High Risk For Tornadoes, Severe Thunderstorms

No, no, not for us. Alabama is not even under a "slight risk." In fact any showers and storms should be few and far between here today.

The "high risk" area includes:

SW Iowa
NW Missouri
East Central and NE Kansas
Extreme SE Nebraska

This includes the major cities of Omaha, Des Moines, Kansas City and Topeka.

A "moderate risk" area surrounds the "high risk" and that extends most of the reast of Iowa and north to Extreme South Minnesota and southward to include Wichita, Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

In these two areas there is the danger of a few powerful tornadoes that cause major damage and ones that hug the ground for many miles.

A "high risk" is rare...usually only a very few times each year. But it is another indication of the change in seasons. In a normal year, the greatest risk of severe weather by June shifts into the Northern Plains and Midwest, places like Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas and Minnesota.

So far in 2005, the number of tornadoes in the USA is down greatly and much lower than the average.