A Good Drought To Have

While the weather this spring has not exactly lived up to expectations, there is one positive that can be taken from it: A lack of severe weather. In fact, the past 12 months have been record-breaking.

According to preliminary reports, from May 2012 to April 2013 there have been 197 confirmed tornadoes in the U.S. That would break the previous record for lack of tornadoes in a 12-month period set back in 1991-1992. It's even more amazing when you consider we set the record for most tornadoes in a 12-month period back in 2010-2011.


So why has it been so quiet? Thanks to a strong area of high pressure stuck over Greenland (also known as a Greenland Block), the jet stream has been forced further south than normal over the last several months. This means colder air has dominated the midwest and has made severe weather harder to come by.

Valid as of 5:00am Friday Morning

Here's another way to look at this lack of severe weather. This map shows the last time (in days) that the National Weather Service issued a Tornado Warning. In case you were wondering, the last Tornado Warning issued in the Stateline was in Ogle County last December.