It's now the final and sixth day of Severe Weather Awareness Week in Nebraska and Iowa. We've gone through various weather terms, talked about severe storms and tornadoes and how to stay safe from them, lightning, and flooding. Once the threat from any of these has passed your neighborhood, you can share with us what you saw in your backyard!
While the radar and its fancy algorithms are a HUGE help in seeing what is happening during severe weather, it doesn't show us everything. For example, we can see rotation in a thunderstorm, but often, the actual tornado is under what the radar can see. We need what we call, ground truth... or what is actually happening on the ground. Since we can't be everywhere at once, this is where you can help us!
First, only take videos and pictures when it is SAFE TO DO SO! Wait for all warnings to expire or be canceled where you live before heading outside. Now that it is safe to go out, take your phone and turn it on its side, so its horizontal. When you take pictures or video, it will now be horizontal, just like your TV! This looks much better on TV and increases your chance of us using it on air!
Also, don't JUST take pictures of weather stuff. Since we aren't there, we need help judging how big something is. For example, when taking pictures of hail, toss a coin into the picture or a ruler, so we can get a better idea of its exact size. And don't forget to tell us where you live! What city? In Omaha, which part?
Now that you have the perfect picture or video... and if you want us to share it, send it our way! You can send it to our 3 News Now Facebook or Twitter pages. You can also tag any of our meteorologists on social media! If you're not on social media, you can also email it to us... pics@3NewsNow.com
Thanks in advance for your help!!
