Deadly tornadoes not an omen of Missouri’s 2008 storm season

An outbreak of devastating tornadoes killed dozens in Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky in February. However, this episode of unusually deadly winter tornadoes doesn't mean Missourians are necessarily in for a rough storm season, according to a University of Missouri Extension climatologist.

"The February outbreak presents no indication of what the future storm season may be like for Missouri," said Pat Guinan, climatologist for the MU Commercial Agriculture program. "Fortunately, the conditions that favor tornado outbreaks occur infrequently and are typically short lived-generally a day or two."

While the February outbreak looks to be deadliest in more than 20 years, Guinan said, winter tornadoes in that region are not uncommon.

"Winter tornadoes are most likely to occur in the southeastern states where moisture and warmer temperature environments reside."

Guinan also noted that because the jet stream-a high-altitude air current that steers storm systems- tends to flow across the southern states in the winter. Unstable scenarios are more likely to emerge across the country when cold frontal boundaries sweep into the region and interact with warm, moist surface conditions.

He said that while most tornadoes appear in the four-month period running from March through June tornadoes can and do appear during any time of the year under the right conditions.

Missouri sees an average of 32 tornadoes each year with 70% of them appearing between March and June, according to Guninan.

The deadliest tornado outbreak in Missouri history killed 152 people in central and southwestern Missouri when eight tornadoes struck on April 18, 1880.

The state's deadliest single tornado, a category F-4 with wind speeds up to 260 miles per hour, killed 137 people and injured 800 in St. Louis on May 27, 1896.

The state's deadliest February tornado also struck St. Louis killing 21 and injuring 345 on Feb. 10, 1959.

In March 1925 a tornado touched down in southeastern Missouri and traveled 219 miles through Illinois and apart of Indiana. The "Tri-State Tornado" left almost 700 confirmed fatalities in its wake making it the single deadliest tornado in US history.

While it is too early to forecast what Missouri's 2008 storm season will have in store, Eric Evans, MU Extension emergency management specialist, tells people that it's never too early to prepare for the worst.

To avoid being caught by surprise, Evans recommends that households purchase a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather radio which provides timely and frequent alerts during severe weather conditions.

If a weather radio is not an option Evans advises people to stay informed on weather conditions by tuning into local radio and television stations and to take all severe weather watches and warnings seriously.

"People just need to be award of what is going on," Evans said.

For information on disaster preparedness and emergency response in general see http://outreach.missouri.edu/cemp/