Monday, April 18, 2011

Recap of 3 Day Severe Weather & Tornado Outbreak

For the benefit of our readers that only visit on weekdays, I have reposted this recap of the severe weather and tornado outbreak that ended on Saturday.  Links to detailed, event-specific posts can be found at the bottom as well...

-----------Original Post on 4-17-11:

What a wild 3 days it has been!  Over the period Thursday through Saturday, there were 1,001 reports of severe weather across the Southern and Eastern portions of the United States:


Tornado Reports:  241
Wind Damage Reports:  406
Large Hail Reports:  354
Total Severe Reports:  1,001


Unfortunately, over 30 people have reportedly lost their lives as a result of the 3 day severe weather outbreak.  As tragic as that is, I can't help but believe that if it weren't for the advance forecast and warnings of the severe events, many more would have perished.  For example, on the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak in 1965, over 270 people were killed (and that was just a one day event).  We really have come a long way at providing advanced warning of severe weather, but there is obviously more work to be done in that area as well.


The following maps from the SPC give a large-scale overview as to how the severe weather reports broke down by day:





Below are regional maps by day, focusing on the regions with the most concentrated tornado reports (click to enlarge):

Thursday, 4-14-11:  Oklahoma

Friday, 4-15-11:  MS/AL

Saturday, 4-16-11:  Carolinas

Additional posts on specific tornado events can be found here:
Tushka, OK area tornado of 4-14-11
Jackson, MS area tornado of 4-15-11
Raleigh, NC area tornadoes of 4-16-11

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