• Thus far, the summer of 2013 has experienced a below normal number of severe thunderstorms in the NWS Aberdeen forecast area.  The NWS Aberdeen forecast area encompasses much of central, north-central, and northeastern South Dakota, and Big Stone and Traverse Counties in Minnesota
• Recall that severe thunderstorms are those producing at least one of the following:
• 1.       Tornado
• 2.       Hail greater than 1.0" in diameter
• 3.       Winds at or above of 58 mph
•  
•  One easy way to assess the trends in severe weather is to examine the total number of severe thunderstorm warnings (SVR) and tornado warnings (TOR) issued per year.  In fact, the severe weather season in 2013 is on track to see the least number of total warnings issued by NWS Aberdeen dating back to 1995 (Figure 2).

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