Kansas may be the stormiest place on earth.
Chance Hayes has proof.
Hayes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, spoke Monday in front of a packed Creitz Recital Hall for “Storm Fury on the Plains,” a storm spotter training session.
In a recent compilation of severe weather warnings throughout the Midwest — including thunderstorms, tornadoes and hail reports — a typical Kansas county experiences 20 severe weather warnings every year. For comparison’s sake, Oklahoma counties averaged 17 severe warnings annually; Nebraska had 12 and Missouri 10.
For places in eastern Kansas, that number is even higher, Hayes said, pointing to counties in far western Kansas less susceptible to severe or tornadic storms. Places such as Allen County likely have between 25 and 30 severe warnings annually, he estimated.
And while forecasters are as precise as ever with their heedings — warning specific areas hours or days in advance of an approaching storm — dangers still lurk, Hayes said.
Man’s curiosity is often his worst enemy.
When tornado sirens blared more than 30 minutes in advance of the May 22 tornado that hit Joplin, only a fraction of the city’s residents responded immediately, Hayes noted.
He spoke with one resident who didn’t take proactive action until a second round of sirens sounded less than five minutes before the mile-wide twister roared into town. In the interim, TV, radio and Facebook followers were notified of the oncoming storm.
“Why did it take so many risk signals for some people to respond?” Hayes asked.
He described the phenomenon as “warning complacency” — an unwillingness for residents to seek shelter or otherwise respond to a tornadic storm unless they receive multiple risk signals. The goal, he said, is to prompt action for residents with fewer signals.
“For most people, it takes between two or three risk signals,” Hayes said. Joplin residents had as many as nine.
People should be aware of their surroundings, even in such places as the Indiana State Fair, which was hit by a severe thunderstorm in August. The storm blew over an outdoor stage onto a dispersing crowd, killing five and injuring dozens more.
Hayes pointed to warning signs, including weather radar — available on any Internet-accessible cell phone — and the visible shelf cloud that accompanied the oncoming storm.
Those who waited for other risk signals to evacuate waited too long, Hayes said.
