by Nicolas Bravo
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.–With spring season being storm season, any storm that pushes its way into Northwest Arkansas has the chance to spawn a tornado, putting students in danger.
Recent studies from the Storm Prediction Center showed that tornado alley has started to shift East, especially over Arkansas and Mississippi.
This has led to tornadic outbreaks across the south, especially in Mississippi where late last week a storm produced 31 tornadoes leading to three deaths.
Even though Arkansas is included in the updated tornado alley, there hasn’t been any tornadoes this year, and one of the main reasons for that is the weather patterns.
“This year we haven’t had anything yet. And that’s because we have an El Nino setting up,” said Meteorologist Matt Standridge. “So those winds that help to fuel thunderstorms and eventually rotate them is weaker, so the storms aren’t rotating as much. They rotate a little bit but you need them to rotate more to actually get that tornado out.”
Last year, Arkansas had a La Nina which led to stronger upper winds, causing a total of 34 tornadoes throughout the state.
Here on campus, each building is different with different policies. In Kimpel, the policy is to go to the first floor and into the classrooms where they are completely underground, ensuring student safety.
The severe weather plans vary for every building on campus, so be sure to know what you need to do in case a tornado hits campus.
The best way for student’s to be aware of the situation is to have a weather app downloaded on their phone to get weather alerts. If tornado sirens go off on-campus, treat them as a real threat and take precautions to protect yourself.