The most impressive thing so far this spring has been the lack of impressive jet stream winds. Try as they might, the upper level just cannot seem to get organized and we’ve had a quieter than normal severe weather season.
A “typical” severe weather season for us is usually March, April, & May with the peak during the last 2 weeks of April and first 2 weeks of May. Climatewise, this is when we see the most severe storms.
Unlike last year, this year we’ve seen the jet stream split into weaker segments with a seemingly endless theme of cut-off lows and large ridges. Some of this could be due to the changing sea surface temperatures which feature a transition from a La Nina to a more neutral phase. As I look ahead into the next week… I’m still seeing more of the same. Weak and disorganized jet stream winds that are mostly removed from the south central plains and feature most of the energy in the Northern United States near Canada.
Although this week some slightly cooler and drier air is moving in… it looks like more of the same is in works for the next few weeks with yet another cut off low forming somewhere in the southwest and all of the energy passing our area to the north. If the trend holds for the next 4 weeks, we’ll transition into summer with one of the quietest severe seasons we’ve seen in a few years.
-Garrett
