Thursday, March 8, 2007
In Kansas, springtime and warm weather brings tornados. The National Weather Service has dubbed next week “Kansas Severe Weather Awareness Week.”
Shawn Byrne, Madison, Wisc., senior, is a hydrometeorological technician at the National Weather Service. He said that severe weather such as tornados and thunderstorms required three main ingredients: warm air, cold air and moisture.
breakbox
What to do in a severe weather situation:
n If in a building, get to the lowest floor.
n Enter a small room such as a closet or bathroom.
n Stay away from exterior walls, elevators, doors and glass.
n Abandon cars and mobile homes immediately.
n If no shelter is available, lie flat in a ditch and keep head covered.
n Avoid buildings with large free-span roofs, such as auditoriums.
Source: National Weather Service
Most severe storms in the Midwest are caused when warm, wet air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with cold, dry air moving south from Canada. The cold air is denser and heavier than the warm air, forcing the warm air to rise higher in the atmosphere. This can freeze the water particles in the warm air, creating clouds, rain and even hail. Sometimes such extreme changes in temperature, wind direction and height can lead to tornados.
Tornado season is different in different parts of the United States. Byrne said that Kansas will get the most storms in April, May, and June. Southern states will get more storms earlier, and northern states will get their storms later in the year. It all depends on how long warm winds from the south take to reach the area.
In 2006, the National Weather Service recorded 92 tornados in Kansas. This was 37 more than the average 55 tornados recorded annually since 1950. Only three of those were what the National Weather Service considered strong tornados, designated as F2 on a scale measuring tornado strength. Steve Kays, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said that F2 tornados have wind speeds of up to 157 mph.
The storms are hard to predict, and Byrne suggests that students purchase an All Hazards Weather Radio, which sends out a loud severe weather warning.
The annual statewide tornado drill will take place Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
Kansan staff writer Joe Hunt can be contacted at jhunt@kansan.com.
—Edited by Lisa Tilson
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