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Dear Mr. Lezak
This is a great way to communicate weather facts. Thanks for the information etc.

Do you anticipate a more wet or dry spring/summer?

also, what basically causes low and high air pressure.

Thanks
randy

Randy, I am anticipating some wet storm systems, then dry stretches. Next week it looks like we are heading into one of the wetter storm systems. More on this as we get closer.

As for high and low pressure.... the air's pressure is caused by the weight of the air pressing down on the Earth. Earth's gravity causes a downward force we call "weight."

The air's pressure is related to its density, and its density is related to the air's temperature.

The atmosphere is in constant motion, so the air's pressure changes with the weather. Air pressure, in fact, is one of the main factors that determines what kind of weather we will experience.

With high pressure, air is "HEAVY" and sinking... promoting calm weather conditions. With low pressure air is "LIGHT" and rising. It is important to remember that high and low pressure are relative to each other.

Thank you for the kind comments.

Gary & Jamie (a collaboration) :)

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Lets let you do some bragging.. if you you have the time can you enlighten all of us on what sorts of gizmos you use to track severe weather, and what makes them so cool?

I love your storm coverage, While Other stations in town tend to hype the smallest thunderstorms, you do a great job telling us what's going on, without going crazy on the air. And of course most importantly to me, other stations tend to ignore North-Central missouri, you and your staff pay attention to us here in the far northeastern sections of the KC DMA

Glen,

I will address your question tomorrow! Thank you for the compliments!

Gary

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Hey Gary,

Just wanted to let you know my wife and I think you're the best weather man we've ever watched. Do you think we are going to have much severe weather this year? My son is eight years old and fears we may have very severe weather this year. By the way, he also loves to watch you on TV.

Thanks for your time this is really neat.

Jason

Jason,

I am sure we will have some severe this year. Your son likely feels the way he does because the past two years have been quite scary. We only had about a 10 day stretch of really bad weather the past two May's, but there were tornadoes near by. We don't usually see this around Kansas City, so hopefully it will get back to normal this year. This would still mean a few days where there is a tornado threat, but perhaps only 4 or 5 of them instead of 10 like the past two years. Let's hope it is quieter, but it is too early to tell.

Gary

Hi, Jason!
I hope you don't mind me chiming in...
I know how your son feels... I was terrified of storms when I was little. That is actually what drove me to learn more about weather! It's almost like learning helped me become LESS afraid, if that makes any sense. It may give him peace of mind for you to go over your safety plan, so he knows what to do when severe weather strikes!
Thanks for writing!
Jamie