Severe Weather Awareness Week

If you reside in the four states, you know the unmistakable sound of our tornado siren. A reminder that it's also National Severe Weather Preparedness Week, a time to plan for the severe weather that will likely hit the area this spring. Also, this year, the 10-year remembrance of one of the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history on May 22, 2011 in Joplin, that claimed 161 lives. John Blake, a team leader with those arcs center, the local show me hope provider, works with residents to prepare for severe weather and cope with the aftermath. According to John, PAC and prepare food, water, and clothing, also prepare for the possible destruction, a tornado, or flooding can bring. And you would want something in case you have some rough terrain to go through, like with the tornado in 2011, people realized that a hard hat would have been helpful for them during that time. With the severe weather, we have you around government agencies and nonprofits work to promote the need for residents to prepare for anything.

From sub-freezing temperatures and snow, to street line winds and tornadoes and devastating floods. When thinking about storm preparation, according to John, it's as easy as one, two, three. One is make a plan, two is prepare a kit, and three is listen for information. Make a plan where you and your family are going to take shelter. Prepare a kit with at least three days of supplies, and monitor updates from the National Weather Service. John warns if you don't respect the weather, and think a storm will never hit you, think again. I would just like to stress that preparedness does bring peace of mind. So if you feel like you've gone through it, and you're going to survive another one, I would say you might want to rethink that, but also why wouldn't you want to be prepared for your own peace of mind if that does happen? Steve Reynolds is the warning coordination meteorologist, Anthony National Weather Service in Springfield, Missouri, a physician he's held since 1995. Steve and John Blake of Ozark Center agree that preparedness is key during storm season.

We know for the public to respond to our warnings that they have to be prepared. They have to receive the warnings that to understand them and respond. So annually, the National Weather Service conducts a severe weather awareness week to help with their preparedness. In addition to knowing where you're going to go in the event of severe weather and having your kit ready, Steve says it's also essential to know the difference between severe weather watches and warnings. Watches mean conditions are favorable, and the other hand, warnings of severe storm is imminent or in progress. So having multiple ways of receiving that warning is pretty important. Steve explains that the Storm Prediction Center, in Norman, Oklahoma, tracks storm systems and issues watches for an area as many as eight hours ahead of time, usually when there isn't a cloud in the sky. But then the storms do start to form. The local offices such as Springfield, Wichita, Topeka, Kansas City will be utilizing double radars to monitor for the development of severe thunderstorms.

So watches give you time to prepare warnings mean a storm is imminent, and people need to take precautions immediately. According to Steve, there's little connection between severe weather in the winter and weather storms will be worse in the spring. We are looking at the sky to predict the severity of spring storm season, but at the ground. If soils do remain wetter than normal, earlier than normal, then the thunderstorms that fall and produce heavy rainfall, yes, there could be severe weather, but what we meteorologists will be particularly concerned about is flooding, which is the number one killer when it comes to thunderstorms. Wall tornadoes and thunderstorms get the most attention, floods are the deadliest, responsible for the deaths of an average of 100 U.S. residents every year over the past decade. Many deaths due to flooding occur when people attempt to drive through flooded streets. This storm season make a plan, prepare a kid, and stay informed. For KRPS, I'm Fred Fletcher-Fierro in Web City.