Summary of Severe Weather From The Weather Channel

This summary courtesy of www.weather.com
Thunderstorms producing tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds, and flooding
rains
worked overtime during the first five months of 2008. The central and
southeastern
United States has borne the brunt of the storms' wrath, where at least 11
states
have already reached or exceeded their annual average number of tornadoes
(VA, NC,
SC, GA, AL, MS, LA, AR, TN, KY, MO). MO, KY, and TN have already had more
than 150%
of the average number of tornadoes for a year.
"Tornado alley" states from TX to NE, IA, SD, and CO began to pick up their
tornado
pace in late May, and may have also pushed KS and IA above their annual
average,
though most of these preliminary tornado reports were not confirmed as of
this writing.
Record tornado pace
Tornadoes caused 111 deaths through the end of May, the second highest death
toll
for any year in the Doppler radar era, eclipsed only by the 130 deaths for
the year
in 1998 (120 of them by May 31).
While tornado counts are still preliminary, it seems almost certain that the
number
of tornadoes has set a new five-month record, possibly 900 or more, while
the previous
record for the period was 778 in 1999.
Unusually deadly
The death toll is no doubt high, in part, because of the number of strong
and violent,
wide and long-track tornadoes. These pack the combination of destructive
winds that
demolish mobile homes and frame homes alike and a massive area placed at
risk by
virtue of their size and longevity.
Numerous tornadoes have been rated EF3 or stronger and have had paths
exceeding 30
miles. 51% of the deaths have been in mobile homes, 43% in other "permanent"
buildings,
14% in vehicles, and 2% outdoors. 96% of the tornado deaths were from
tornadoes rated
EF2 or stronger; 38 of the deaths from EF4 or EF5 tornadoes.
Early, unusual start
The second-largest tornado outbreak on record for January hit the central US
on the
January 7 and 8. EF3 tornadoes hit Poplar Grove in northern IL and
Wheatland, WI,
places where tornadoes are nearly unprecedented in January. There had
previously
been only one other January tornado in WI and one in northern IL since 1950.
Other EF3 tornadoes hit MO, including a killer near Marshfield. Tornadoes on
January
10 hit MS and AL hard, including a school at Caledonia, MS. An EF1 tornado
near Vancouver
was the first in January on record in Clark County, Washington. I think I
would have
been taking shelter inside that concrete-walled room in the large building
destroyed
below in Wheatland, WI.
Building destroyed at Wheatland, WI, 7 January 2008. This and all damage
photographs
in this blog are courtesy of the National Weather Service, unless otherwise
noted.
Not-so-super Tuesday
The "Super Tuesday" primary election day was far from super in the lives of
thousand
of citizens of the Mid-South impacted by the largest February tornado
outbreak on
record, on February 5-6. At least 79 tornadoes hit 10 states, causing 58
fatalities,
in the deadliest tornado outbreak in the United States for any month since
May 31,
1985.
Five tornadoes were rated EF4, including one that tracked 123 miles across
northern
Arkansas that demolished homes and tossed vehicles like toys. It destroyed a
boat
factory in the photo below. In Tennessee, 517 homes and 61 mobile homes were
destroyed
and about 300 were destroyed in Arkansas. Union University in Jackson, TN,
was hit
by one of the EF4 tornadoes, damaging every building. This outbreak helped
propel
February to a new tornado record for the month, preliminarily, 138.
Boat factory destroyed at Clinton, AR, Feb. 5, 2008.
Southeast pounded
It wasn't just the central U.S. The Southeast was repeatedly hammered,
including
the greater Atlanta, GA, metro area. An EF3 tornado struck near Carrollton,
GA, on
February 26, west of Atlanta, while severe thunderstorm winds pummeled other
parts
of the metro area.
An EF3 tornado hit northwest of Atlanta near Cartersville on March 15, and a
tornado
outbreak pounded South Carolina. Virginia and North Carolina had tornadoes
on several
occasions. An EF3 tornado carved a 10-mile, quarter-mile-wide path through
Suffolk,
VA, on April 28, leaving 150 homes uninhabitable and 1,200 damaged. A killer
EF2
tornado cut a path through western Greensboro, NC, on May 9.
Destroyed home in Suffolk, VA, from April 28, 2008, tornado. (AP Photo/Steve
Earley)
Direct strike on downtown atlanta
The costliest of the tornadoes to hit the Southeast was the only one of the
day.
The loner formed just northwest of downtown Atlanta on the evening of March
14 and
made a direct hit on the Georgia World Congress Center. An NCAA basketball
tournament
and an NBA game were being held in adjacent buildings also were impacted --
the Georgia
Dome and Phillips Arena.
The tornado put 500 rooms out of service at the Westin Hotel, then headed
southeast
into a residential area known as Cabbagetown. Total damage was estimated at
$150-$200
million.
See damage in downtown Atlanta
It once again shows that no place, including the downtown of a city, is
immune to
tornado wrath. The aerial photograph below, shows roof and wall damage and
windows
blown out of one side of the Cotton Mill Lofts building.
Map of the Atlanta, GA, tornado's path of March 14, 2005. (Dourtesy NWS
Atlanta)
Roof, wall, and window damage at the Cotton Mill Lofts, Atlanta, March 14,
2008.
