[CarlinsDarlin]

I don't know whether it's a record, but I do know that in the first five months of the year we've already had double the number of tornadoes nationwide than we had in all of 2007.

Here in AR, we've had six major tornado outbreaks so far in 2008. More severe weather is forecast for this week as well. More than 20 people have died because of tornadoes so far. Lots of states have been affected, but Arkansas has been the worst hit state.

And on top of that, we've had record flooding and record snowfall. The jet stream is parked right on top of us, bringing in LaNina and all that moisture from the gulf. Boy will I be glad when summer gets here.
Kathy

[wxman]

Are there any specific reasons being given for this? Is this set for a record?

The increased observations of tornadoes by radar and storm chasers has so significantly altered the number of tornadoes being spotted that records are almost moot. That being said, this year is so far over the 10 year average that it is worth noting. La Nina periods (cooler equatorial Pacific waters) are generally noted to produce favorable patterns for tornadic systems. There is little known about the impact of climate change on the number of tornadoes, and it is unlikely to be a factor in this year's events.

[RedStateGreen]

Well, hopefully we'll get peak tornadoes soon ..

[dorlomin]

Are there any specific reasons being given for this? Is this set for a record?

The increased observations of tornadoes by radar and storm chasers has so significantly altered the number of tornadoes being spotted that records are almost moot. That being said, this year is so far over the 10 year average that it is worth noting. La Nina periods (cooler equatorial Pacific waters) are generally noted to produce favorable patterns for tornadic systems. There is little known about the impact of climate change on the number of tornadoes, and it is unlikely to be a factor in this year's events.

Has la Nina not officialy dissapeted?

[joeltrout]

I am glad I moved from to Los Angeles from Oklahoma.

All we have out here is earthquakes, nuclear targets, mass riots, gang violence, expensive real estate, high income tax, high property tax, smog, traffic congestion, huge state debt, etc...

Anybody want to trade places???

joeltrout

[Ludi]

All we have out here is earthquakes, nuclear targets, mass riots, gang violence, expensive real estate, high income tax, high property tax, smog, traffic congestion, huge state debt, etc...

Don't forget burning streets in the Miracle Mile district (tar seeps) and brushfires in the hills, mudslides....



Los Angeles is an almost surreal place to live. Sometimes I even miss it...

[jbrovont]

Ouch. I saw this on the news - still looking for info, but as I walked past the TV I thought I heard the reporter say that at one point the base of the funnel grew to 1km wide and growing. The largest figure I saw was 1.75 mi wide at the base:

Current.com
CNN.com

Examiner.com

[Tanada]

I know this sounds odd but my childhood home town was hit a couple weeks ago. Usually these storms hit places I never heard of before, but that is twice this year when it was someplace familiar to me.

[Sixstrings]

Historic Tornado Outbreak: 3 Days, 241 Tornadoes, 14 States



ASKEWVILLE, N.C. – A tornado-spewing storm system that killed at least 45 people across half the country unleashed its worst fury on North Carolina, where homes broke apart, trees snapped and livestock were swept into the air. Residents in the capital city and rural hamlets alike on Sunday mourned the dead, marveled at their own survival and began to clean up devastated neighborhoods.

(snip)

"It looked just like 'The Wizard of Oz,'" said his wife, Audrey.

The couple took shelter in the laundry room as the tornado snapped trees and carried off several homes in the neighborhood. When they stepped out, it took them a moment to figure out the twister had turned their own home around, leaving them in the backyard.

The violent weather began Thursday in Oklahoma, where two people died, before cutting across the Deep South on Friday and hitting North Carolina and Virginia on Saturday. Authorities said seven people died in Arkansas; seven in Alabama; seven in Virginia; and one in Mississippi.

(snip)

The conditions that allowed for the storm occur on the Great Plains maybe twice a year, but they almost never happen in North Carolina, according to Scott Sharp, a weather service meteorologist in Raleigh.

The atmosphere was unstable, which allows air to rise and fall quickly, creating winds of hurricane strength or greater. There was also plenty of moisture, which acts as fuel for the violent storms. Shear winds at different heights, moving in different directions, created the spin needed to create tornadoes, Sharp said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110417/ap_on_re_us/us_severe_weather

From watching the news, sounds like this rash or tornadoes is historic -- I think I heard on the news North Carolina got more tornadoes in a day than they usually get all year.

Just from life experience this is clearly unusual -- a massive line of tornadoes sweeping across the whole southeast. I remember a couple months ago in my part of Florida we had line of tornadoes sweep in from the gulf. That was unusual too.. local meteorologist said he'd never seen anything like it in 30 years. Some of the damage north of me made national news.

Luckily my county was spared, but the weather was wicked.. tornado warnings blaring on the TV. It wasn't any worse than a bad tropical storm, but when the TV shows circulation all over the map sweeping over you it's VERY nerve wracking. I can deal with the worst tropical storms and mild hurricanes, but I don't want to be in a tornado -- it's a crap shoot, if runs over you there's a good chance you're gonna die.

