SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 -- 12:59 PM
While the weather has been beautiful lately, this is Wisconsin?and things can change fast.This is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Wisconsin.
Todd Shea with the National Weather Service in La Crosse says, while tornados grab all the headlines, they aren?t necessarily the deadliest weather event during Wisconsin summers.
"When it comes to thunderstom-related hazards, it's usually flash floods with lightning being a close second," Shea says.
But, tornados can be deadly and damaging. We get our fair share here, on the fringe of Tornado Alley.
"We're at the tail end of it. There's more activity to the southwest of us," Shea notes. "We average about 21 tornadoes per year, but it certainly varies from year to year."
Shea says 2005 was one of the wildest summers in the state. We had around 70 tornadoes reported that summer.
Shea says you should get to know the severe weather watches and warnings. For instance, did you know a severe thunderstorm, by definition, consists of wind gusts of 58 mph or higher, or 1" diameter size hail or larger.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.