Alabama Tornado

[BridgeTroll]

http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/48909/todays-tornado-onslaught-cente.asp

Violent Tornadoes Devastate the South; At Least 173 Dead
By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist
Apr 28, 2011; 5:50 AM ETShare | .

Large, powerful and long-tracking tornadoes ravaged the South on Wednesday, leaving many communities devastated and many lives lost.

At least 173 people are dead after Wednesday's massive tornado outbreak, according to the Associated Press. That number could continue to rise as crews comb through the wreckage.

Wednesday is unofficially the deadliest tornado day in the United States since 310 people lost their lives on April 3, 1974.

Out of the deaths on Wednesday, at least 128 occurred in Alabama. Mississippi officials report at least 32 people are dead, while 11 lives were lost in Georgia.

The above states, as well as southern Tennessee suffered the worst of the tornado outbreak.

Most of the 160 tornado sightings reported to the Storm Prediction Center, as of 7 a.m. EDT, came from these states.

The actual number of tornadoes that touched down will be lower since numerous twisters remained on the ground for lengthy stretches of time, leading to multiple sightings.

National Weather Service storm survey crews must investigate the destruction before the tally of tornadoes from Wednesday is finalized. These crews will also officially rank each tornado, using the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

One of Wednesday's extremely large tornadoes devastated Tuscaloosa, Ala., shortly after 6 p.m. EDT with "complete devastation" reported by Tuscaloosa News along 15th Street heading to McFarland.

The city's Mayor Walt Maddox confirmed the deaths of at least 16 people with more than 100 others sustaining injuries.

WSFA.com reported that "this is at least the second tornado in 12 days to touch down in Tuscaloosa." The last time was during the April 15, 2011 outbreak that devastated Mississippi and central and southern parts of Alabama.

Tornadoes also touched down around Birmingham, Ala., with 11 deaths in the city's home county of Jefferson.

Another large twister tore through far northwestern Georgia, just south of Chattanooga, Tenn., damaging cars and tossing tractor trailers near the Ringgold exit off I-75 in Catoosa County.

A nearby three-story Super 8 Motel collapsed, killing at least seven people. WXIA-TV reports that Ringgold Police requested a "mass casualty morgue" to be set up at the destruction site.

An unconfirmed tornado is reportedly to blame for at least five deaths, numerous injuries and structural damage near Camp Creek, Tenn.

Three fatalities have been reported with a tornado that tore through Kemper County, Miss., earlier Wednesday. Mobile homes were damaged and destroyed with a large number of trees down, preventing emergency workers from reaching the area.

Deadly tornadoes on Wednesday were not confined to the south. At least one person is reportedly dead near Nathalie, Va., after an apparent tornado.

Wednesday's massive tornado outbreak got under way when a tornado was spotted in Esperanza, Miss., just after 9 a.m. CDT. A twister was sighted later on near Lawrenceburg, Tenn., around 10:40 a.m. CDT.

Another possible tornado touched down one mile north of Decatur, Ala., around 11:30 a.m. CDT, while debris was reported with a tornado near Athens High School in Athens, Ala., around the same time.

Many of the same areas slammed by Wednesday's vicious tornado outbreak were just hit by damaging thunderstorms and tornadoes Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Ingredients Behind Wednesday's Massive Outbreak

The culprit behind Wednesday's massive tornado outbreak was an unusually potent storm system that emerged from the Arklatex.

Warm, humid air funneling northward ahead of this system clashed with invading cooler air to ignite the violent thunderstorms.

Winds from the south to southeast at the surface combined with southwesterly winds overhead to create significant twisting motion in the atmosphere, allowing the strongest thunderstorms to spawn tornadoes.

All of these ingredients will not be in place across the East Coast, where severe weather will continue to rumble today.

That will prevent a repeat of Wednesday's devastating tornado outbreak. Though, a few tornadoes can still touch down and cause destruction.

http://www.youtube.com/v/lbGtP_KQPpg

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http://www.youtube.com/v/y90DIU6tMPs

[fsujax]

I was watching this on the Weather Channel yesterday as it was happening. Pretty scary for those folks.

[wsansewjs]

I hope some of my family and relatives are okay over there in Alabama especially in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham areas.

-Josh

[danem]

When the weatherman is amazed, that's the time to run for cover!!

[danem]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M_mcOL99qA

another non-news one. the camera operator's breathing makes this rather intense

[Timkin]

Scary.  That is one huge tornado...

[mtraininjax]

When the weatherman is amazed, that's the time to run for cover!!

Just wait for Hurricane Season. We get a storm the size of ANDREW, we will have a lot of weather people changing their pants.

[danem]

When the weatherman is amazed, that's the time to run for cover!!

Just wait for Hurricane Season. We get a storm the size of ANDREW, we will have a lot of weather people changing their pants.

This may be true, but the question is will they repeat "My God! Look at this thing!!!" and "that is a HUGE hurricane!!" ? 

[mtraininjax]

This may be true, but the question is will they repeat "My God! Look at this thing!!!" and "that is a HUGE hurricane!!"

I don't know, but do you think a hurricane the size of Texas is something to be trivialized?

[wsansewjs]

When the weatherman is amazed, that's the time to run for cover!!

Just wait for Hurricane Season. We get a storm the size of ANDREW, we will have a lot of weather people changing their pants.

Why are you seem to say hurricanes are much worse than tornadoes? I do think tornadoes are more deadly than hurricanes. Tornadoes strike without any warning swiftly and have a higher damage yield. Chance of hurricanes hitting category 3+ or higher before landfall is much lower compared to the tornadoes.

Oh remember that horrible array of tornadoes that smacked Florida few years ago? In other words for Andrew, that horrible hurricane was an ultra compact, MEGA tornado in form of water and low pressure known as a hurricane.

I much rather have a beer with a hurricane than a tornado after a lifetime experience of being in or very close to 3 hurricanes, 4 tropical storms, and 3 tornadoes.

-Josh