For weatherguys, it's easy to tell if there are hurricanes, because they are so massive and large. In fact, a hurricane is so big they can be impacting Boston, Springfield, and New York all at the same time. Can't miss 'em. Tornadoes are a little trickier, because if there's one actually on the ground, you may not have enough time to get a warning out before it dissipates (because the average time one is alive is only about 7.5 minutes). We would find out from police and trained storm spotters if there is one on the ground, etc. So…we feel it's essential to anticipate where one might be forming, and report that instead. In order to detect that, we use our "Doppler Radar". We have our own stationed at the top of Bradley Airport, and it shows us where the weather is live. The current doppler image is displayed on our website here: http://wshm.bimedia.net/webdoppler.jpg , and information on how dopplers work is found on our website here: http://www.cbs3springfield.com/weather/classroom/guidetometerology/6553532.html - (ignore everything else and scroll all the way down to 'radar data')

Anyway, if we see on a radar a swirling patter in the rain as it falls within a thunderstorm, we often would be concerned about tornado formation there, and correspondingly warn the public, erring on the side of caution.

Wildfires are a little out of our area of expertise, although the weather plays a large part in their ability to ingnite and spread quickly. We as meteorologists would know where and when these prime conditions would exist, but as far as knowing where they spring up, only the largest ones can be detected by the instruments. So, really the only way we find out is by getting reports by police and such on the ground.