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March 2008                                                                                              Volume 14 - Number 2

    

 

Disaster Update...

     

 

Tornadoes (Dec.07-Present)

By Tomas Bracero

 

Over the past few months, winter weather has been very unusual in the U.S. On Monday, December 17, 2007 the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, FL issued a warning as two tornadoes confirmed touching down in the southwest and south-central Georgia area. Those two twisters destroyed mobile homes and properties throughout several counties in Georgia, killing a driver of a tractor-trailer truck.

 

The rare winter tornadoes in January and February of this year have had deleterious effects on the Mid-Western states. The tornado outbreak that hit the Ozarks on January 7th and 8th were unprecedented in the Ozarks. Since 1950, only four January tornadoes occurred. On Tuesday January 8th, 2008, a tornado was reported in eastern Arkansas and one person was reported killed. The 29th of January bought an EF-2 tornado that destroyed mobile homes in Arkansas.  

 

The tornado outbreak on February 6th, 2008 was one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in the United States in over 20 years. As many as 50 tornadoes struck on this day causing and estimated millions of dollars of damage.[1] 17 buildings were destroyed on the campus of Union University.[2] The death toll from severe weather and tornadoes kills close to 100 people across Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Alabama. This massive outbreak of severe weather has earned the nickname “Super Tuesday” Tornado Outbreak. The damage was extensive enough to prompted President Bush to make a public announcement on the tragedy and offer the affected states help from FEMA.

 

This outbreak of tornadoes is attributed to a weather pattern reversal in the jet stream. Falling pressure east of the Rocky’s and the massive arctic high retreating to the east brought a strong southern wind bringing temperatures into the lowers 70s, breaking temperature records which stood more the 100 years. The moisture in the atmosphere became 250 percent above normal. As atmospheric turbulence increased, storm cells began to form and thus causing one of the most devastating tornado outbreaks in the US in over 50 years. [3] 


[1] http://www.tnema.org/PDF%20Files/febtornadositrep16.pdf

[2] http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/alltorns.htm

[3] http://www.ky3.com/news/local/13562137.html