Weather Blog – Another Quiet Severe Weather Season in KC

Hello bloggers,

I’m not sure how important this record is to you, but to me it blows my mind. We have literally gone three full years without me explaining how the ingredients come together for significant severe weather. THREE YEARS IN A ROW! We have very good storm chasers that you don’t know about because we haven’t needed them since that big day three years ago.

The last Tornado watch that was issued for the entire KC metro area was three years ago. It was the day we had the spooky EF-4 tornado that destroyed homes in Linwood, KS and caused damage near Lawrence, KS on May 28, 2019. Three straight years without Tornado Watch in the counties of Johnson and Wyandotte. For the other metropolitan counties of Kansas City, Clay, Jackson and Platte, there has only been one watch and it happened last fall.

Let’s take a look at the Tornado watches issued across the United States over the past three years:

In 2020, the traditional Tornado Alley was as quiet as ever. There were no tornado watches in most of Kansas and the northwest third of Oklahoma.

In 2021, pictured below, there was only one tornado watch in Clay, Jackson, and Platte counties last fall, but none were issued in Wyandotte and Johnson counties. This single watch was issued as thunderstorms developed near the state line, then the risk quickly moved away.

Tornado Watches In 2020

And, this season has been kind of extremely quiet once again. I’m actually surprised as I was expecting a bit more activity in our area. There has yet to be a Tornado watch this season in the entire KC metro area.

Tornado Watches In 2020

Add it up and it’s three straight years without one. It’s been 1094 days in a row without a serious risk of tornadoes for the entire area. Now there were a few tornado warnings, but no watches. How is it possible? Tornado watches are issued when conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms that can produce tornadoes. But, sometimes, when it doesn’t seem like all the conditions are right, a thunderstorm can still produce one, and sometimes it does. This is how we can get a tornado warning when there is no watch in effect.

This following map shows the regions of the United States most likely to experience severe weather at this time of year on May 27:

Severe probabilities for May 27

There is no chance of severe weather during Memorial Day. Memorial Day weekend is climatologically the wettest weekend of the year, but not this one. It will heat up and be mostly dry. There is a slight chance of showers or thunderstorms early on Saturday, but the rest of the weekend will definitely be dry and it will warm up.

The pools open, and it’s perfectly timed. Here is your forecast:

• Today: Rather sunny and almost perfect. Northwest winds only 5-10 mph. High: 78°
• This evening: A great Friday night in the big city. Down: 58°
• Saturday: 20% chance of a brief morning shower, then sunny and ideal for the pool. High: 85°
• Sunday: Mainly sunny with increasing southerly winds at 10-25 mph. High: 90°
• Remembrance Day : Rather sunny and windy. South winds 10-25 mph. High: 89°

Thank you for sharing this weather experience and spending a few minutes of your day reading the weather blog.

Have a good Friday!

Gary