WE'RE NOT IN

KANSAS ANYMORE

Weather Channel Ranks Maryland

#3 Tornado Risk State in US

Head for the basement, folks - Experts at The Weather Channel have conducted a study. Compiled a list. And when it comes to deadly tornadoes, they have just declared Maryland the third most dangerous state in America.

Who knew?

The Weather Channel's Greg Forbes said we're just behind Florida and Kansas, because of the atmospheric effects from the Appalachian mountains, Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean.

According to the study, Maryland has 9.9 tornadoes per every 10,000 square miles (pretty impressive, considering we don't even have 10,000 square miles in the state!).

First earthquakes, now tornadoes. Time to stock up on canned goods!

BETHESDA'S

LOCKHEED MARTIN

READIES

LIGHTNING MAPPER

THAT WILL REVOLUTIONIZE

WEATHER FORECASTING

Satellite Module will Provide More

Accurate Tornado Warnings

Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin is conducting final tests on a new addition to its long-deployed GOES weather satellite.

The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) will record all cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning activity over the entire Americas.

In other words, the whole enchilada: every single lightning strike will be detected by this near-infrared device.

That in-cloud lightning activity is critical to giving as much as thirty minutes' warning of a tornado spawning. The complete scan will reveal an individual storm's "jump signature," a sudden acceleration of cloud-to-cloud lightning activity. This will also reduce false alarms.

Lockheed has scheduled final thermal and thermal vacuum testing for the coming months.

The Goddard Flight Center right here in Maryland helps manage development of GOES instruments.

Deployment of this advanced storm detection can't come a minute too soon, as unusual tornado activity continues to wreak havoc across the nation's southern and midwestern regions.