US Tornado Brief
Posted by feww on June 9, 2008
A Shrinking World Series
Updates:
- First lock on Mississippi River closes amid flood June 12, 2008
- Tornado kills four and injures up to 40 at Iowa boy scout camp June 12, 2008
- Midwest hit with floods June 11, 2008
- Midwest floods drowning crops; corn prices soar 11 Jun 2008
- Tornado kills four at Iowa boy scout camp 11 Jun 2008
- Midwest battles flood waters 11 Jun 2008
- Flooded Midwest braces for more rain 10 Jun 2008
- Video: Severe weather pounds U.S.
- Video:Holding a river at bay
What Tornado Headlines Say:
Copyright Editors or the News Agencies [Some editing by FEWW]
At least five people were reported killed as heavy rains continued to pound the American Midwest on Sunday, flooding towns from Iowa to Michigan and threatening levees as lakes and rivers swelled.
Early Death Toll:
- Two delivery workers for The Grand Rapids Press in Michigan were killed Sunday when their car fell into a deep ravine created when a rain-swollen creek washed out a road.
- A woman died in Lansing Michigan, when a small trailer blew over on top of her.
- At least one person died as the result of rising waters, police spokesman in Columbus, Indiana said.
Meanwhile, storms in Nebraska spun out an early-morning Omaha tornado about a quarter-mile wide that moved northeast. As much as 11 inches of rain flooded central Indiana over the weekend.
Most towns south of Indianapolis and further west in Terre Haute received 6-10 inches of rainfall, said a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. He said some affected areas hadn’t seen a such flooding for 100 years.
Flood waters continued to rise throughout Iowa on Sunday, with the northern part of the state receiving up to 5 inches of rain from a single afternoon storm.
Two delivery workers in Michigan were killed when their car fell into a ravine. (Photo: AP/ The Grand Rapids Press) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!
Tornadoes maul homes, flip vehicles
A series of tornadoes destroyed homes, toppled power lines and flipped vehicles Saturday as a small but powerful storm system moved through the region, cutting just south of Chicago before weakening and moving over Lake Michigan.
Some of the damage in Monee. (Photo: Scott Stewart/Sun-Times) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!
“It was kind of like a train coming through the living room,” An eye witness said. “The building was shaking. There was a lot of commotion.” He said his neighborhood looked like a war zone, with siding, branches and debris strewn everywhere.
Lightning strikes pavilion as storms blow through Connecticut state park; 1 killed, 4 hurt
Lightning struck a pavilion at a Connecticut state park killing one person and injuring four others. Strong thunderstorms moved through the state Sunday leaving thousands of homes without power.
Powerful storms swamp U.S. Midwest, spawn tornadoes
Heavy rains caused flooding that forced hundreds of evacuations in Indiana, and a tornado raked Chicago’s suburbs on Saturday as violent thunderstorms pummeled the already soggy U.S. heartland, authorities said.
The U.S. Coast Guard was called out to help rescue stranded homeowners and motorists, and near-record flooding was forecast for rivers and creeks in western and central Indiana where Gov. Mitch Daniels declared an emergency in 10 more counties, added to the 41 counties declared earlier. At least one person was injured and some 29,000 households were without power.
“We’ve had some reports of houses destroyed,” said Andrew Krein of the National Weather Service.
Tornadoes also struck in Iowa and Wisconsin, capping a season that has seen a parade of storms spawning tornadoes, hail and destructive winds. According to the weather service, 112 people have died in tornadoes since the beginning of the year, the most in the United States in a decade.
Weather service warns of ‘violent’ tornadoes in Plains
Large hail, strong winds and heavy rain are reported in northwest Kansas in a powerful storm system that could produce large tornadoes in the state before nightfall.
In a strongly-worded statement Thursday, the National Weather Service warned that parts of Kansas could see hail bigger than baseballs, 80-mph-plus winds and “a few strong to violent long-lived tornadoes.”
Forecasters say severe thunderstorms will form by late afternoon in central and south-central Kansas and move toward eastern Kansas, Nebraska, northwestern Missouri and Iowa.
68 Tornadoes Have Hit Mississippi In 2008
The Storm Prediction Center – the National Weather Service office responsible for severe weather forecasts and tallies – says that 1,330 tornadoes have been reported this year. Not all of those tornadoes have been confirmed yet, but even still the numbers of confirmed tornadoes are already nearly three times that of the most active periods of previous years.
The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Jackson says 68 tornadoes have been confirmed to have touched down in Mississippi so far this year. In 2007, a total of 33 tornadoes touched down. In less than half the time the number of tornadoes has more than doubled.
Tornadoes and heavy rain struck Northern Minnesota
At least two tornadoes broke loose Friday morning in the far northeastern corner of Minnesota, where heavy overnight rains led to flash flooding throughout Cook County and the city of Grand Marais. About 5 inches of rain fell at Grand Marais.
Water coming down the hill next to Highway 61, west of Grand Marais. (Photo: Stephan Hoglund/ Star Tribune). Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!
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