Tornadoes in Romania—from Forecasting and Warning to Understanding Public’s Response and Expectations

Abstract

Significant progress in tornado research and management can be claimed over the last few decades worldwide. However, tornado forecasting and warning continue to be permanent challenges for most European national meteorological services because they require particular skills and experience. Moreover, tornado warnings may generate panic. Therefore, one can remark that the main difficulties are related to (1) forecasting the tornado genesis, and (2) finding the most efficient way to communicate to the general public the possibility of tornado occurrence. This article presents the main characteristics of two convective events that occurred in Romania in order to emphasize the similarities and disparities between the tornado event (30 April 2019) and the non-tornado event (6 May 2019), from the warning perspective. Further, we investigate, for the first time in Romania, the general public’s comprehension, risk perception and reactions regarding the tornado events. The survey performed in 2020 emphasized that the Romanian public is able to recognize tornadoes (60%), understand the risks (over 80%), can manage the panic (over 70%), and is rather desirous to receive clear (over 90%) and real-time (95%) tornado warnings. The lessons learned may support the further development of tornado forecasting and warning procedures, and foster the public’s awareness related to tornado events.