Some CRAZY tornado records about to be set

The highly anticipated rain maker is about to move across the Plains and this is something we've been watching for almost 10 days. But what is most amazing to me is what we are NOT forecasting... severe thunderstorms. When you stop and think about the fact it's late April, in the Plains, big system pushing in from the west, and there's almost no chance we will have thunderstorms in Kansas. Even south of us into Oklahoma, there could be a few thunderstorms, but chances for SEVERE storms are incredibly low.

Consider these stats:

In Kansas:

In Oklahoma:

There could be some hail and wind with a few storms down in Texas Saturday, but overall, for the time of year, the severe risk is very low. 

I mentioned this in an early blog post that one big contributing factor is the relentless cold air that keeps hanging around. Just look at the month so far.

The average temperature is nearly 5 degrees colder for the entire US. So one of the benefits of having below normal temperatures is that it keeps the tornado threat much lower. 

What does a slow start to the season mean? Nothing!

Take for example 2013. That year, we had 0 tornadoes through March. Only 2 tornadoes in April. And then when May hit, we had 49 . So a slow start doesn't mean the rest of the season will be a dud.