Natural disasters cause thousands of deaths every year. There are many natural disasters, such as heavy storms, tornadoes, tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and hurricanes. We are going to give you a clear note on those signals you might get at times that make you wonder what they mean. Most of these messages were observed in the Philippines and the data was gathered from SERP Note, as described below.
The government created a signals or warning system to alert the public of upcoming natural disasters in order to prevent the loss of lives. There are many types of warning systems, including geophysical and meteorological ones. Also, there is a strong connection between public storm warning signals and meteorological warnings.
However, technology has become more advanced and storm warning signals are being monitored in advance all the time, so people don’t get caught by dangerous storms without any notice. These storm warning signals are triggered when a tropical cyclone is predicted to hit a certain area within 36 hours, so there is enough time to prepare. Warnings through television, social media, texts, and phone calls are of huge importance to staying protected. Also, for more heavy storms subsequent signals are usually issued with a gap period of 24, 18, or 12 hours, depending on the severity of the storm. Usually, with warning signs, one can foresee how bad will the storm be and what kind of weather it can cause.
Obviously, there is not always a need for abandoning your home and running before the storm occurs if the public warning signal does not tell you to do it. This is why it is important to become familiar with different public storm signals you might encounter one day so that you know how to behave and act on the spot. So, let’s see what the five general types of warnings are tied to storms.
What Are Five Types of Public Storm Warnings?
There used to be four different types of public storm warning signals, but meteorologists have changed the scale and added one more signal to the list, so currently, there are five types of public storm warnings. These warnings tell people which meteorological conditions they can expect in a certain period of time and how strong the wind is going to be.
According to Public Storm Warning Signal No. 1, a tropical cyclone with winds of 30-60 km/h is expected over the next 36 hours, with no damage to very light damage. Furthermore, according to Public Storm Warning Signal No. 2, a tropical cyclone with winds of 61-120 km/h is forecast during the next 24 hours, with light to moderate damage. Thirdly, Public Storm Warning Signal No. 3 warns us about a tropical storm with winds of 121-170 km/h forecast in the next 18 hours, with moderate to heavy damage. When comes to Public Storm Warning Signal No. 4, warns us about the tropical cyclone winds which are expected to hit 171-220 km/h during the next 12 hours and produce heavy to very heavy damage. Furthermore, Public Storm Warning Signal No. 5 projects storms with winds over 220 km/h which are forecast to begin in 12 hours and produce extremely heavy and widespread damage.
It is important to know which public storm warning sign brings lighter or heavier storms and could cause zero or a lot of damage. However, in order to protect yourself from such weather disasters, you need to understand and differentiate between different kinds of storms.
Now that we have covered the basics, it is time to elaborate on the public storm warning signal no. 1 and show what kind of weather you might expect with it.
Public Storm Warning Signal No. 1
Storm warning signals are the best warning mechanisms that have the main task to alert the people in the potentially affected area if there is a hurricane on its way. Of course, the signals are connected to reliable meteorological data which can foresee the wind speed and other watcher conditions and prepare people for the upcoming storm.
So, the public storm warning signal no. 1 is being active for 36 hours. After warning signal no. 1, one can expect a storm to occur within 36 hours. The wind speed that is expected ranges from 30 to 60 km/h and one can also expect ripples between 1.25 and 4.0 meters, as well as erratic rainfall. Although this type of weather cannot produce any heavy damage, people should be careful and pay attention to the warning sign.
Conclusion
Public storm warning signals are crucial for the safety of people; therefore everyone must be familiar with them to be able to recognize them if they occur. Among five different types of warning signs, the first one is the lightest. So, if you hear such a sign, you can stay at home and not have to panic.