It is far too early in the season to start adding up the numbers, but after this weekend the feeling is that it’s going to be a stormy spring and summer, one when Minnesotans should be prepared to use their heads in the face of rough weather.

An estimated 10,000 North Minneapolis homes were without power Monday, one person was dead and two more were in critical condition after a trio of tornadoes swept through the metro area on Sunday. In Joplin, Mo., counts were that 116 had died in a massive tornado. And that follows on the devastating storms that hammered the Midwest and Southeast last month.

Our communities, like most in Minnesota, have well-designed warning systems in place – from news websites to radio and television to sirens – to keep people informed when dangerous weather is at hand. All of those, of course, are just supplements to individuals’ good sense – which means having a sense of when weather may turn dangerous and knowing what to do when it does.

Doing the right things is no guarantee of safety in a storm, but being alert and having a plan go a long way toward minimizing the danger from tornadoes, high winds and lightning. Stay alert this summer.