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News covering policy and issues related to city and county governments in the Ozarks.

Warmer Temperatures Ahead Offer Chance to Prepare for Severe Weather

Scott Harvey
/
KSMU

With spring comes warmer weather, which can also turn severe, as seen with flooding in parts of the southern United States this week.

Most of southwest Missouri received no more than one-and-a-half inches of rain, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Gene Hatch. A small chance of rain is possible this weekend, but nothing extreme.

“Because we were so dry in January and February, it really didn’t lead to anything. As a matter of fact, we didn’t receive any reports of flooding across southwest Missouri and the Missouri Ozarks.”

Hatch said that next week will bring warmer weather, with temperatures possibly reaching 80 degrees.

With nice weather on the horizon, residents in Missouri can use the time to prepare for the possibility of severe storms.

“Here in the Ozarks, obviously, weather is pretty unpredictable. We know that in the spring the weather kind of ramps up.”

Erin Hedlun is the public information officer with the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management. She encourages people have a plan of action to protect themselves and their families should a severe storm occur, including where to seek shelter.

“For most folks, in your home, that would be the most interior room, the lowest room in your home away from windows. So if you have an interior bathroom or if you have a basement with very few windows, that would be the best place to go.”

Hedlun said keeping a weather alert radio on hand is also important. Greene County has a series of tornado sirens to alert people of tornado warnings, but the main purpose of the sirens is to alert people who are outdoors.

“If you’re inside your home, you may not hear the sirens go off. So, we can’t rely solely on the outdoor sirens. We really need to have something inside our homes to alert us, and a weather radio is the perfect thing.”

For more tips on how to prepare for severe weather, visit the Springfield Greene-County Office of Emergency Management website. The National Weather Service website also provides up-to-date weather forecasts.