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After Fanfare, Forecasters Review Talk of Storm Outbreak

Rain batters a farm near Nevada, Iowa, in August 2010.
cwwycoff1
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Rain batters a farm near Nevada, Iowa, in August 2010.

 U.S. forecasters will review whether they went too far out on a limb to warn people about bad weather that didn't fully develop.

The Storm Prediction Center had said last week there was a good chance the central U.S. would see huge hail, high winds and strong tornadoes on Tuesday. For the first time, forecasters talked of a "possible outbreak" six days ahead of the storms.

The hail and winds came as promised, but tornadoes were small.

A social scientist says the National Weather Service should review how the public processed the information. Many criticized the forecast as a "bust," even though it was largely correct. Another researcher said many people think mainly of tornadoes whenever severe weather is mentioned.

Forecasters received more than 500 reports of severe weather Tuesday.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.