It is not clearly distinguishable from advice to just “watch (out)” in the same and similar kinds of cases.

Maybe. Perhaps some of it is generational — I (and, I assume, Greg) grew up with “tornado watch (warning” distinction, and long term familiarity has set in.

It is difficult to anticipate the greatest levels of stupidity of the public about these things, as Jamie Simpson (meteorologist) found out recently:

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27613375/ohio-weatherman-bachelorette-tornado-warning/

Sometimes it seems that for the people who react like those people did this old joke

“All the time I spent learning ‘stop, drop, and roll’ as a child led me to believe being on fire would be a larger part of my adulthood than it has been”

might not be relevant.

Re: “I’ve never understood how people could have a problem distinguishing between ‘tornado watch’ and ‘tornado warning’.”

To me and I suppose many others a “warning” is often generalized advice: “Take your raincoat, you don’t want to catch a cold” or “Be careful driving today, there’s a lot of fools driving these days.” or “Don’t carry a lot of cash on you.” It is not clearly distinguishable from advice to just “watch (out)” in the same and similar kinds of cases.

Does everything in the U. S. have to fit on a bumper sticker now? Are attention spans that short? Why not: “Conditions for a tornado exist in your area” versus “A tornado has been seen in your area.” (Or “Do you feel lucky” for the second admonition.)

There is evidence that words like “climate change” and “global warming” don’t spark the brain as much as words like “climate chaos” and “climate disruption.”

How much of the problem here is the propaganda from the right that “climate change” was changed to “global warming” only because people weren’t getting on board with the first name? Pushing the notion that both names are merely marketing ploys to scare people (as is the right’s message) has weakened the idea itself in the minds of many people, and since a detailed explanation of the process is by necessity long, getting the message across is that much harder.

To the tornado stuff: I’ve never understood how people could have a problem distinguishing between ‘tornado watch’ and ‘tornado warning’. Perhaps replacing them with “be on the lookout” and “OK, we’re fucked” respectively would improve things.