Active Severe Weather Spring: Thunderstorm and tornado reports to date

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Spring has been active with several severe weather events. With these events come severe storm warnings. To date, the Northern Indiana Office of National Weather Service has issued 144 severe weather warnings. This included both Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Warnings.

Michiana is beginning to see more tornado-warned storms in recent years, which is somewhat abnormal. In the past, Tornado Alley was known to be placed in the Central Plains. Now, it seems that Tornado Alley has migrated east. Storm report data shows less reports are located in “Old” Tornado Alley, and more in “New” Tornado Alley. This is due to warmer temperatures in the early spring and changes in the jet stream patterns—increasing the frequency of severe weather.

If this trend continues, we could likely continue to see severe storms more in our area, starting earlier in the year. Even if storms do not produce tornadoes, other factors like straight-lined winds and large hail.

For a thunderstorm to be classified as severe, it needs to produce at least 58 mph wind gusts and hail one inch in diameter. Some straight-lined winds can be more damaging than tornadoes. Storms that produce straight-line winds are more common in the summer months, as hot and humid weather create a conducive environment for development. Derechos are also more likely in the summer—they are fast-moving lines of thunderstorms that produce hurricane-force winds as they travel.

There will likely be more wind damage reports in the summer as severe weather continues. So, while we’ve had a handful of events with damaging winds this Spring, this could be a preview of what is to come in the next few months.