Here is the official report on the current severe weather season from the NWS Spotter Newsletter.
The 2008 severe weather season is off to a bad start across the United States with a high number of fatalities due to tornadoes. Preliminary data through the end of July indicates that 120 people have been killed by tornadoes across the country. This number is significantly higher than the three year running average of 67 deaths per year. The high number of tornado-related fatalities during 2008 makes this the 9th deadliest January-July period since reliable records began in 1953. Many of these fatalities were attributed to a tornado outbreak that occurred early in the year on February 5th and 6th, nick-named the “Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak”.
The outbreak earned its name because it occurred on Super Tuesday when 24 states were holding primary elections and caucuses for the presidential nominees. Severe storms on February 5th extended across the Lower Mississippi, Tennessee, and Lower Ohio Valleys, affecting portions of 12 states, and killing 57 people. This was the highest number of fatalities in a single tornado outbreak since the Ohio- Pennsylvania outbreak of May 31, 1985 which killed 76. Tennessee was hit especially hard during this outbreak, suffering 32 fatalities within the state.
With this deadly tornado season on our minds, we would like to take this opportunity to remind our spotters of the need to have a NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards in your home. NOAA Weather Radios will be activated by coding transmitted from the National Weather Service when severe thunderstorm or tornado warnings are issued for your county. These radios can be programmed to sound an alert and then broadcast information within seconds of when a warning is issued. These are especially important to have when it comes to receiving warnings issued during the overnight hours, when persons are less likely to be receiving information from other sources. NOAA Weather Radios are sold at most electronic stores and you should purchase one that has both Tone Alerts and SAME (Specific Area Messaging Encoding) functionality.
SOURCE: NWS Spotter Newsletter
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