Smith Family Weblog

Associated Press – June 4, 2008 11:14 AM ET

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – The National Weather Service warns of a possible tornado outbreak in the Great Plains tomorrow with conditions similar to a deadly day in 1974 when 39 tornadoes touched down.

Computer forecasting models resemble those on June 8, 1974, when more than three dozen tornadoes touched down in the southern Plains and killed 22 people, including six in Emporia.

NWS meteorologist Robb Lawson said “this event warrants more advance warning.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center has been warning for days of the outbreak.

Mike Smith is CEO of WeatherData, a subsidiary of AccuWeather. He says some forecasters are predicting the tornadoes could hit a corridor stretching from northern Oklahoma to central Iowa. That area would include much of Kansas and northwest Missouri.

Smith said, “If you take April dynamics and June thermodynamics, you have a potentially disastrous combination.”

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We’ve seen some incredible weather this spring–just what you’d expect in Kansas. Last night I returned from from a three-day trip to Austin, Texas. On the way home, the sky was filled with cloud-to-ground lightening strikes. I even saw a wall cloud, which prompted me (and about three other cars) to pull over and watch for a bit. (It was uneventful–no rotation.)

I’m a bit nervous given the predictions for tomorrow, but usually advance warnings like these ensure that we won’t get as much as a raindrop. I’m also consoled by the fact that Ava’s new preschool was hit by a tornado several years ago, and we all know they never strike the same place twice. Right? Or is that lightening?

It’s going to be a long day. Keep an eye on the skies, my fellow Midwesterners.