Tornado Alley (PROG)

[F6]

dbleagl -- yup, but right next door, includes the counties immediately to Dane County's north and west -- watches are understood to indicate severe weather possible/probable in 'areas in and near the watch area' -- and re the PDS designation:

"2.7 I noticed the wording "THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION" in some of your watches. What does this mean? What is the criteria for a PDS watch?
The "particularly dangerous situation" wording is used in rare situations when long-lived, strong and violent tornadoes are possible. This enhanced wording may also accompany severe thunderstorm watches for exceptionally intense and well organized convective wind storms. PDS watches are issued, when in the opinion of the forecaster, the likelihood of significant events is boosted by very volatile atmospheric conditions. Usually this decision is based on a number of atmospheric clues and parameters, so the decision to issue a PDS watch is subjective. There is no hard threshold or criteria. In high risk outlooks PDS watches are issued most often."
[ http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/#2.7 ]