Tornado season nears as winter makes its exit

Winter's waning, tornado season is coming and Vernon County is prospering precipitation-wise.

Counting the runoff from heavy February snowstorms, it had recorded 5.22 inches of moisture through 7 a.m. Tuesday.

National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Kardell of Springfield said Vernon County received 2.35 inches of moisture in January, exceeding the normal of 1.67, before getting 2.6 inches in February to better that 1.99 norm.

Tuesday's daytime rainfall would be added to the .27 of an inch of March rainfall that Nevada had received through Tuesday morning, Kardell said.

He noted the storm spotters' class held here last week by NWS colleague Doug Cramer was a necessary prelude to the annual twister days to begin soon, which he said will hopefully not be reminiscent of Southwest Missouri's harrowing 2008 tornado season.

Asked if winter is almost over, Kardell said, "We don't want to call that quite yet.

"We are getting away from wintry precipitation and with better warmth, we will have more chances for severe weather."

Kardell said Tuesday's rainfall from Springfield to Joplin and Nevada ranged from a half inch to an inch.

"A Rocky Mountain low pressure system is passing to the south along the Arkansas border," he said. "We're seeing some severe weather with mainly large hail, but by Wednesday the wind will shift to westerly and push this weather out of the area.

"Temperatures will warm from the mid-40s Wednesday to the mid-50s Thursday and 60s Friday, when we should have a nice day with winds from the south."

A statewide tornado drill is scheduled for Thursday, at 1:30 p.m. The weather forecast calls for sunshine on Thursday. Storm sirens will be sounded in Nevada at that time.

According to the National Weather Service, Missouri experienced 65 tornadoes in 2010, including multiple tornadoes on Dec. 31, which were responsible for five deaths and 13 injuries. Four of the five people killed were in mobile homes when the tornadoes struck.

The 37th annual statewide tornado drill is part of Missouri 2011 Severe Weather Awareness week, which runs from today through Friday.

Missouri's 2011 Severe Weather Awareness Week has one goal: to save lives, as the threat for severe weather across the state transitions from snow and ice to severe thunderstorms and flooding.