Xenia
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Enough already! That's how the people of Xenia, Ohio, must feel. This town of 22,000 has seen far more than its share of misery. This year, on the night of September 20, Xenia was hammered by an F4 tornadoF5 being the strongest believed possible. And it wasn't the first time. I'm Dave Thurlow and this is the Weather Notebook.

To those who study weather history, a simple mention of the name Xenia needs no further explanation. Just as the name Andrew will always evoke that terrible hurricane, Xenia will always bring weather historians back to the worst tornado outbrake in history.

On April 3, 1974, 150 twisters tore through a corridor stretching from Michigan to Alabama, part of Tornado Alley. The deadliest of all these tornadoes hit Xenia. Half of the town was destroyed, and 34 people died. In spite of warnings. This year's tornado followed a path parallel to the one in 1974. Several hundred homes were damaged or destroyed, and one person was killed.

Unlike the tornado in 1974, this one slipped through the usual warning network. There was no tornado watch in effect. Because the parent storm didn't show a classic signature on radar, the warning time was minimal. On top of that, when the tornado did form, some of the town's warning sirens didn't work because power was knocked out. Even so, the residents of Xenia knew enough about tornadoes to head to safety where possible. This knowledge accounted for the dramatic decrease in deaths and injuries, compared to the better predicted 1974 twister.

September's twister was a sad reminder that getting hit by one major tornado doesn't protect you against getting another one. But it does point to the value of tornado awareness. If there's a tornado vaccine out there, we've yet to find it. Thankfully the people of Xenia, Ohio have learned how.

Writer Bob Henson, Engineer Sean Doucette are to be thanked today, as should the National Science Foundation and the Mount Washington Observatory.