Kansas City, MO - Tornado sirens on both sides of the state line sounded at 10 a.m. Tuesday, giving school children and others an opportunity to practice severe weather procedures.
There is good reason to hold drills, especially this year, when Accuweather and other organizations are expecting an increase in the number of tornadoes during the season, which typically begins in April and runs through June. Accuweather predicts a nine percent increase in twisters over 2018.
A surge of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and increased atmospheric activity coming from the west are a recipe for more tornadoes, said Paul Pastelok, senior meteorologist at Accuweather.
"We're not going to see the situation we saw last year, when cold, stable air was floating around all the way through April, limiting the chances for severe weather," Pastelok said. "That type of setup is not going to be in existence as we get into late March and April."
Accuweather is not predicing a greater number of tornadoes than normal, just a return to more typical spring activity in Tornado Alley. The previous year was abnormally quiet.