March 18, 2020

Earlier this month, on the night of March 2-3, massive thunderstorms spawned a cluster of tornadoes in Tennessee, killing 25 people and causing widespread destruction. The two most powerful tornadoes struck Nashville, the state capital, and nearby Putnam and Wilson counties. Tornadoes from the same storm system also touched the neighboring states of Alabama, Kentucky, and Missouri. Tennessee’s tornado outbreak was the worst since a group of more than 50 tornadoes killed 35 people in the state in April 2011.

Storm debris litters Putnam County, Tennessee, on March 4, 2020, a day after a tornado ravaged the area. credit: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

Thunderstorms grew in size and intensity over Tennessee on March 2, and tornadoes were reported in eastern and northern parts of the state. Just after midnight, an EF3 strength twister hit downtown Nashville (in Davidson County) and quickly tracked eastward more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) into Wilson County. EF stands for the Enhanced Fujita scale, used to rate the strength of tornadoes. The scale rates tornadoes from 0, the weakest, to 5, the strongest. EF3 tornadoes have winds between 136 and 165 miles per hour (218 and 266 kilometers per hour) and can tear away roofs and walls from houses and overturn cars. An even stronger EF4 tornado—with winds up to 200 miles per hour (322 kilometers per hour)—then hit nearby Putnam County, but spared most of Cookeville, the county’s largest town. Of the 25 deaths from the Tennessee tornadoes, 18 of them occurred in Putnam County. Hundreds of people were injured in the storms, and numerous buildings were destroyed.

Tornadoes struck Nashville and nearby ares of central Tennessee on the night of March 2-3, 2020. credit: World Book map

In the days after the storms, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee declared a state of emergency, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided millions of dollars in assistance to the hardest-hit areas. Schools, public offices, and interstate highways were closed for days in the region, and tens of thousands of people were without electric power.

January 23, 2017

Tornadoes swept through parts of the southeastern United States over the weekend, killing 20 people and injuring and displacing many others. Most of the deaths—15 of them—occurred in the state of Georgia. Four others were killed in Mississippi and one person died in northern Florida. The tornadoes erupted from a violent storm front that also hit the states of Louisiana, Alabama, and South Carolina.

This satellite image shows the strong storm front over the southeastern United States on Jan. 22, 2017. The storm killed 20 people in 3 different states. Credit: NASA/NOAA/GOES

The storm hit first in Louisiana early on Saturday, January 21, as severe weather damaged homes and caused injuries around the north-central city of Natchitoches. The storm then roared into southern Mississippi, where predawn tornadoes killed four people in the city of Hattiesburg.

Tornadoes touched down as the storm passed through Alabama, but the full wrath of the storm hit southern Georgia on Sunday, January 22. Tornadoes ripped in a northeasterly direction through southern Brooks, Cook, and Berrien counties, killing 11 people and devastating parts of several communities. Four other people died in tornadoes near the city of Albany in southwestern Dougherty County, and one person was killed in northern Florida’s Columbia County. Tornadoes also touched down as the storm front crossed South Carolina.

The powerful southern storm prompted the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Storm Prediction Center to issue a rare “high risk” severe weather outlook early Sunday—the first such “high risk” day since June 2014 when storms raked through Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri.

February 24, 2016

c ShutterStock

Severe storms and tornadoes hit areas of the Southern States yesterday, killing three people and injuring many others. The governors of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi all declared state emergencies. In addition to high winds, at least seven tornadoes struck Louisiana and Mississippi yesterday. Two of the three deaths were at a recreational-vehicle (RV) park in Louisiana. The third death was in a mobile-home park in Mississippi. A total of 18 tornadoes were reported across the South on February 23.

This weather system began as a line of thunderstorms that moved across Texas on Monday evening, February 22, bringing hail and high winds. Thousands in Texas were left without electric power as winds knocked down power lines. Heavy rains caused flooding in Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia.

By Wednesday, February 24, the low pressure system that created these storms had shifted north, bringing heavy snows in parts of the Midwest. In the Great Lakes region, residents prepared for potential blizzard conditions. Heavy rains occurred in the northeastern United States, where it was too warm for snow.

December 28, 2015

During the Christmas weekend, weather patterns around the world produced a variety of extremes, from torrential rains and flooding in North America, South America, Europe, and Australia to fierce snowstorms in North America and raging wildfires in Australia.

Fire-damaged buildings are seen alongside a house that survived the Christmas Day bushfires at Separation Creek in the Otway Ranges south of Melbourne, Australia, on Dec. 27, 2015. Credit: © Julian Smith, EPA/Landov

Heavy storms pounded the Midwestern and Southern United States with rain and snow. Tornadoes with winds of up to 200 miles (320 kilometers) per hour tore through Texas, killing at least 11 people. Meanwhile, some areas of New Mexico received more than 1 foot (0.3 meter) of snow. At least 43 people died throughout the United States as a result of these storms and the flooding that followed. Meteorologists noted that higher-than-average temperatures contributed to the severity of the storms.

