Tornadoes in January?
On Monday afternoon, my phone started ringing as I was cooking dinner. I guess it's kind of like a doctor who is constantly getting medical questions, or a lawyer whose friends solicit legal advice- but when the weather turns bad, my phone starts ringing. See, the tornado sirens had started going off in Springfield, Missouri where I am from. And it's about the time that everyone is heading home from work and needs an update before they head out the door. So sure enough, I pull up the radar and the National Weather Service warnings and there is a tornado warning for Greene County. I can see the rotation in the storm, but it looks like it will scoot to the north of town and I tell my mom to hurry home and call my sister to make sure she A.) is on her way home and B.) knows it's raining. I'll never grow out of being an older sister, but that's a different blog entirely.January isn't typically a month known for severe weather, but it's not unheard of. Looking back to 1999, there was a series of outbreaks that killed a total of 18 people during the month of January, which recorded 141 tornadoes.
In this 2008 outbreak, there is a preliminary estimate of 42 tornadoes on Monday according to the Storm Prediction Center. Additionally, baseball sized hail was reported and straight-line winds of 60-80 mph caused damage thoughout the midwest. Severe weather occurred along the same cold front on Tuesday, with 8 more reported tornadoes and one additional fatality.
The cold front that the severe weather occurred along is currently making its way through the Carolinas. The good news is that we aren't going to see the severe weather that has been occuring along the front, although our rain chance today aren't looking great either.
If you are interested, here is a link to the aerial damage and flooding in Southwest Missouri:
http://www.springfieldmo.gov/assets/tv_storm.html
And the storm reports for Monday:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/080107_rpts.html
And Tuesday:
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/080108_rpts.html
One lesson that January outbreaks, such as this one, teach us is that tornadoes will occur even outside of "Tornado Season." Additionally, tornado warnings must be taken seriously no matter what time of the year it is. Even winter outbreaks can prove to be deadly.
Posted by on 01/09 at 12:40 PM
Well I know the feeling about the seasons… It was a few years ago when we had SNOW here about a week after the 4th of July… We also had hail damage… my car is proof of that. I had just detailed it 2 days before it only had one dent… now I am afraid it has too many to count. So I can believe the Tornadoes in January.
Just look at what the weather is now.... Short Sleeves in January.