Warm spring, more tornadoes? Meteorologists raise red flags.

As the residents of such tornado-stricken states as Indiana, Alabama, and Kentucky continue to clean-up from last week’s twisters, weather forecasters are warning that this spring could continue to see active weather systems with yet more severe weather. The main driver: a warmer than normal spring, à la 70 degrees in New York City on Monday and 70 degrees in Chicago by Wednesday. By Friday, it is expected to be in the 70s in Sioux Falls, S.D., about 30 degrees above normal.

As warm weather collides with cold fronts, the sharp temperature differential creates unstable weather conditions. At the same time, meteorologists say the Gulf of Mexico is slightly warmer than normal, providing the kind of moisture that can result in dangerous thunderstorms.

“This year conditions are more conducive than normal for extreme weather,” says Joe Lundberg, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.com in State College, Pa. “We are getting off to an early and nasty start.”

He would get no argument from the residents of the central and southeast US where many extreme weather events take place. In February, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 57 tornadoes were reported, nearly twice the 1991-2010 average of 29. The extreme weather has continued into March. For example, last week in southern Indiana, 13 people died after an F4 tornado – one of the largest – caused massive destruction.

Last year was a bad season for tornadoes as well with nearly 1,700 of the storms. In a more normal year there are 1,300 tornadoes.

The extreme weather is expected to continue possibly as early as late this coming weekend or early next week, says Mr. Lundberg. “From the Rockies through to the Plains, there could be another system with a lot of severe weather,” says the meteorologist. “The window we are looking at is Sunday through Tuesday.”

Nor is that likely to be end of the extreme weather, Lundberg says. He expects the abnormally warm weather to persist through March and possibly into the beginning of April before the temperatures start to get closer to normal. “What we think will eventually happen is the weather will shift towards a drier pattern, especially farther west,” he says. “We are not sure when that will happen, but it should start to stabilize the weather patterns.”

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