SOKY weather trends
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – In recent years, south-central Kentucky has experienced three major weather events that resulted in a great deal of pain and suffering.
For many who study meteorology or follow local weather closely, certain models have begun to show a shift in the traditional location of tornado alley. The area which has typically resided inside of Kansas, Oklahoma and parts of Texas seems to be shifting eastward into areas like south-central Kentucky.
Shane Holinde at the Kentucky Mesonet believes this may be happening slowly but surely.
“There has been a shift north and eastward of traditional tornado alley, particularly during the cold season. And we talk about cold season. We’re looking at the months generally between November and March. I was long thought of that. Usually the Deep South got the bulk of the severe weather and the strong tornadoes during that period,” Holinde said.
There is also the factor of the specific weather condition of the year itself.
“For three straight years, we had a La Nina and basically La Nina refers to the abnormal cooling of the waters near the equator in the central Pacific Ocean that if it went from 2020 all the way until spring of this year, in 2023, we had two significant severe weather episodes during that La Nina event, the one, of course, being the catastrophic tornado outbreak in December of 21. We also had another tornado outbreak on New Year’s Day of 22,” Holinde said.
The best practice for people living in the area is to always stay vigilant. Get a weather radio and develop a plan for your family to follow in case of an emergency. This can at the very least keep everyone safe in the event of extreme weather. Chris Allen, weather chief at WNKY, says it is important to take extreme weather seriously.
“People just need to be better prepared for these things and not assume that they’re not going to get hit by something. A tornado or damaging wind or flood, because they’re going to keep happening. There’s no way that we can stop these things from happening,” Allen said.
