article_snippet: All that cold air and a stuck weather pattern are keeping tornadoes to historic lows so far this year.
article_snippet: March is typically a transitional month, where warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collides with cold Arctic air to produce severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
article_snippet: By this time in mid-March the Storm Prediction Center would have issued 52 tornado watches nationwide.
article_snippet: At a time where the tornado season usually ramps up considerably, there has not been a single report this month of a tornado.
article_snippet: In fact if We make it through the entire month of March without any tornado reports it would be a first, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
article_snippet: There have been around 20 tornadoes reported since January 1, well below the 10-year average of 130 for the period from the beginning of the year until mid-March.
article_snippet: this year comes on the heels of what was has been a welcome lull of tornadoes across the United States the past several years.  
article_snippet: Meteorologists don't fully understand why we have seen the recent drop in tornadoes, but one possible answer is the development of El Nino, a warming in the equatorial Pacific, which can influence weather patterns globally.
article_snippet: Recent studies point to lower tornado counts in the United States during these events.
article_snippet: In 1984, for instance, there was a very similar slow start through mid-March and the number of tornadoes ended up well above average by the end of June, according to data from the storm center.
article_snippet: It's also important to note that even in years where the tornado counts are low, you can still have very violent tornadoes -- 2013 being a perfect example.
article_snippet: The year ended being roughly 30% below normal for the number of tornadoes, yet included some of the strongest tornadoes on record.
article_snippet: The twisters in Moore and El Reno, Oklahoma, occurred in May of The year with devastating results.
article_snippet: Tornadoes Fast Facts .
highlights_snippet: There have been only four tornado watches in 2015 .
  
highlights_snippet: El Nino might be helping keep the numbers down .
  