Severe weather information arrives in four steps. The outlook (days ahead) says storms are possible. A mesoscale discussion (an hour or two ahead) says SPC is watching a specific area harden. A watch (hours) says organized severe storms are expected — stay reachable. A warning (minutes) says it is happening — act now.
Most people only ever hear the warning. Reading mesoscale discussions puts you one full step ahead of your neighbors — and two ahead of the ones who ignore the watch. Wire your own county in at My Weather.
