Blame wicked weather on El Nino

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It's been a stormy spring so far in the Carolinas. WCNC's First Warn Storm Team's meteorologist Brad Panovich says the transition from La Nina to El Nino may be the reason we're seeing more severe weather in the form of tornados and hail.

"The storm track is laying right on top of the Carolinas and the key to that is that storm track is the difference between the cold air to the north and the warm air to the south," said Panovich, "And that's producing a lot of severe weather this season."

For storm spotters like Randy Ross, the vice president of the Cleveland County Amateur Radio Service, it's been a busy time. He follows the storm systems in an effort to learn more about them and make sure residents are prepared.

Sunday's storm system that moved across several counties in our viewing area was no different.

"We were able get real-time information to your folks to get on the air to get people to realize there is actually a storm knocking on the door so they could take cover," said Ross.

Panovich says if the current weather pattern continues, we are on pace to see a record number of tornados.

So far this year, there have been preliminary reports of 910 tornados across the United States.

In North Carolina, there have been preliminary reports of 27 so far. On average, we usually see about 19 for the entire year. South Carolina has already seen about 31 this year. Typically, there are usually 16 a year.

But Panovich says don't let the numbers fool you.

"There's not really more tornados. There's more tornados being reported because of population growth and with the advent of the cell phone camera, Internet technology, there's not many tornados that touch down that do not get documented, so more end up getting reported," said Panovich. "It's rare there's a tornado and nobody sees it."