We’re halfway through 2021 and it’s on pace to be one of the calmer years for severe weather in the last quarter-century in region serviced by the National Weather Service in Paducah.
Warning Coordination Meteorologist Rick Shanklin says there have only been 63 severe thunderstorm or tornado warnings issued this year in their four-state region, which is the lowest total through July 1 of any year going back to 1995.
For comparison, the two roughest years—2006 and 2011—had 511 and 492 warnings through the same time period. Only one other year, 2001, had below 100 warnings through six months and that total was 77.
Shanklin says expect almost daily chances of scattered thunderstorms and afternoon heat in the lower 90’s this week and next week should feature near normal temperatures and perhaps above average rain.
He says while it obviously varies from year to year, the next two weeks are on average the hottest on the calendar for the region.
The remnants of Tropical Storm Elsa are not expected to have any major impact on the region.