On 3/11/2013 9:53 AM, dpb wrote:

I conclude it's basically hokum, and of course, one must still have an
old analog receiver (and even I as the old fogey I am just abandoned the
one here when the audio portion died).
...

OK, w/o delving into the technical literature itself...

From the NOAA NSSL (National Severe Storms Laboratory) FAQ--

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/tornadoes/faq/

Are there electromagnetic or magnetohydrodynamic explanations for the
development of tornadoes?
As far as scientists understand, tornadoes are formed and sustained by a
purely thermodynamic process. As a result, their research efforts are
towards that end. They have spent a lot of time modeling the formation
of a tornado and measuring many parameters in and around a tornado when
it is forming and going through its life cycle. They have not seen any
evidence to support magnetism or electricity playing a role.

Can my TV signal detect tornadoes?
You may have read about a technique called “the Weller Method” of
tornado detection. The idea was to be able to use your TV as a lightning
detector to detect the radio waves emitted by a lightning flash, with
the assumption that tornadic thunderstorms were very active lightning
producers. But, not all tornadic storms produce large amounts of
lightning. Also, TVs are all different and have different sensitivities,
and some are even made to filter out lightning signals. Plus, if you are
connected to cable, it won't work. The method was found to be completely
unreliable and it has mostly been abandoned.

--

I'm not surprised at all.

As I said in my first response, "back in the old days"...
To me that was the early 1950s.

TV receivers varied wildly, but were a lot more sensitive than they are
today. They had to be to pick up a (by modern standards) weak signal
at any distance.

The "aerial" on the roof had to be turned at 6pm to pick up the
Honeymooners (Ozzie and Harriot hadn't show up yet) and turned back so
mom could watch I Love Lucy in the morning.

There was no weather channel, or much of a weather report even.
That came in the morning farm report.

People relied on Civil Defense radio channels (TWO of them!)
But you had to turn the (AM) radio on for that to work, and static
from a storm generally made for poor reception

It may be hard to imagine, but the local TV station signed off at 10 pm.
Played the national anthem and went to sleep.

The schools practiced "Duck and Cover", but that was in the event of
nuclear attack, not some crazed kid with a gun.

In those days, the TV tornado detector was well known and trusted.


For what it's worth...