tornado.
Tornado – A violently rotating column of air, in contact with the ground, either pendant from a cumuliform cloud or underneath a cumuliform cloud, and often (but not always) visible as a funnel cloud.
Did you pick up on the key phrase there, “… in contact with the ground..”? This is the root of my anger for everyone who says “tornado on the ground.” A tornado, by definition, cannot exist if it isn’t in contact with the ground. Thus, the popular phrase is redundant and just plain silly. It would be like describing a four-wheeler as having four wheels. Yet, as simple as this is, respectable meteorologists at television stations and in the government utter those four terrible words all too often, “tornado on the ground.” You will see some recent examples below.
Chicago radar with the phrase "tornado on ground."
Tornado reports from the Storm Prediction Center. Describes a tornado being "50% to the ground." Apparently the government agencies don't know the definition of a tornado.