Meaning & use
tornado watch
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Meanings
nouncountable
An official announcement that weather conditions could produce tornadoes in an area, so people should be ready to take shelter.
Grammar: Countable: use 'a tornado watch' or the plural 'tornado watches'.
Patterns
- a tornado watch is issued for somewhere
- be under a tornado watch
- a tornado watch remains in effect
A tornado watch was issued for the whole county until eight o'clock tonight.
We stayed indoors while the tornado watch was in effect, with the radio on.
The forecaster said the tornado watch would probably be upgraded to a warning.
nouncountable
A period of time during which such an announcement applies.
Grammar: Often used with 'during' or 'under': during a tornado watch.
Patterns
- during a tornado watch
- under a tornado watch
Schools kept children inside during the tornado watch.
Drivers were told to avoid open highways under a tornado watch.
Word forms
| plural | tornado watches |
|---|
Common combinations
- issue a tornado watch
- The weather service issued a tornado watch for the southern counties.
- be under a tornado watch
- The city was under a tornado watch for most of the afternoon.
- a tornado watch remains in effect
- A tornado watch remains in effect until midnight.
- a tornado watch expires
- The tornado watch expires at nine, so we can go out then.
- upgrade a tornado watch to a warning
- They upgraded the tornado watch to a warning when a funnel cloud appeared.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tornado warning
- Use 'warning' when a tornado has actually been spotted or detected, so it is more urgent than a watch.
- severe weather watch
- A broader term that can cover thunderstorms, high winds or tornadoes, not just tornadoes.
Word family
Commonly confused: tornado watch or tornado warning?
tornado watch vs tornado warning
A warning means a tornado has been seen or picked up by radar, so you should shelter immediately; a watch only means one is possible.
Practice
The radio said a tornado ______ had been issued, so we should be ready to go to the basement.
Choose one answer.
'A tornado watch' is the fixed noun phrase for conditions that might produce tornadoes. 'Warning' is wrong here because nothing has been sighted yet, and 'watching'/'watched' are verb forms that cannot follow 'a tornado' in this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tornado watch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.