A Global Warming Spring: 412 TORNADOES (So Far)
Psalm 110
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/051503/opi_tornadoes.shtml
Tornadoes -- Unwanted record
By The Capital-Journal editorial board
Amazingly, Topekans watched storms swirl all around their city last
week, but the deadly tornadoes avoided the capital city. As one
citizen observed, it was as if Moses was here, parting the storms.
Almost 400 tornadoes were spotted across the country last week, a
record number in the United States during a single week, the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday.
Between May 4 and 10, the National Weather Service reported 384
tornadoes in 19 states. More than 40 deaths were blamed on the storms,
including seven in Kansas.
The number of tornadoes more than doubled the previous record of 171
for the week of May 12-18, 1995.
During the first 10 days of May, 412 tornadoes occurred, the most
since record keeping began in 1950, according to the agency. The
previous record for the first 10 days of May was 177 in 1999.
For further comparison, there was the Super Outbreak of April 3-4,
1974, when 147 tornadoes were reported in 13 states in just 16 hours,
leaving 307 people dead.
More recently, 130 tornadoes killed 48 people in Oklahoma and Kansas
on May 3-5, 1999.
It helped this year that the tornadoes occurred in the daylight hours,
when people were awake and more aware of the need to take shelter.
We just hope we don't set any more records this year. In fact, we hope
the one that was set will last a long, long time.