Saw a post on social media yesterday. Someone had taken a photo of an old card they had (iirc from a local TV station or maybe a TV dealer) that talked about tornado safety and televisions. Said they had kept it posted on the inside of their cupboard door for years.

The first thing it said was that this "test" worked on Channel 2, which I assume maybe was one not used locally during the days of antenna television.

It then said that if you see flashes of "white" light on the television, then lightning strikes are nearby.

I can remember that from being a kid and how, even on a station that had a picture, that there would be a flash and IIRC a crackling sound, if there was a thunderstorm nearby. That was usually our signal, as kids, to cover our ears before the thunder clapped!

The other thing the card said was that if the picture started to turn very bright all over... i.e. not just flashes but steadily became a brighter white.... that there was a tornado on the ground nearby and to take shelter immediately!

I did not remember ever hearing that as a kid. However, as I thought about it later, I think I do remember that phenomenon being used in a movie... the camera is pointed at a TV in a room (that I think was maybe broadcasting the news or the weather), the picture starts brightening and getting fuzzy, and then the walls disintegrate as the tornado hits the house.

I am thinking that was a scene from early in the original Twister movie but I am not sure. Come to think of it, I think the TV phenomenon might have happened in that movie more than once... I think the wife of the main character was watching TV in a motel room when the picture went bright and fuzzy as the tornado approached the nearby drive-inn (but the room didn't collapse in that scene).

Mike

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