Scott Sistek 
Screen grab from Lowe's showing rendition of what a kitchen would look like painted "Tornado Watch"
“You painted your kitchen WHAT color?!?”
A few weeks ago we were shopping paint samples for a house project and came across a color swatch that had me do a double take:
“TORNADO WATCH”
I have to admit I’ve never really thought about what a Tornado Watch would look like if I had to assign it a color. On a weather map, they’re usually red boxes.
I *suppose* they were aiming for what a sky might look like during a Tornado Watch? I can only best describe the color as if grey, green and beige all hit an intersection at the same time while going somewhere between 100 mph and the speed of light. The resulting color is… tornadoey?
Many times during severe weather the clouds DO turn a green or teal color — I’ve seen it in the Midwest; usually it’s a more vibrant color than this paint swatch.
The greenish teal color comes from the large hail stones embedded in the storm. The hail scatters the sunlight in such a way that only the mostly green and blue hues survive. So when you see green/teal skies, it usually means big hail is in the offing (which can also mean dynamics are ripe for tornadoes too.)
So there is SOME color equate to clouds in a Tornado Watch, but I’m not thinking this paint chip is it…
I also wonder…what would you paint this color? Your tornado shelter so it’s like having a window without having a window?
I can’t see it inside the house unless it’s for morbid conversation starters:
Guest: “That’s an…interesting paint choice for your kitchen…”
Me: “Ooh! Thank you! It’s called ‘Tornado Watch’. I wanted to be comforted by the surrounding hues of potentially deadly severe weather as we prepared our family dinners…”
Also begs the question: Do they have a “Tornado Warning”? (Is it just black?)
OK, SO I LOOKED…
They do not, indeed, have a Tornado Warning paint swatch. But they have some other weather-themed paint colors, including:
- Three colors that have “thunder” in the name for something you can’t see, including Thunder Clap, but none that have “lightning”.
- Windy City, Wharf Wind, and Windswept Clouds…
- 10 that have “storm” in the name yet run the gamut for actual colors from grey to brown to blue to green to pinkish…
- 11 others that have “rain” in the name…
- One that’s “Flood Tide”… and of course:
Many times we could just call that last one a “window”.
LOLing over my morning cup of tea, as the sky lightens to a purple-grey color and I wonder which weather name would be appropriate. Nautical Sunrise? Foggy Dawn?
Scott, I am so very happy that you have started this blog. When I lived in the Seattle area, I loved reading your weather forecasts and explanations at Komo and missed your voice when you left. I’m now north of the border (Vancouver metro), but your explanations and forecast information applies here too.
Back to sipping my tea and chuckling over shades of paint.