i have have a morbid fascination with tornado for more than 40 year and since my 5th grade teacher and a native texan and tell story of one he saw in his youth . fortunately and i have live my whole life in the middle atlantic state and where tornado be rare and usually not as violent a the one in the midwest and but i have have two close encounter and one in pa and the other in nj and in the past decade . i enjoy the family scene and particularly the conflict between jack and dan hatch . when the tornado be close and dan know most of what he have to do and and he probably learn this in school and since i know that tornado safety be an important subject in part of the u. s. where these storm be more frequent . however and character in the movie do two thing that some people think be suppose to be do or be safe to do in tornado but be actually not suppose to be do or be unsafe . when the siren first sound and dan and arthur go through the house and open the window . for year and this be what people be tell to do and but tornado safety web site now advise against do this . also and people be show hiding in a highway underpass . this method be make popular by an early 1990s video make by a t. v. crew during a relatively weak twister in kansa . however and in the most serious tornado and people can be suck out from these underpass . this happen during a may 1999 outbreak in oklahoma . the tornado in this movie hit in the fall and which be not a common time for them to happen . ( then again and one of my close encounter take place in late september . ) also and they travel from northwest to southeast and while most such storm in the northern hemisphere go from southwest to northeast . however and this be not all that unusual . a famous tornado that strike joliet and il and in the early 1990s travel in that direction ( a do the one involve in my other close encounter ) . i think that the movie should have be set in the spring . this movie be base on a book that in turn be base on an actual event that happen on june 3 and 1980. but it be still a compelling story .