Tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings may sound a little different this spring.
The National Weather Service is expanding a pilot program to put more specific information about potential storm damage into the warnings.
Under the new system... known as "Impact Based Warnings"... a severe weather alert will include one of three different types of warnings: that tornado damage is possible but the storm will be short-lived; that serious damage is expected from a long-lived storm track; or that "catastrophic" damage to life and property is expected from a long-track storm. The last category is extremely rare, happening only 8 times in Central Illinois since 1950.
