Tornado count - are we having an above normal year

This week hasn't been anything like last week so far (thank goodness) and although we still have more chances for rain & thunder coming our way, most of them won't be severe.

After the craziness last week, you may not be surprised to learn that across the United States, the tornado count is well above normal. Just look at the graph below. You will see that the running average (at this time in June) is roughly 800 tornadoes. When you add in the last few weeks, we have had a big uptick in the count over just the last two weeks. A very active weather pattern and a stubborn low pressure was all it took to give us that boost in the tornado activity.

I'm not 100% sure exactly how many tornadoes have happened in Kansas (the number will change based on damage surveys and new reports), but I'm thinking we are somewhere around 50 or maybe even as high as 60. We ARE passed the peak of tornado season though, which is generally around May 15-25, and once we arrive in June, our tornado days seem to spread out more.

What to watch:

We still have a weak low pressure tracking toward the Plains around Thursday. This is going to give our rain chances around the area a boost. Severe weather isn't likely, but because we continue to have some very rich humidity in place, the threat of heavy downpours will exist with several storms that develop in this area. The low will still hang around Friday, but then should move east to spare our weekend some drier weather.