When we left Florida last spring, we traveled north through Alabama up through the midwest to Indiana and Michigan. Since it was spring, we had a risk of storms coming through and in a couple places in Alabama, we had tornado watches. Luckily we never experienced a tornado warning or an actual tornado. It definitely seemed to us that taking a slightly western route first to head north has an increased risk of severe weather in the spring. So this year, we decided to take a more eastern route and head north up the east coast. That may not have been the best idea!