A new update from the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, OK shows the tornado count for 2013 below normal. Despite several violent tornadoes in Oklahoma and Texas the tornado count as a whole is the lowest it’s been in years.
So far, 716 tornado reports have been documented. Compared to 1,715 tornadoes during the same time period in 2011. The average for this time of year is around 1,221 tornadoes nationally.
The unusually low count this year is, in part, due to the extensive blocking weather pattern across the northern Atlantic causing a highly amplified jet stream with cooler than normal weather across the central and southern United States. It’s too early to know what pattern may emerge for the upcoming fall and winter season. Most of the usual indicators such as El Nino or North Atlantic Oscillation are essentially neutral at this point and do not particularly favor any one pattern over another.
Garrett
