Slow Tornados

So far, it's been a slow tornado season. No, that doesn't mean the tornados are spinning slowly. It means we haven't had many twisters in the US so far in 2010.

The total number of tornados this year through April 20 is 96. That may sound like a lot, but the average US total for this time of year is 443! We're around 22% of normal!

So, what does that mean for the rest of the tornado season? Not much. Looking through historical records, the number of tornados through April doesn't really indicate how many we'll see in May or beyond.

For more information, go look at this graph from the Storm Prediction Center.

We Need Rain

We are behind on rainfall for 2010 by 4.25" so far. That's about 28% less than the average by this time in the year. January was the driest month, with 3.09" of rain in Shreveport. We need 4.60" on a normal January. But, April is on pace to be even drier. So far, we've only gotten 1.04" in Shreveport and we're halfway through the month.

Now, there is some good news. The soils started off the year kind of soggy thanks to the flooding last October and November. And, the second half of the month is looking like it's going to be a lot wetter for us.

Pollen Problems

So, in case you hadn't noticed, the pollen is becoming a problem. Specifically, tree pollen. According to Dr. Peter Boggs, the tree pollen count today was 4,298. Just for some perspective, in tree pollen, a count of 0-14 is considered low, 15-89 is considered moderate, 90 - 1,499 is high, and anything over 1,500 is very high. We're almost 3 times that number today.

Good news is coming on Wednesday. We'll see some showers and thunderstorms that could drop our pollen count somewhat.