It's a spring afternoon. The air feels heavy. The sky has gone a strange shade of green.

The TV runs a line along the bottom of the screen: tornado watch for your county.

Two hours later, every phone in the house starts blaring. Now it says tornado warning.

Those two words mean very different things. Knowing which is which tells you how much time you've got.

A tornado watch means the weather is right for tornadoes to form. Nothing has touched down yet.

You can go on with your day, but keep your phone charged and your alerts on. Know where you'll go. Keep the TV or radio on in the background.

A tornado warning means one has been spotted or shows up on radar. Don't wait to see it.

Go to the lowest floor of the house. A basement is best. No basement? Pick a small room in the middle of the house with no windows, like a closet, bathroom or hallway.

Get down low. Cover your head and neck with your arms, and pull pillows, blankets or a mattress over you. A bike helmet is a good idea. Put shoes on, because you may be walking over broken glass afterward.

A mobile home won't stand up to a tornado. When there's a watch, plan which sturdy building you'll get to. When the warning comes, go.

In a car, never shelter under a highway overpass. If you can't safely get to a sturdy building, stay buckled in, put your head down below the windows and cover it.

They go outside to look.

A lot of tornadoes are wrapped in rain, and a lot of them come at night. By the time you can see one, you've lost the time you needed.

And don't count on the outdoor siren. Those are meant for folks outside. Inside, with the TV on and the storm roaring, you may never hear it.

Two things. Ten minutes.

First, pick your tornado spot. Walk the whole family to it so everyone knows. Leave a flashlight, shoes and a bike helmet or two there.

Second, check your phone's emergency alerts are turned on. You'll find them in your phone's settings, usually under notifications. If you live in tornado country, a NOAA weather radio is worth having too.

Got a question, or a lesson from your own life? Hit reply. I read every one.

See you next time.

— Cole