Tonight’s post won’t be long as the title conveys it all…
However, I do want to say that this MCS developed out of what appears to have been a fairly substantial tornado outbreak. My thoughts and prayers are with the residents of the northern plains this night.
The night before the start of VORTEX II and a tornado outbreak is under way across portions of the central United States. The Storm Prediction Center upgraded the severe weather outlook to “High Risk” for central Arkansas and for good measure. At least 3 fatalities have 1 fatality has been reported in Scotland, AR and several other towns are reporting significant damage – including portions of Little Rock – with people still trapped. It’s going to be a long night.
Just to give you an idea of how many storms are rotating, at 10:50 PM CDT, there are still 6 tornado warnings in effect!
Tonight I will break from my usual posts about ongoing meteorological postings; tonight I want to share something else. In the wake of every significant tornado event stories of true courage emerge from the wreckage left behind. The tornado outbreak this past weekend is no different. The story below is a heart wrenching one, but one that every parent, those considering becoming a parents, or those loved by a parent should read. The original article can be found here, but is reposted below in case the link disappears.
(CBS) More than two days after a massive tornado tore across 17 Mississippi counties, Yazoo City resident Sherry Carpenter is still overwhelmed by the loss.
Her three grandchildren were in this house when the tornado picked it up and smashed it to the ground.
Their mother, 30-year-old Nikki Bradshaw Carpenter, covered them with a mattress and then laid on top of it to protect them.
She was found dead but her sons survived, sheltered underneath the mattress and the wreckage.
“She saved those kids and gave her life,” Carpenter told CBS News correspondent Don Teague. “But that was Nikki because those kids came first.”
Officials say nearly 1,000 homes and businesses were destroyed when as many as 50 tornados swarmed across the southeast Saturday.
The largest, an E-F4 that struck Yazoo City with winds up to 170 miles per hour, measured 1.75 miles wide.
A typical tornado is just 50 yards wide.
Now the cleanup is under way and State and Federal agencies are doing what they can, with volunteers from near and far…doing the rest.
But some things can never be rebuilt. Like a family of boys whose mother died protecting them.
“They don’t know their mama’s gone and that they’ll never see her again,” said Carpenter of Nikki. “But she saved them. I have no doubt she saved those boys.”
Below is from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Jackson, MS. I thought it important enough for it to be it’s own blog post. EF4 tornado with a maximum width of 1.75 miles. Simply amazing…
000 NOUS44 KJAN 260230 PNSJAN PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 930 PM CDT SUN APR 25 2010 ...PRELIMINARY INFORMATION FROM STORM DAMAGE SURVEYS TODAY... FOUR NWS STORM DAMAGE SURVEY TEAMS HAVE BEEN SURVEYING DAMAGE FROM AROUND THE REGION CAUSED BY THE DEVASTATING STORMS OF SATURDAY. THE FOLLOWING IS PRELIMINARY INFORMATION REGARDING THE MAJOR STORM THAT MOVED FROM NORTHEAST LOUISIANA ACROSS CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI. NWS SURVEY TEAMS SURVEYED THE PATH OF THE STORM FROM ITS START WEST OF TALLULAH, LOUISIANA TO AS FAR AS DURANT, MISSISSIPPI. TORNADO DAMAGE...MUCH OF IT STRONG...WAS FOUND ALONG THIS ENTIRE PATH...AT LEAST IN THOSE AREAS ACCESSIBLE BY ROAD. BASED ON THESE SURVEYS...THIS IS A SUMMARY OF THE INFORMATION SO FAR: PATH LENGTH: 97 MILES...THIS LENGTH WILL INCREASE AS MORE DAMAGE IS SURVEYED EAST OF TODAY`S SURVEY MAXIMUM WIDTH: 1.75 MILES RATING: EF4, WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 170 MPH CASUALTIES: 10 TOTAL FATALITIES WITH DOZENS OF INJURIES A NUMBER OF AREAS OF EF3 DAMAGE WITH ESTIMATED WINDS OF 150 TO 165 MPH WERE FOUND ALONG THE PATH. TWO AREAS OF EF4 DAMAGE WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 170 MPH WERE FOUND...ONE IN YAZOO CITY...AND THE OTHER IN HOLMES COUNTY. ANOTHER SURVEY TEAM IS STILL SURVEYING DAMAGE IN CHOCTAW COUNTY CAUSED BY THE SAME STORM. THIS DAMAGE HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO BE AT LEAST HIGH END EF3. WHETHER OR NOT THIS IS A PART OF A CONTINUOUS TORNADO PATH ALL THE WAY BACK TO ITS START IN NORTHEAST LOUISIANA HAS YET TO BE DETERMINED. NWS SURVEY TEAMS WILL BE IN HOLMES...ATTALA...AND CHOCTAW COUNTIES AGAIN MONDAY TO TRY TO DETERMINE THIS...AND WILL ALSO BE ATTEMPTING TO OBTAIN AERIAL DATA TO HELP CONFIRM A CONTINUOUS PATH. IT MUST BE STRESSED THAT ALL OF THIS INFORMATION IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO LATER ADJUSTMENT. A TORNADO OF THIS STRENGTH AND MAGNITUDE REQUIRES A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF DAMAGE SURVEYS AND DATA ANALYSIS. THE NWS WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE UPDATES AS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IS OBTAINED...AND IS PLANNING TO HOLD A MEDIA BRIEFING LATER THIS WEEK TO PROVIDE A FULL ANALYSIS OF THE STORM AND THE DAMAGE SURVEY RESULTS. THE NWS WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL OF OUR PARTNERS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FOR THEIR INVALUABLE ASSISTANCE IN PERFORMING OUR DAMAGE SURVEYS. $$ AEG/GRG/SCW/BK
Today marks the 34th anniversary of the largest tornado outbreak on record. There were 148 tornadoes occurring in a 24-hour period, the first near Chicago and the last in North Carolina. Some statistics:
I could go on and on about this outbreak, but will instead refer you to a website devoted entirely to the outbreak: April 3, 1974 – The Tornado Super Outbreak
