Southern Discomfort

Image courtesy of NWS Birmingham

Over 300 fatalities, pummeled sections of real estate throughout more than a dozen states, and countless videos showing Mother Nature in a wrath-induced spat.   Last week's tornadic outbreak has been rightfully compared to the Super Outbreak of April 1974, not just in numbers of tornadoes but in terms of loss of life.  What makes this outbreak more amazing is that fatality trends have generally decreased over the last 30-40 years.    The current fatality tally of 348 in just four months this year is the most the US has seen in any one year since 1974 (366 died that year) and the second most since 1953 (519 that year).

Much talk has been given to the tornado that leveled Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Brian Yang at the National Center for Atmospheric Research captured the radar imagery of the supercell that developed and dropped the long track tornado that tracked through not only Tuscaloosa but almost made it all the way to Birmingham, about 60 miles to its northeast.   Even after the tornado lifted, damaging winds continued on the track through Northeast Alabama and into North Georgia, a total track of damage and destruction of over 400 miles by the time it was all done.

Tang has also posted a really incredible radar loop video on his Facebook page which shows the storms tracking through the South last Wednesday.

Capital Weather Gang discussed the outbreak yesterday with more in depth information -- but they also shared a satellite loop of last week's severe weather outbreak via video (see below) as administered by NOAA's Earth Observatory website.   The worst of the outbreak was on Wednesday and you can see how the interaction of a jet streak (watch the high clouds work east along the Gulf Coast at eight seconds into the loop) into the developing storm system during the early hours of Wednesday fueled the explosive development of thunderstorms along the cold front.




Our region also received some tornadic impacts from this storm system, with five tornadoes touching down in Central Pennsylvania and one weak tornado in Northeastern Pennsylvania on Thursday morning.