Is 2024 a record year for tornadoes? The data shows a busy and deadly spring.

If you think there have been a lot of tornadoes this year, you’re right: With at least 850 confirmed tornadoes so far and several major tornado outbreaks, it’s among the busiest years on record.

It is at least the sixth busiest place in the last 30 years, according to preliminary information from the Storm Prediction Center. That number is likely to increase as the National Weather Service continues to survey and confirm damage from April and May tornado reports, which increased significantly from previous years. Even some of the most veteran storm chasers have been amazed by the tornado activity so far this year.

“We’ve had a lot of tornadoes and several ‘big’ days,” said Harold Brooks, senior scientist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma.

Preliminarily, the United States has seen four days with at least 30 tornadoes rated EF1 or stronger, Brooks said. The average is two a year. That likely puts 2024 in the top 10% of years.

Dozens killed by tornadoes in spring 2024

Since April 26, the United States has experienced 18 deadly tornadoes that have killed 36 people. Half of the victims were in mobile homes.

May 27: At least 22 people killed in Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas.
May 6–8 – Multiple tornadoes struck northeastern and central Oklahoma, including one in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, which killed one person and destroyed 30 to 40 homes. They were among dozens of tornadoes in the US.
April 27-28: Tornadoes hit 12 Oklahoma counties, leaving at least four people dead and 100 injured.

Sheriff Ray Sappington of Cooke County, Texas, a more than 30-year law enforcement veteran, was overcome with emotion as he spoke to the media Saturday night after a deadly tornado.

“I’m still excited,” Sappington told USA TODAY on Tuesday. The EF-3 tornado traveled 48 miles across three counties, one of four tornadoes in the Dallas/Fort Worth Weather Service region. Its winds of up to 140 mph killed seven people and injured 100, the weather service said.

Sappington has responded to countless storm scenes, but said it’s “different when you’re the sheriff and it’s in your county.”

“I told the parents of a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old that their children were dead and I took them there to do the identification and I observed that,” he said. “It’s just difficult.”

Why has this tornado season been so active?

So far, the weather service puts the number of tornadoes at 857 through May 27, according to preliminary reports.

Meteorologists interviewed by USA TODAY blame an active jet stream, along with a series of powerful storms moving from the West Coast through the midsection of the country. It has been “a great recipe for numerous severe storms and tornadoes” in recent weeks, said meteorologist Peter Mullinax of the Weather Prediction Center.

The storms have been able to take advantage of a very warm, humid atmosphere over the Gulf of Mexico, AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Pastelok added.

Both meteorologists said the active jet stream is being driven in part by the waning of El Niño, a weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean that affects weather in the U.S. and around the world.

Storm activity has come in waves this year, and unusual warmth early in the year led to more storms, said Victor Gensini, associate professor of meteorology and severe weather at Northern Illinois University.

The large heat dome over Central America and the Gulf of Mexico “allows this reserve of gasoline, in this case moisture, to be stored,” Gensini said Tuesday in the field in Texas, where additional severe weather conditions are expected over the next few years. . week over the high plains of west Texas and eastern New Mexico.

Typically this time of year, a cold front passes over the region and stops storm activity, but it is difficult for cold fronts to penetrate the heat dome, he said. “Moisture stays in place, that’s one of the key ingredients needed in tornadoes.”

Looking ahead, Pastelok said the storm pattern should continue into June, but the month should not be as busy as May was.

Is climate change causing more tornadoes?

Additional research is needed to understand the role climate change plays in tornado activity, Gensini said. “I think it’s safe to say that climate change plays a role, but whether it’s 10%, 5% or 1%, I don’t think we’ll know now without a bigger push to understand the role of climate change in these events.”

For example, climate scientists say they are not confident in a long-term trend in increased numbers or intensity of tornadoes. Instead, what appears to be happening is that tornadoes are occurring at different times and in different places than in the past, making old certainties less useful in predicting when and where communities are at risk.

Tornado Danger:Tornadoes occur more frequently and cause more deaths in the South

Among the rarities observed this year:

April was well above average for the number of tornadoes, Brooks said.
Some areas have been hit repeatedly or by multiple tornadoes. Gilmer County, Georgia, experienced four tornadoes on May 8 and 9.
The Dallas/Fort Worth weather service office reported four tornadoes in its region over the weekend, then gusts of up to 77 mph in Dallas and Arlington on Tuesday.
Illinois experienced several strong storms in February, at a time of year when they are certainly known to occur, but the spacing was surprising, Gensini said.

“We had tornadoes in similar areas just a few weeks ago,” Gensini said of the Illinois tornadoes. “Add to that some record temperatures and people start asking questions. “To me, this is a good example of the new norms associated with climate change.”

The cities were mostly saved, until now

As devastating as this season has been, the worst storms have not hit densely populated areas.

“We’ve had some terrible disasters and loss of life, but fortunately some of the most violent storms so far this year have not hit densely populated areas,” Gensini said.

Related Posts

Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman leaves team to be with ill son

An Illinois bear probably swam across the Ohio and Mississippi rivers

Metroplex Walmarts will be among the first in Texas with fast-charging stations for electric vehicles