[ConservativeMind]

This is what you need, then:

http://www.amazon.com/Sima-WX-200-Emergency-Alert-Radio/dp/B001JVPFV8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1306373248&sr=8-1

You can have it sound the alarm if a tornado warning is only valid for 1/9th of your county, and not be woke up for all the other areas in the county, nor the other counties around you. We have this and it is excellent. Get rechargeables and it will slowly keep them charged so it will always work when the power goes out.

[ZinGirl]

thanks for the link.

[cva66snipe]

There is another good option for the awake hours and bad weather is happening. Get a police scanner and tune into the local Skywarn system on HAM Radio along with state emergency management and local law enforcement. Skywarn is volunteers who report to NWS tornado's on the ground usually using HAM repeaters. Usually there is a specific frequency in a given area where they report into. Those can be found on line.

Doplar is great but can't see one that is actually down. They may suspect it but human eyes verify. They along with any LEO or other agencies that might spot them can be monitored on a scanner. You can get up two a two minute heads up sometimes before the NOAA warning radio activates.