For my readers in central and southwest Kansas, here’s a list of the storm spotter training classes in the region. They’re being presented by the Dodge City branch of the National Weather Service.
I noticed Greensburg’s session is set for March 25, with “location to be determined.” No surprise, that.
There wasn’t a single tornado reported anywhere in the United States in February – until a small, weak one touched down for three minutes northeast of Taft, California, on Feb. 27.
There hasn’t been a 0-for-February in the U.S. since the National Weather Service began keeping tornado records in 1950. Before last Saturday’s brief tornado in California, the last twister reported in the U.S. was in north-central Tennessee on Jan. 24.
The last month to go tornado-less in the U.S. was January 2003, according to Harold Brooks, a research meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla.
“What does this tell us about the rest of the 2010 tornado season? Somewhere between a little and nothing at all,” Brooks writes in the U.S. Severe Weather blog.
I’ll write more about projections for the upcoming tornado season in Kansas soon.
Sunny skies and warmer temperatures are expected for Wichita over the next couple of days, forecasters say.
Highs should reach the low 50s today and mid-50s on Thursday, with light south winds. Lows tonight will still dip below freezing.
Chances for rain arrive Friday and Sunday, though forecasters say those chances are slight.
For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.