As many states in the region enter severe weather season, the National Weather Service in Paducah kicked off their Severe Weather Awareness Campaign with a press conference emphasizing the importance of being weather aware and prepared on Monday.
March 1 kicked off Severe Weather Awareness Week in Kentucky which coincides with weather awareness weeks in Missouri, Indiana and Illinois, all under the Weather Service’s coverage region.
To start their severe weather awareness campaign, meteorologists from the Weather Service and emergency response personnel from Southeast Missouri hosted a press conference in Bollinger County, Missouri.
To start the conference, Christine Wielgos the Weather Service’s warning coordination meteorologist shared that around 60% of tornados that occur in a year typically happen between March and June.
Wielgos also spotlighted the severe weather events that happened in 2023 and that in their service region six people died because of the weather events.
Wielgos advises that being weather prepared and remaining vigilant are key to remaining safe during severe weather events. To stay safe Wielgos says it is important for residents to pay attention to and track weather forecasts throughout the day, understand how inclement weather can affect them and have a safety plan and know when to execute it.
Jeremy Gray the Southeast Missouri Region E Coordinator talked about the risks of flash floods. Often people worry about the risks of tornados, but Gray says flash floods have become some of the most fatal instances of severe weather.
In regards to weather vigilance, Meteorologist Grant Dade from KFVS in Cape Girardeau talked about something that he witnesses called weather anxiety or panic. To combat that anxiety, Dade says it is important to have a reliable way of a getting weather alerts and to develop a plan ahead of inclement weather to avoid that panic.
The Weather Service’s next severe weather awareness campaign stop will be in Mayfield at 7 p.m. on Monday where they will host a Facebook live stream providing weather tips. The live stream and more regional weather-related information can be found at US National Weather Service Paducah Kentucky on Facebook.