can a tornado approach you without rain / hail beforehand?

Question

i was researching a little about tornadoes and what kind of storms they form in, i looked up a diagram showing a low precipitation supercell, showing the location of the tornado is southwest with a precipitation free base and i believe the rain / hail occur in the northeast and i was just curious on something, i was just wondering, if the storm is coming towards you, lets say your looking through the window in your house, looking south, your exact location then would be northwest of the approaching supercell that is coming directly to you, would that mean that since the rain / hail doesnt occur in the northwest portion, that you wouldnt experience any of it, only some wind that gradually gets stronger as the tornado approaches you?

TQ · Answer

Q:  "...if the storm is coming toward...you...looking south, your...location...would be northwest of the...supercell, would that mean...since the rain / hail doesnt occur in the northwest portion...you wouldnt experience any of it, only some wind...gradually gets stronger as the tornado approaches...?

A:  If the storm is coming toward you from the south, then you're standing N, not NW, of its center.

Significant wx associated with supercells is not observed in the NW quadrant, so Asker's answer gets it basically right.

🌪 · Answer

If the supercell is moving from south to north, then yes, you may experience the rain free base and possibly the tornado. I say may experience because in the US, most storm systems will move west to east, south west to north east, or sometimes northwest to southeast. However, storms can move in any direction.

Ray;mond · Answer

No rain or hail before the tornado is 100 yards from you and approaching is possible but rare.

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can a tornado approach you without rain / hail beforehand?

3 Answers