So what's going on here.. is this el nina or whatever? Is it climate change? Or just once in century anomalous weather?

[Fishman]

It was a storm band. We've had them in the past. "Almost" isn't never. We had a similar band back in the 80s. The tornados hit just north and south of my home. One of the spots in Snow Hill, NC was completely destroyed. I've eaten there and actually work nearby some of the time.

[mos6507]

So what's going on here.

Can't be climate change, because you're a denier. Must be Obama's fault, right? God is angry at talk about raising the debt ceiling.

[dohboi]

The good folks over at RealClimate point out that the weather effects that can most clearly be connected with CC/GW are extreme drought, extreme heat waves and extreme precipitation events.

And even there, one must look closely at the local history to determine how heavily GW may have loaded the dice to increase the chance of one particular extreme event happening in one place at one time.

The main thing to me is that we now cannot rule OUT a human role in any weather event. The tornado-CC change link seems to be particularly understudied.

http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/04/18/tornadoes-climate-change-and-the-disaster-gap/

Basically, we are running a huge realtime experiment with the climate and weather of the whole planet, but we haven't even mustered enough resources to figure out what lessons we can learn from it. We may never know if this event was made more likely by CC, but if we start having them every year or even every few years, it would seem to be a good guess.

And of course the repugs are in the process of gutting all funding for any study that has anything to do with CC, ensuring that we will all be driving completely blind into the coming sh!tstorm.

Glad to hear you made it through alright, 6S. We live in the northern stretch of tornado alley, and it still can be un-nerving to hear the sirens go off and not be sure where or when one of these killers may materialize out of the sky.

We had one last year go right through town into the downtown area, something that folkwisdom had held was not possible. Some people made much of the fact that it went right over the convention where the Lutherans were deciding to allow gays into the clergy--although interpretations of the what the whirlwind was trying to say about the proceedings predictably whirled in various directions.

[PrestonSturges]

Don't forget the Rick Santorum wanted to eliminate the National Weather Service.

[Sixstrings]

Now another Tornado.. St. Louis airport, massive damage, closed indefinitely:

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- An apparent tornado tore through a section of St. Louis' Lambert Field on Friday, lifting the roof off a concourse, injuring several people and forcing the airport's closure.

Planes were diverted to other locations as emergency crews probed the debris for more wounded. Mayor Francis Slay said Lambert would be shut down "indefinitely."

The storm lifted the roof off Concourse C and sent plate glass flying everywhere.

(snip)

"Glass was blowing everywhere. The ceiling was falling. The glass was hitting us in the face. Hail and rain were coming in. The wind was blowing debris all over the place," she said. "It was like being in a horror movie. Grown men were crying. It was horrible."


http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Storms-cause-damage-at-Lambert-Airport-minor-injuries-reported-120523519.html

Weird thing about this one is a HAARP conspiracy theorist appears to have predicted it in advance:

4/19/2011 - 'HAARP VLF RINGS' -- St. Louis --Tornadoes or Severe = DIRECT HIT within 24
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHLwDFHEJJ8&feature=channel_video_title

Note the date.. 4/19.. Tornados swept through 4/22..

[Sixstrings]

Now another tornado outbreak underway:

Large, Violent Tornadoes Touching Down in Ala., Miss., Tenn.

Another devastating, deadly tornado outbreak is under way across Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee with large, long-track tornadoes touching down.
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/48909/todays-tornado-onslaught-cente.asp

Mile-wide monster rips through Tuscaloosa, Birmingham...
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20110427/NEWS/110429732/1007?Title=Violent-tornado-hits-Tuscaloosa

94 twisters reported so far...
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/s ... -cente.asp

Spiked, Softball-Sized Hail...
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/04/26/more-tornadoes-blow-through-north-texas/

Also yesterday tornadoes whipped up the Texas wildfires, 3 oil refineries lost power.

So.. are these tornado outbreaks still normal? No climate change here?

[Livewire713]

My sister-in-laws house was destroyed in Eastern Tennesse last night by a tornado. The roof was ripped off and the house was moved five feet off the foundation. Everyone was inside hiding in a closet, thankfully no one was hurt including their two dogs.

[WildRose]

I've been watching the coverage of these tornadoes on CNN this morning - incredible devastation. The one that ripped right through Tuscaloosa reminded me of the tornado we had here in Edmonton in 1987. We don't have many twisters here, but the one in '87 showed us that not only trailer parks are at risk, though certainly most of the people who died here were in a trailer park on the edge of the city. We had damage to lots of homes and businesses and hundreds of injuries. My condolences to all those affected by loss of life. Livewire, I'm glad your sister-in-law's family escaped injury, but my heart goes out to them for their loss of property and to all of those who have to start over.

[mos6507]

Weird thing about this one is a HAARP conspiracy theorist appears to have predicted it in advance

Thank for being up on the expert scientific analysis

What's the position of Niburu, btw? Did that have anything to do with it?