In Australia, a lightning strike in the southeastern state of Victoria on December 19 caused a series of wildfires known as bushfires. The fires grew in size and intensity and destroyed more than 100 homes on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, monsoon rains caused major flooding in the Northern Territory, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate their homes. At the same time, in South America, more than 100,000 people fled their homes in areas of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay to escape flooding caused by heavy rainfall. In northern England in the United Kingdom, downpours led to extensive flooding as dozens of rivers overflowed.

Authorities noted that El Niño conditions were to blame for much of the extreme weather. An El Niño is a part of the interaction between Earth’s atmosphere and the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean. El Niños occur about every two to seven years, and can affect climate throughout the world. The term El Niño originally referred to a current of warm water that flows southward along the coast of Ecuador and Peru, in western South America, every winter. About every two to seven years, the warm current is abnormally strong, lasts for an unusually long time, and is accompanied by changes in the winds and precipitation across the entire tropical Pacific region. For this reason, El Niño came to refer to the entire interaction of the ocean and atmosphere during the period of the stronger-than-normal current. According to the World Meteorological Organization, a United Nations affiliate, this year’s El Niño is the strongest in more than 15 years.

Other World Book articles: 

• Christmas Eve Storms Hit United States (Dec. 25, 2015) – A Behind the Headlines article
• Meteorology
• Weather

December 25, 2015

A tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air that can develop under a large, anvil-shaped thundercloud. First, a dark wall cloud forms underneath the thundercloud. In most cases, a twisting, funnel-shaped cloud then descends from the wall cloud and touches the ground. Almost all tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere rotate as shown in the diagram—counterclockwise when viewed from above. World Book illustration by Bruce Kerr

Heavy storms hit the Midwest and South on December 24, killing at least 14 people. On Christmas Eve, more than 20 tornadoes touched down in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Worst hit was the Southern State of Mississippi, which was struck with 14 tornadoes. Seven of the fourteen people killed were in Mississippi, and the state saw at least 40 people injured in the storms. Violent storms also struck the Southern States of Tennessee and Arkansas; six were killed in Tennessee and 1 in Arkansas. In Georgia, another Southern State, heavy rains led to widespread flooding and mudslides.

Tornadoes and thunderstorms are not unheard of in the United States in December, especially in the warmer southern region. Meteorologists, however, attributed the ferocity of the December 24 storms to unseasonably warm weather across much of the northeastern United States, caused by the El Niño. An El Niño is a part of the interaction between Earth’s atmosphere and the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean. It occurs about every two to seven years, and it can affect the climate throughout the world. On December 24 in New York City, the high temperature was 72 °F (22 °C), the warmest Christmas Eve ever seen in the Big Apple and about 30 degrees warmer than the average temperature. Similar temperatures made much of the northeastern United States warmer than states in the West, such as California and Arizona, the usual places for a green Christmas.

Other World Book articles: 

• Meteorology
• Weather

May 27, 2015

Heavy rains and flooding over the last four days have killed 18 people in the southern U.S. states of Texas and Oklahoma. In Texas, the death toll stands at 17 people with an additional 11 people still missing. Two days ago, on May 25, a tornado struck Ciudad Acuna in Mexico, killing at least 13 people.

The city of Houston was hard hit by flash floods on Monday, May 25. Roads in the central  area of the city were impassable for much of Tuesday. I-45 near downtown Houston had flood waters at least 14-feet (4.2-meters) deep in some areas. Motors abandoned their cars along the road and left with rescuers. Flood waters filled the first-floor parking garage of a major shopping mall, the Galleria, trapping some workers in the mall over night. Many people in Houston had to climb onto the roof of their home and wait for rescue by boat. Most of those who died were caught in and swept away by rapid, swirling waters.

People kayak down a flooded street in Houston, Texas, on May 26, 2015. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

In the tornado that hit the border town of Ciudad Acuna, hundreds of homes were damaged and at least 13 people were killed when the storm, with wind speeds of 168-186 miles (270-300 kilometers) per hour, struck. Most of those killed were walking outside at the time.

This weather system is still expected to bring rain over the South, with more extreme weather predicted for tonight. It is also expected to move into Louisiana tomorrow, and perhaps cause flooding for that city.

June 17, 2014

A deadly double tornado struck Nebraska yesterday, causing 2 deaths and leaving at least 16 people injured. The two tornadoes touched down at the same time and traveled with about a mile (1.6 kilometers) between them. The small farming community of Pilger, Nebraska, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Sioux City, Iowa, sustained heavy damage from the twisters. Monday’s storm system also brought damaging winds and rains to other Midwestern States, including Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. One area of South Dakota received more than a half-inch (1.27 centimeters) of rain in fewer than 3 minutes, flooding roads and interstates.

In addition to bringing high winds and rains, large, powerful thunderstorms can form deadly tornadoes. Such storms are called supercells. A supercell contains a rapidly rotating column of air called a mesocyclone. A smaller, swiftly rotating column of air called a funnel cloud can develop within the mesocyclone. If the funnel cloud reaches the ground, it becomes a tornado.

A tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air that can develop under a large, anvil-shaped thundercloud. Almost all tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere rotate as shown in the diagram—counterclockwise when viewed from above (World Book illustration by Bruce Kerr).

