Posted Friday, April 16, 2021
You would hardly know it but our annual severe thunderstorm season is well underway here in the Valley. So far it’s been unusually quiet. There have been no Severe Thunderstorm Warnings issued for our area yet this spring. That’s highly unusual since we’re now half way through meteorological spring.
The month of April started out with unseasonably warm temperatures that supported a few thunderstorms locally. But nothing severe or even close to severe has popped here. Temperatures have since cooled off substantially and our long-range modeling suggests it’s going to stay cool for a while. So, it’s doubtful we will be seeing any strong thunderstorm activity locally in the near future.
That doesn’t mean we should let our guard down. We experience the highest thunderstorm activity during the months of April through June. There’s still a long way to go with regards to this year’s severe weather season.
The cooler temperatures are, of course, no guarantee that we won’t have any severe storms. But these cooler temperatures will make it highly unlikely we’ll see much in the way of severe weather in the foreseeable future.
There are indications that this cool pattern will finally break in May. The CPC is calling for warmer than normal temperatures for the month as a whole. And, above-normal precipitation is favored. That tells me we can probably expect to see a more active month in May.
Moisture and warm temperatures are two of the main ingredients for thunderstorms. So, we might see an uptick in severe storm activity as we get into May.
Be safe out there.
