1 Dead, 16 Injured as Powerful Tornado in China Leaves Behind a Trail of Destruction

A powerful tornado and hail struck northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring 16 others, according to South China Morning Post.

The municipal authorities stated that the extreme weather pummeled the city of Shangzhi for around 30 minutes starting at 5:30 p.m., affecting four nearby townships.

Tornado in Heilongjiang

The tornado had destroyed or overturned 148 houses and destroyed farmlands as of 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to reports. More than 240 people have been evacuated, with a total economic loss of 5.12 million yuan (about $795,400). According to local police, one person was critically hurt and is undergoing care, while the others only had minor injuries.

On March 26, a similar scenario occurred when a line of up to seven fatal tornadoes ripped over Alabama, toppling trees, damaging houses, and knocking out electricity to tens of thousands.

Tornado Warnings

A tornado warning is a severe weather warning product issued by regional offices of weather forecasting organizations across the world to advise the public when a tornado is spotted or detected by weather radar within a parent severe thunderstorm. It can be issued when the public, storm chasers, emergency management, or law enforcement have detected a tornado, funnel cloud or rotation in the clouds. It advises that citizens in the impacted regions should take urgent safety steps.

A tornado warning should not be confused with a tornado watch issued by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) in the United States and by applicable regional forecasting agencies or national severe weather guidance centers in other countries and only indicates that conditions are favorable for tornado formation.

Although a tornado warning is a higher alert level than a tornado watch, in the United States, a higher-level alert-structured as verbiage that may be added to the official warning product-may be used to notify the public of severe tornadoes striking a highly populated region.

Possible Thunderstorm

Tornado warnings are occasionally issued when a severe thunderstorm forms and has a verified tornado or strong rotation, even when a tornado watch is not active (i.e., while a severe thunderstorm watch is active or when no watches are in place).

A tornado warning signifies that a severe thunderstorm producing (or likely to create) a tornado poses an imminent threat to the notified region and its immediate surroundings, if not from the relatively narrow tornado itself. People in the path of a warning storm should take refuge in a basement, cellar, safe room, or a substantial above-ground room in the center area of their home or structure as soon as possible (such as a bathroom or closet).

Followed by a Hail

In addition to the possibility of a tornado, a tornado warning usually (but not always) means that the parent severe thunderstorm is likely to produce straight-line winds and/or large hail exceeding severe regional criterion, as well as intense lightning, heavy rainfall, and/or flash flooding due to associated rain accumulations.

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