We’ve talked quite a bit about tornado counts lately – with totals below average on the year.
Oklahoma is one state that is an interesting example. I tweeted this yesterday (if you haven’t followed me yet, find me @ashafferWNTV on Twitter), but Oklahoma is SIGNIFICANTLY below average this year in both preliminary tornado reports & actual tornadoes. As of this writing, Oklahoma has seen 4, that’s FOUR with an “F,” tornado reports this year so far. They are on pace for a record low type of year, similar to 1988 (only 17 tornadoes in the whole year that year).
This map below shows the annual average for tornadoes, per state, from 1991 to 2010:
Notice how Texas, Kansas, Florida, and Oklahoma are the top four tornado-producing states.
Oklahoma has averaged 62 per year during the 1991-2010 span.
Who has the fewest, on average? Rhode Island – averaging zero. Tied for 2nd place fewest are New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Out west, California averages a somewhat surprising 11 tornadoes per year.
How many this year?
How has this year stacked up? We’ll we mentioned how sparse Oklahoma has been, tornado-wise – which is great news for those folks. Well how about the rest of the nation?
This map below shows tornado reports so far this year:
That map does a good job of showing *where* storms have produced possible tornadoes – but that leaves us with this question (and the following graphic answers it): *When* have tornadoes been reported? After a slow start to the year, April ended with a bang – you can see below how April was actually off the charts in particular view:
So how does this year’s *national* total of tornado reports compare to average?
Well this graphic sums it up pretty well:
If you follow the trend to conclusion – obviously ignoring that there could be huge outbreaks that are as-of-yet unpredicted – you’ll see that we are on track for a below-average years of tornado storm reports, as compared to the 2005-2013 average.
Conclusion? Stay tuned, and hopefully in a few months we’ll be wrapping up the tornado-producing season with a record low (or at least near-record low) total of preliminary tornado reports.
WeatherNation Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer @ashafferWNTV
