000
NOUS44 KJAN 012315
PNSJAN

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
515 PM CST WED MAR 1 2006

...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE REMEMBERING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
CANDLESTICK PARK TORNADO...

...WEATHER TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE:  THEN AND NOW...

THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF METEOROLOGY HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY 
IN THE 40 YEARS SINCE THE CANDLESTICK PARK TORNADO. THE TORNADO 
OCCURRED AT A TIME WHEN RESEARCH ON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND 
TORNADOES WAS REALLY BEGINNING TO ACCELERATE. JUST TWO YEARS BEFORE 
IN 1964...THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS LABORATORY HAD BEEN CREATED AND 
LOCATED IN NORMAN OK.  IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING THIS HISTORIC 
OCCURRENCE...NSSL WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DRAMATIC PROGRESS IN 
UNDERSTANDING OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND HOW TORNADOES ARE 
PRODUCED. UNFORTUNATELY...THOUGH...IN 1966 THESE NEW DISCOVERIES 
WERE STILL IN THE FUTURE.

THE PROCESS OF ISSUING TORNADO WATCHES AND WARNINGS TO THE PUBLIC 
WAS STILL AT A DEVELOPING STATE 40 YEARS AGO. THE NWS WAS CALLED THE 
WEATHER BUREAU IN 1966...AND WAS STRUCTURED TO HAVE SMALL OFFICES IN 
NUMEROUS COMMUNITIES VERSUS THE STRUCTURE OF TODAY IN WHICH THE NWS 
HAS LARGER WARNING AND FORECAST OFFICES IN MOST MAJOR CITIES. IN 
1966...THE WEATHER BUREAU OFFICE IN JACKSON WAS LOCATED AT HAWKINS 
FIELD ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE OF THE CITY OF JACKSON. THE WB OFFICE IN 
JACKSON WAS EQUIPPED WITH A WORLD WAR II ERA WEATHER 
RADAR...WSR-3...WHICH WAS INCREDIBLY PRIMITIVE IN COMPARISON TO THE 
WSR-88D DOPPLER RADAR USED BY THE NWS TODAY. THE SOMEWHAT MORE 
MODERN WSR-57 WEATHER RADAR WAS INSTALLED IN JACKSON IN 1969...WHEN 
THE OFFICE WAS MOVED TO THE NEW JACKSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AT 
THOMPSON FIELD.

IN ORDER TO TRY TO DETECT TORNADOES USING THE RADAR IN USE IN 
1966...WEATHER RADAR OBSERVERS WOULD LOOK INTO A VIEWING TUBE...LIKE 
THOSE USED ON MILITARY AIRCRAFT RADAR DURING THE WAR...AND ATTEMPT 
TO DISCERN - HOOK ECHOES - AS INDICATORS OF POSSIBLE TORNADOES. IT 
HAD BEEN UNDERSTOOD SINCE THE 1950S THAT HOOK SHAPED RADAR ECHOES 
WERE CORRELATED WITH THE OCCURRENCE OF TORNADOES...BUT THE REASON 
WHY WAS NOT PARTICULARLY WELL UNDERSTOOD. IN FACT...RENOWNED 
RESEARCH METEOROLOGIST T. THEODORE FUJITA...LATER THE INVENTOR OF 
THE FUJITA TORNADO DAMAGE SCALE...HAD JUST PUBLISHED A PAPER IN 1965 
HYPOTHESIZING THE EXISTENCE OF THE - SUPERCELL - THUNDERSTORM. IT 
WOULD LATER BE SHOWN THAT THE SUPERCELL WAS A SPECIAL TYPE OF 
ROTATING THUNDERSTORM...ASSOCIATED WITH THE HOOK SHAPED ECHO ON 
RADAR...WHICH PRODUCED THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF TORNADOES. THIS 
DISCOVERY PAVED THE WAY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF DOPPLER RADAR...WHICH 
DETECTS THE MOVEMENT OF AIR AND THE ROTATION WITHIN A 
THUNDERSTORM...ENABLING THE ADVANCED WARNING WHICH IS MUCH MORE 
COMMON TODAY THAN EVEN 15 YEARS AGO.

COMMUNICATIONS HAVE ALSO ADVANCED TREMENDOUSLY OVER THE LAST FOUR 
DECADES. IN 1966...THE WEATHER BUREAU RELIED ON TELETYPE AND PHONE 
TO GET WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS OUT TO THE PUBLIC. THE TELETYPE 
CIRCUITS USED AT THIS TIME OPERATED AT ONLY ABOUT 75 WORDS PER 
MINUTE...AND IT WOULD OFTEN TAKE SEVERAL MINUTES FOR A WARNING TO 
ACTUALLY BE PREPARED AND TRANSMITTED ON THE TELETYPE. THIS IS IN 
STARK COMPARISON TO THE RAPID COMMUNICATION OF TODAY...IN WHICH A 
WARNING MESSAGE CAN BE PREPARED BY AN NWS METEOROLOGIST IN A MATTER 
OF SECONDS. ONCE ISSUED...IT IS DISSEMINATED AUTOMATICALLY AND 
ALMOST INSTANTANEOUSLY VIA NOAA ALL-HAZARDS WEATHER RADIO...WHICH 
WAS NOT DEPLOYED UNTIL 1975...THE INTERNET...TELEVISION...AND OTHER 
MEDIA. ADDITIONALLY...OTHER FORMS OF WARNING THE PUBLIC SUCH AS 
OUTDOOR SIRENS ARE MUCH MORE COMMON TODAY THAN IN THE 1960S.

OBVIOUSLY...ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY HAVE ENABLED US TO 
HAVE A SOCIETY THAT IS MUCH BETTER PREPARED TO PROTECT PEOPLE FROM 
THE DEVASTATION OF TORNADOES. WE AT THE NWS...WITH OUR PARTNERS IN 
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND THE MEDIA...CONTINUE TO STRIVE TO MAKE 
PEOPLE EVEN SAFER FROM SEVERE WEATHER. HOWEVER...WE DO HAVE TO BE 
AWARE OF THE SOBERING REALITY THAT VIOLENT TORNADOES LIKE THAT OF 
MARCH 3 1966 WILL STILL PRODUCE CASUALTIES AND TREMENDOUS 
DAMAGE...NO MATTER HOW MUCH PREPAREDNESS IS DONE AND HOW MUCH 
ADVANCE WARNING IS PROVIDED.

ON THURSDAY...WE WILL LOOK AT OTHER VIOLENT TORNADOES IN MISSISSIPPI 
HISTORY.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT:  WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAN

SOME OF THE INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT CAME FROM THE WEBSITES OF 
THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS LABORATORY AND THE STORM PREDICTION 
CENTER. THEIR WEBSITES ARE:

WWW.NSSL.NOAA.GOV

AND

WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV

$$

WFO JAN