MUNCIE, Ind. - Indiana benefited from a cooler and wetter than normal spring that reduced the number of tornadoes, says a Ball State University climatologist.

Indiana averages about 20 tornados during the peak months of April, May and June. There were only seven reported this year, said David Arnold, a geography professor and advisor of Ball State’s Storm Chase Team, a student group.

The reduction in dangerous storms spawning twisters may be directly attributed to a cool air mass over the Midwest - particularly Indiana - for most of May, he said.

“This was very unusual for the state and the Midwest,” Arnold said. “This ‘closed low’ air mass in the middle to upper levels of the atmosphere caused temperatures to fall an average of 15 to 20 degrees daily from the typical high and held clouds around for weeks.

“There simply was not enough heat in the atmosphere to kick up the strong storms we usually see in spring months,” he said. “It isn’t unusual to have cool spells, but they don’t last for long.”

There have been three tornado-related injuries and one death reported so far this year. Of the seven twisters, one was in central Indiana and six were in northern Indiana, including a tornado in Fort Wayne destroying 200 homes on May 26.

The worst year for tornadoes came in 1990 when 48 were reported and 1992 was not far off with 46. The lowest numbers so far have been 10 each in 1993 and 1999.

Arnold said Hoosiers should not be complacent and think the worst is past even though the peak tornado months are over.

Strong storms have the ability to create tornados at any time of year, including the winter months of December, January and February.

“The long-range forecasts for the rest of the season, which lasts through October, calls for cooler weather,” Arnold said. “However, there is no way we can forecast an event where a storm creates several tornados in one or two days. You can get a bunch of them very quickly.”

Ball State’s Storm Chase Team will be on hand during the rest of the summer to track potential storms.

Team members are a group of highly trained and dedicated students who have both a thirst for knowledge and desire for community service, Arnold said.

Most of the students are pursuing the operational meteorology and climatology option as majors within the Department of Geography.

The team is deployed whenever severe local storms threaten the east central Indiana region. Information gained from real-time field observations of severe local storms is immediately forwarded to National Weather Service Offices in North Webster and Indianapolis, Indiana, and Wilmington, Ohio, local civil defense and law enforcement agencies, and local radio and television stations.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Arnold at darnold@ybsu.edu or (765) 285-1776. The Storm Chase Team Web site is www.bsu.edu/stormchaseteam.)