Sioux Falls, S.D. — Forecasters say the upcoming severe weather season in our region could be much more active than in previous years.
They say a rapid transition from El Niño, which has resulted in a much warmer than normal winter, into a La Niña pattern, along with some other factors, could cause a dramatic shift in the storm track during the spring and early summer, increasing the probability for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms for a large part of the upper Midwest, including our area.
If you’d like to help the National Weather Service warn people of severe weather, if you are in charge of severe weather issues for your employer, or if you’d just like to know more about severe weather for your own knowledge, weather service officials will again this spring hold a number of in-person storm spotter seminars. One of those locally is scheduled at 7:00 pm Monday, March 18th, at Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon.
Seminars are also scheduled for 7:00 pm April 25th at the Clay County Regional Events Center in Spencer; for 7:00 pm Wednesday, April 3rd, at the fire station in Cherokee; and at 7:00 pm Thursday, April 18th at the Willow Creek Golf Course & Banquet Hall in Le Mars.
Online sessions are scheduled 6:30 pm Thursday, April 4th, and 1:00 pm Wednesday, April 24th. Advance registration is required for the online sessions. You can find more information, including the dates and times for other classes around the region here: https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=0e4a577ce27d49dfa4d2799add1a9713
(Courtesy fellow Community First Broadcasting station KUOO in Spirit Lake)
