We’ve started off busy this spring, with several rounds of severe weather, marked by organization and intensity. While storms, particularly tomorrow, stand to be nasty at times, the remarkable thing is how broad the coverage of this weather is expected to be.

The enhanced risk covers over 240,000 square miles, and features, initially a hail threat in the southwestern portion of the risk early in the day, transitioning to some supercells with a tornado threat centralized along the Ohio downriver from Louisville to the Mississippi south to Greenville, Mississippi. Ultimately, the cells will merge into lines, and strong wind in the southern Great Lakes will be the threat.

The upper level pattern features a broad trough over the middle of the country, setting the stage for broad instability. A couple of short waves at the upper levels will produce more focused inclement weather, and the bullseyes in different areas.

As with any nasty weather, it all depends on where it hits. The biggest thing about this system is that it is big, but the top end energy isn’t going to match some of the storms we’ve seen earlier this month. The geographic scope of the weather means it will be a headline maker, as well as a headache maker for anyone trying to travel.

More rough stuff is expected on Monday along the East Coast. The weather, again, looks to be weaker, but more people, more travelers will be impacted than even tomorrow.

What are the signs of spring that you look for? If you are a normal person, you are likely looking for that first robin to land in your front yard, or for the daffodils to start blooming. If you are a meteorologist or weather super fan, you are on the look out for big, multifaceted storms rumbling through the middle of the country. I can’t speak to the daffodils in your neighborhood, but we have certainly seen those big storms.

Storms at the beginning of the week were particularly nasty. An EF-4 tornado struck Diaz, Arkansas, while 43 were killed across several states, including 12 in Missouri. Rolla and Poplar Bluff were among the towns to sustain significant damage. Strong storms continued through the Southeast and Mid Atlantic with more tornadoes striking from Louisiana to Alabama, and to the north in Illinois and Indiana. There were also gusty winds and large hail. Given that so many storms struck overnight, an the tornado count was as high as it was, the death toll certainly could have been higher.

The storms have been large enough that they showed up in the long term guidance well in advance of the storm. There were outlooks for severe weather in the 4-9 day SPC outlooks for this storm, as well as the smaller storm early this week (which brought 3 separate small tornadoes to Gary, Indiana!). There is a threat again on Sunday of this weekend for more rough stuff in the Tennessee Valley, though the threat is not as great as these past two rounds. It’s a sign of how pronounced the upper air pattern is. A sure sign of spring.

I noted that these storms were multifaceted. Not only did the storms bring severe weather of the thunderstorm variety, but also of the winter variety, with blizzard conditions coming with both storms in parts of the Upper Midwest. The dynamics of the storm lead to narrow bands of heavy snowfall, and as significantly, strong winds that impacted visibility. Again, this is the nature of spring.

Most people aren’t meteorologists, however, and the larger part of the universe is awaiting warm weather, and I assure you, it is coming. The beginning of the season is a great time to look at the CPC outlook for the next three months. Great news for the sunseekers, because no part of the country, aside from western Alaska, should expect below normal temperatures.

Spring is always interesting, and it is here.