The first week of March is designated as Severe Weather Awareness week in Kansas and the National Weather Service has scheduled a statewide tornado drill scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

Last year there were just 40 tornadoes reported in Kansas.

Weather officials say Kansas has averaged 100 tornadoes per year over the past decade.

The National Weather Service provides storm identification/spotter training sessions each spring. These sessions are done in cooperation with county Emergency Management agencies. All training is free, open for anyone to attend and not designed for just storm spotters. Anyone with a desire to learn how to identify severe weather and to learn about the dangers from these storms is encouraged to attend. The programs last about 1 1/2 hours.

Below is a list of area meetings:

Barton County: March 3, Great Bend, 3 pm and 6:30 pm, Crest Theater.

Graham County: March 3, Hill City, 6:30 pm, Frontier Stage – 321 E. Main Street.

Rooks County: March 3, Stockton, 6:30 pm, City Hall.

Phillips County: March 4, Phillipsburg, 6:30 pm, Fire Station/EMS Building.

Trego County: March 5, WaKeeney, 7 pm, 4-H building at the Trego County Fairgrounds.

Sheridan County: March 17, Hoxie, 6:30 pm, Bowen Scout House.

Ellis County: March 18, Hays, 7 pm, Sternberg Museum of Natural History.

Gove County: March 19, Grainfield, 6:30 pm, 4-H Building.

Ness County: March 23, Ness City, 7 pm, Ness County Courthouse.

Russell County: March 24, Russell, 6:30 pm, Dream Theater.

Rush County: March 30, La Crosse, 7 pm, Fire station on Main street.