Weather experts state that it is not uncommon for more than one tornado to form from a supercell. Usually, however, the first tornado shrinks and disappears as the second forms. Or, when two twisters form and both remain, there is usually one large, strong tornado and one smaller tornado. It is less common for the primary twister to keep going strong when a new twister forms, producing two tornadoes of the same strength at the same time. Nevertheless, that is what hit Nebraska Monday evening.

Additional World Book articles:

• Tornado Alley
• Twisted: More Terrible Tornadoes (a Special Report)

April 29, 2014

An outbreak of severe weather spawned multiple tornadoes over the last two days that left at least 30 people dead in the South and Midwest United States. Slowly moving west to east, the massive storm system cut a swath of destruction from Oklahoma to Alabama. At least 13 tornado-related deaths were reported yesterday in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. The greatest damage yesterday was in Louisville, Mississippi, where a twister flattened a mobile home park, leveled substantial brick structures, and took the roof off a medical center. Six people were killed in Louisville and surrounding Winston County. In Tupelo, in northeastern Mississippi, another tornado severely damaged every building in a two-block area.

On Sunday, April 27, the same storm system generated tornadoes that left 17 people dead in Arkansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. At least 15 people were killed when a single half-mile-wide funnel left an 80-mile- (130-kilometer-) long trail of destruction through the suburbs of Little Rock, Arkansas.

A tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air that can develop under a large, anvil-shaped thundercloud. First, a dark wall cloud forms underneath the thundercloud. In most cases, a twisting, funnel-shaped cloud then descends from the wall cloud and touches the ground. Almost all tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere rotate as shown in the diagram—counterclockwise when viewed from above.  (World Book illustration by Bruce Kerr)

Meteorologists predicted today that the storm system could bring more violent weather to the South. National Weather Service forecasters are warning residents of northern and central Georgia of a threat of tornadoes.

Additional World Book articles:

• Tornado Alley
• Twisted: More Terrible Tornadoes (a special report)
• Weather 1925 (a Back in Time article)
• Weather 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Weather 2013 (a Back in Time article)

November 18, 2013

Yesterday, a powerful storm over the U.S. Midwest produced damaging winds, large hail, and at least 77 tornadoes. In Illinois, the state hardest hit by the storm, tornadoes were sighted in a 370-mile (595-kilometer) swath from the southern tip of the state to near Joliet, outside Chicago, at the state’s northern end. Six people were killed, and nearly 80 others were injured in Illinois. In Chicago, the storm forced thousands of Bears football fans to evacuate the lakefront stadium, Soldier Field. The Chicago Weather Center reported that 101 tornado warnings were issued across the state.

More than 100 tornado warnings were issued in Illinois on November 17. (World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

In central Illinois, the town of Washington, east of Peoria, was hit by an EF-4 tornado with winds of 170 to 190 miles (274 to 306 kilometers) per hour. The twister flattened whole blocks of the town, shattering trees and leveling hundreds of homes. Hundreds more were destroyed or severely damaged in nearby Roanoke, East Peoria, and Pekin. Falling trees pulled down power lines over a wide area, leaving thousands of households without electric power.

”Storm chasers” try to get close to tornadoes to study them with special equipment. (© Byron Turk, Center for Severe Weather Research)

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has declared 7 counties disaster areas. In Indiana, tornadoes and storm damage were reported in 12 counties.

Additional World Book articles:

• The Forecast: Better Weather Prediction Ahead (a special report)
• Twisted: More Terrible Tornadoes (a special report)
• Weather 1925 (a Back in Time article)

June 3, 2013

Powerful tornadoes killed 18 people in and around Oklahoma City last Friday, including 3 veteran storm chasers. The lead scientist killed was  meteorologist Tim Samaras, the founder of  TWISTEX (Tactical Weather Instrumented Sampling in Tornadoes Experiment), a project aimed at increasing lead times for tornado warnings. Two other chasers with Samaras also died—his son Pete Samaras and colleague Carl Young. Tim Samaras had been featured for five seasons on the Discovery Channel’s “Storm Chaser’s” program.

Storm chasers travel in vehicles with such special weather equipment as mobile Doppler radar to gather storm data. (© Byron Turk, Center for Severe Weather Research)

Storm chasers travel in specially equipped vehicles and try to get close to a tornado to study it. The men were following an EF3 tornado near El Reno, Oklahoma. (The EF stands for Enhanced Fujita Scale, named by meteorologist and storm researcher Tetsuya Theodore Fujita.) An EF3 tornado has wind speeds up to 165 miles (266 kilometers) per hour. Friday’s powerful storm suddenly turned course, and the TWISTEX team was caught in their truck, a very dangerous place to be in a tornado. High winds that night also swept along a Weather Channel vehicle for some 600 feet (180 meters), but those passengers survived.

Friday’s tornado comes less than two weeks after another huge tornado hit Oklahoma. The May 20 tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, left 24 people dead. One of the tornadoes formed on May 31 followed in the path of the twister that devastated Moore on the 20th.

Additional World Book articles:

• Tornado (Studying tornados)

• Twisted—More Terrible Tornados (a Special Report)