“March generally begins the steep climb toward the peak of the tornado season in the United States, which peaks in May,” said CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller. “The higher the temperatures of early spring rise, the more tornadoes become a likelihood.”
Considering this week’s heat in much of the 2/3 of the east of the country, it’s no surprise that severe weather will follow.
“Often, the first severe weather events of the season can catch people off guard,” said CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward. “It is important to keep an eye out as the bad weather season increases over the next few days.”
The possibility of bad weather will increase as we progress through the weekend. A cold front will stagnate across the middle of the country and provide an unstable climate for several days, which will lead to a favorable environment for the development of tornadoes. Much of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Central Texas will need to watch out for heavy storms on Fridays and Saturdays. But on Sunday, storms push eastward into Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa.
The Storm Prediction Center highlighted the risk of bad weather for these regions every day until Sunday.
Seeing an increase in tornadoes
This is the time of year when we start to see more tornadoes. The typical peak of the tornado season is May, but we often see the numbers increase in March and April, although 2021 started more slowly.
“Even though the first 2 months of the year saw a well below normal number of tornadoes, each month saw a day of a deadly tornado, which shows that you don’t need to have a major outbreak for tornadoes to become deadly,” he says. CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller.
“There were many seasons that started off smoothly and did just the opposite. And then, of course, some seasons that were very active at the beginning and a change in pattern led to an almost complete shutdown in the severe weather potential. The key is to monitor the forecast. and have a plan, “says Bill Bunting, head of Forecasting Operations at the Storm Prediction Center.
Flood threat
In addition to the threat of severe weather, heavy rains will last for several days in the region. This will bring total rains from 2 to 4 inches, with isolated amounts of up to 6 inches in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. With the possibility of half a foot rain in some places, there will be a threat of decent flooding for these areas that will last until the weekend.
CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward contributed to this report.