QOTW: Storm Prediction Center Moderate & High Risks

Posted by on 24 Jan 2011 | 4 comments

This week’s “Question of the Week” comes from Trevor Gramling and Ryan Vaughan.

  • Climatologically, where is the most likely location to experience the first Storm Prediction Center Moderate Risk of a given year?
  • What about High Risk?

Since I do not know the answer ahead of time, this may end up being a two week “Question of the Week” as I write the code to create the answers…

This ought to be fun!

2010 SPC Watches By County

Posted by on 5 Jan 2011 | 12 comments

2010 SPC Watch Stats

Every year the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issues hundreds of severe thunderstorm watches and tornado watches throughout the entire contiguous United States. SPC Warning Coordination Meteorologist, Greg Carbin, has compiled a graphic that depicts the number of different type of watches by county for 2010. He went a step further to also calculate the deviation (anomaly) from the 1999 – 2008 normal. A couple of things stand out:

  • Much of Oklahoma experienced at or below normal numbers of tornado watches, even though the state (unofficially) recorded the 3rd most number of tornadoes on record. (This is because of two large tornado outbreaks in May!)
  • Portions of southern California and central Arizona experienced tornado watches this year (in October), even though the 10-year average is for less than 1 per year
  • The central plains experienced an above normal number of severe thunderstorm watches
  • Parts of western Louisiana and northern Florida did not record a single severe thunderstorm watch

What is the most interesting result to you?