Tornados season off to a slow start nationally

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ Oklahoma set a record with no tornados during May and weather officials say tornado activity nationwide is down this year. <br/><br/>The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's

Tuesday, June 7th 2005, 8:37 am

By: News On 6

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) _ Oklahoma set a record with no tornados during May and weather officials say tornado activity nationwide is down this year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Prediction Center in Norman says there have been 382 tornado touchdowns nationally as of last Thursday. That's down from 696 tornados through the end of May last year and down from 718 by the end of May 2003.

Forecasters say this year's relative lack of tornadoes is because of what they call the James Bay Low, which is a huge dome of air near James Bay in Canada.

The warm, moist air from the south that usually collides with cool air from the north to create tornados hasn't happened because the dome pushed the jet stream farther east this spring. Forecasters say that stopped air from the Gulf from reaching the Great Plains region in large amounts.