(Courtesy Atlanta-Fulton County EMA)
Glancing blows to Little Rock and Jackson
While downtown Little Rock, AR, was spared, a family of 10 tornadoes was
spawned
by a supercell thunderstorm that rolled northeast from south of the city to
North
Little Rock to Cabot on April 3. Their tracks are shown on the map below.
Four were
rated EF2, and the one at North Little Rock hit the airport, damaging at
least 35
of the 145 aircraft there and sending staff at the National Weather Service
to shelter.
The Weather Channel had meteorologist Jeff Morrow covering these storms in
the field,
and he had to take shelter at his hotel near Cabot when a late-night tornado
in the
family threatened the area. An EF2 tornado hit the north side of Jackson,
Mississippi
on April 4.
A family of 10 tornadoes spawned from the same thunderstorm passed through
the Little
Rock area on April 3, 2008. (Courtesy of NWS Little Rock)
May frenzy
May is the month in which the United States averages the most tornadoes (287
is the
average over the past 10 years), but it can be erratic. 2007, 2006, and 2005
were
"good Mays," all below average, whereas 2004 (509) and 2003 (543) were "bad
Mays,"
the two most tornado-active months on record. 2008 wound up being a "bad
May," well
above average in preliminary tornado count, although the exact number of
tornadoes
is not yet known (approximately 497).
Watch Dr. Forbes describe May's severe weather
Early May outbreak
A significant outbreak of about 52 tornadoes struck on May 2-3. One EF3
carved a
45-mile path across central AR, an EF2 carved a 40-mile path, and an EF3
damaged
or destroyed 350 homes in Earle, AR.
Watch a tornado on the ground in AR
Pre-dawn also tornadoes hit the Kansas City metro area.
Debris from this demolished home near Damascus, AR, debarked trees, a common
sight
in strong and violent tornadoes.
Mother's Day weekend
About 85 tornadoes hit the central U.S. and Southeast in a Mother's Day
weekend outbreak.
Watch a tornado toss cars in AL
The worst was an EF4 tornado that cut a 75-mile path in northeast OK,
including Picher
(where 20 blocks were demolished), and into southwest MO, killing 21 people
on May
10.
Watch the EF4 tornado that destroyed Picher
Even the bathtub was not a safe place to be in this demolished home at
Picher, OK,
in the photo below.
Demolished home at Picher, OK, on May 10, 2008.
An EF3 blasted Stuttgart, AR, where 200 homes and 50 businesses had
significant damage.
The photo below shows heavy damage to a school gym there.
An EF3 tornado blasted this school gym at Stuttgart, AR, on May 10.
On May 11, Mother's Day, destructive and killer tornadoes hit farther south
and east,
including AL, GA, and SC, some pre-dawn. Included was an EF4 that hit
Darien, GA.
A photo of a demolished building there is shown below.
Building demolished by the EF4 tornado at Darien, GA, on Mother's Day May
11, 2008.
May 22-25 extended outbreak
Pieces of a near-stagnant upper trough over the West repeatedly moved
eastward, spawning
numerous tornadoes in the central U.S. starting May 22, before finally
moving east
with severe weather on the last days of the month. As these upper
disturbances interacted
with Gulf of Mexico moisture over states in "tornado alley," about one per
day, they
spawned an extended outbreak of tornadoes from May 22-25.
On May 22, a killer EF3 tornado struck near Windsor, northeast of Denver,
CO.
See some of the CO tornado damage
A tornado outbreak hit western KS on May 23, including an EF4 near Quinter,
KS. A
supercell thunderstorm packing tornadoes and 100 mph rotation weakened
briefly as
it passed directly over Greensburg, KS, which had been hit by an EF5 tornado
from
a similar supercell, also on a Friday evening, back on May 4, 2007.
On May 24, a long-lived, slow-moving supercell spawned highly-photographed
tornadoes
in north-central OK. Then May 25 became the most active day of the year, in
terms
of having a preliminary total of at least 560 severe weather reports.
Topping that
list was an EF5 tornado that carved a 43-mile path up to 1.2 miles wide
through Parkersburg
and New Hartford, IA, killing 7 people. Piles of rubble beside slabs swept
clean
were a common sight in Parkersburg, as shown below from ground level and the
air.
See the Parkersburg tornado and damage
Nothing but piles of rubble left by the EF5 tornado that hit Parkersburg,
IA, on
May 25, 2008.
Widespread destruction at Parkersburg, IA, May 25, 2008. (AP Photo/Kevin
Sanders)
Under water
If it wasn't tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, it was floods, and
sometimes in
the same areas. On March 18-19, Cape Girardeau, MO, had 13.05 inches of
rain, with
9 inches or more reported in southern MO, northern AR, southern IL and
southern IN.
Over 250 communities in 12 states experienced flood conditions.
Major river flooding continued for at least a week and in some places two
weeks.
Flooding rains hit some of the same areas on March 31. More rain and runoff
brought
major flooding to the Mississippi River from April 20 through the end of the
month,
with the river in Mississippi reaching its highest levels since 1973.
The Black River overflowed its banks and inundated farmland near Newport, AR
(March
27).
If storm summaries like this interest you, there are many more with tons of
details
in past blog entries written by Stu Ostro, myself, and others. To keep this
blog
entry relatively short, many significant tornado and flood events didn't get
a mention.
You can find information on some of them
on our blog. To find their blog, just go to www.weather.com