More severe weather threats likely in May after unusually quiet April for tornadoes

The May 2 tornado outbreak comes after an extremely quiet April for severe weather. Over the weekend, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Storm Prediction Center tweeted that April 2021 saw the fewest reported tornadoes since 2000. April also had the fourth fewest tornado watches on record. There were 155 tornadoes in April across the U.S., many of them occurring in the central and southern plains. April 21 saw just 73 reported tornadoes, less than half of the monthly average. Compare this to March of 2021, when there were 191 reported tornadoes across the U.S. -- more than double the average number of twisters for the month. March typically averages 80 tornadoes.