Last week, many southern states held Severe Weather Awareness week, just in time for the first widespread Spring-like storm of the season. Now you might be thinking, “Isn’t it unusual to have severe weather outbreaks in February?” Not really. Last week’s storm is a reminder that February can sometimes produce big severe outbreaks, especially in the latter half of the month. The reason is that the atmosphere is beginning the transition from Winter into Spring, which is the most volatile time of the year for weather.

You may not know, but one of the worst tornado outbreaks in U.S. history actually occurred in February 1884 that affected much of the Dixie states. Weather historians dubbed it the “Enigma Outbreak” due to its exceptional severity and uncertain death toll in the mostly rural South (scary to think what a similar outbreak would do today!) The National Weather Service ranks it as the second worst outbreak ever in the United States.

The vernal equinox, when Spring officially starts, is about March 20th, but meteorologists often refer to March 1st as the beginning of “meteorological spring.” This is because in many parts of the country it is already “feeling like Spring” (not to mention the many university students that typically celebrate “Spring Break” before the official start). You may have heard the saying, “If March comes in like a lion it goes out like a lamb and if March comes in like a lamb, it goes out like a lion.” This refers to volatility and unpredictability of the month. Blizzards, windstorms, floods, tornado outbreaks, almost anything are fair game in March!

My early inspiration to become a weather forecaster came in the early 90’s watching Al Roker on WNBC covering the “Storm of the Century” that pounded New York City with heavy snow, ice, rain and hurricane force winds. That same storm brought record snow throughout much of the East from the Gulf Coast to Maine.

Speaking of coming in like a lion -- it looks like March will be doing just that with a big storm that will feature much of the weather I just mentioned. Stay tuned to Weatherplus.com for all the latest updates!