135 tornado reports were logged by the Storm Prediction Center on Saturday and early Sunday morning. Nearly 100 of these tornadoes were seen in Kansas. This amount is more than the standard for an entire month's total.
With 135 tornado reports, one would think many human casualties must have come from this many storms. On the contrary, only five people have been pronounced dead thus far from the outbreak. While that still is five misfortunes, the tally could have been much greater. Tornadoes ripped through populated areas like downtown Wichita, Kansas and severed 75% of the town of Thurman, Iowa, but both recorded zero deaths. How? Enough notice.
Meteorologists are dogged for missing forecasts and supposedly being wrong half the time, but does missing the amount of cloud cover or exact temperature really impact people? Are peoples' lives really at stake? The weather models were hinting at severe storms almost a week and a half in advance and continued that pattern until that Saturday. The Storm Prediction Center put out a severe weather outlook an entire week in advance.
Every day until that outbreak, they mentioned what the models were showing and at three days out, they warned of the intense severity. By consistently saying that severe storms would break out in the Kansas and Oklahoma area a week in advance from a very well respected group of meteorologists, people got the picture. Action plans were put in place days ahead. Evacuation arrangements were made in case these dreaded tornadoes hit close. Warnings were made and people listened.
Meteorologists saved lives that Saturday.
~Meteorologist Heather Brinkmann
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