This is an essay on the general notability and NWEATHER policies. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
This page in a nutshell: When determining the notability of a tornado, put sourcing over everything else. |
All tornadoes receive local coverage, that's just part of a tornado. They hit town, cities, cause widespread destruction... right? Not always. Some tornadoes may hit cities, cause destruction, and then be forgotten by the media. But that's off the point. Since all tornadoes receive coverage, does that make them all notable? Well, not exactly, it's complicated. Just because a tornado doesn't have an article doesn't mean you shouldn't make one. Numerous important and notable tornadoes lack articles simply because nobody has bothered to make them. Remedying this, however, lots of editors were bold and made them - you can be among them. If you find a tornado that seems notable and you find enough sourcing, you can make an article on it. While earlier on in Wikipedia's life, all but the most violent tornadoes lacked articles, nowadays many more tornadoes can get articles if they pass notability guidelines. Here's a list of policies that relate to tornado notability, in order of significance.
Comment: Bolded things are key takeaways and are generally important.
Questions to ask yourself before writing a tornado article:
- Does the tornado have coverage?
- Will the tornado have future coverage?
- Is the tornado recent, or old?
- And finally, is there significant sourcing to base its notability off of?
The below criteria will help explain why these questions should be asked, when they apply, and why they are significant when determining tornado notability.