Wisconsin Tornado Season Below Average

Jun 02, 2012
The 2012 Wisconsin Tornado season has gotten off to a slow start. Only one tornado has been confirmed this year in north central Wisconsin. However, Wisconsin sees the most amount of tornadoes in the month of June as the jet stream pivots further north across the area and the presence of warm, moist air invades the region. The threat of severe thunderstorms persist through July and August, but the threat of tornadoes decrease due to the weakening jet stream.

Wisconsin has an average of 23 tornadoes per year. 2010 saw a high number of tornadoes with 46 confirmed! 2011 followed up with another solid year with 38 tornadoes. History suggests we are due for a below average year and it appears the state is headed in that direction. If Wisconsin wants to replicate those tornado numbers from the past few years, the month of June will have to produce a large amount of twisters.



Tornado Frequency Down Across U.S.

Overall, in the United States tornado frequency has been slightly below normal to average at best this year. The Storm Prediction Center's (SPC) Local Storm Report Graph shows less tornado activity compared to past years. For example, according to the SPC graph, on June 1, 2011 there were over 1,432 tornadoes reported. Looking at this year (June 1, 2012) there has been 768 tornadoes reported. A very striking contrast. There may be an uptick in tornado activity this month, but moving forward through 2012, don't expect to see anything near what the U.S. experienced in 2011.

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