From Severe Weather, to Severe Flooding

There's always something to talk about with weather. Be it a stretch of dry, mild days after a cool and rainy start to Spring, or a monster outbreak of severe storms spanning from New York to Texas. Even a rare sighting of tornadoes off the coast of Hawaii makes headlines and gives us something to talk about when we spend time with friends and family, or make small talk with a stranger in line at the bank. Spring 2011 took its time getting here in the Northeast, slowly and almost silently. In other parts of the U.S. however, Spring made its arrival by kicking the door in and yelling at the top of its lungs.

In little more than a month's time, we've seen several different onslaughts of extreme weather. In many cases, these events have had the word "historic" or "record" attached to them. Generally, that's not a good thing when you're talking about weather. True, some weather records are easier to deal with. Record high and low temperatures: might be a bit uncomfortable at the time, but personally, I think they're somewhat fun. Record snowfall: yes, it can make life difficult by trapping us in our neighborhoods, and it can be a real pain to move or shovel, but in the end it eventually melts and it's gone. Then, we step into the realm of record severe weather...never good.

It's incredible when you stop and tally everything up from April 2011 alone. Front-and-center is the staggering amount of tornadoes. April 2011 shattered the record for the total number of tornadoes within the month of April, coming in around at around 600 reported tornadoes (exact number still to be determined). The previous record was 267 set in 1974, largely due to the Super Outbreak that occurred that year. Additionally, April 2011 also set the record for most tornadoes in any given month, with the previous record occurring in May 2003 with 542 tornadoes. Also on the subject of tornadoes, the outbreak the occurred from April 25-28 spawned more tornadoes than any other outbreak in history.

Now that we have moved into May, severe weather has quieted down, but the devastating storms brought more than just tornadoes and destructive winds. They also dumped tremendous amounts of rain over the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, triggering an accelerated snowmelt and causing an overwhelming amount of water to inundate the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Cities all along the main stretch of the Mississippi have been washed over by record levels of water as the river spilled and surged over its banks. This includes cities like Memphis (TN), Natchez (MS), and it's even prompted the Army Corps of Engineers to open the Morganza Spillway northwest of New Orleans in an attempt to prevent the city and other flood-prone areas of southern Louisiana from seeing a catastrophic flood. Thousands of people have been displaced from their homes, and the flood conditions still persist. It could take until June before the waters really start to recede. I'll have a follow-up post with some numbers once they become available...but that again, could take weeks, since this flooding event could take until the middle of June to completely pass.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time!