Spring Has Returned! And so has the Tornado Season

So, after winter tried to make a comeback last week, spring is moving it's way into the eastern seaboard. This weekend we will see rain and possible thunderstorms tomorrow as this trough moves through, but next week spring will be in full swing! Temperatures will be in the low 70s tomorrow and the upper 50s Sunday with mostly cloudy skies and rain.... not as much as we've experienced the rest of this year so far, but still rain nonetheless.

Starting Monday though? Spring. High temperatures in the 70s, maybe even reaching 80 by late next week, lows in the upper 40s and 50s, and partly cloudy to mostly clear skies. If you have some time to get outside next week, take advantage of it. I know that I will be getting on the tennis court and studying outside as much as I am able to next week.

Today is an interesting day in NC and SC history: it is the 30th anniversary of the most deadly tornado outbreak in the Carolinas. 30 years ago today, a total of 24 confirmed tornadoes raced through the Carolinas causing massive damages and extreme devastation to the population. The outbreak caused 57 deaths and 1248 injuries with 37% of the deaths occurring in mobile homes. Some of the tornadoes were moving across the ground as fast as 65 mph. Here is a link to the National Weather Service's page concerning the deadly outbreak: http://www.weather.gov/mhx/March281984Anniversary

Yesterday there was a line of severe thunderstorms that moved across Missouri. This system produced at least 1 tornado which moved along the ground for 6 miles in the Trenton area. Although this tornado damaged at least 4 homes, and rain and hail pelted NE Missouri throughout the day, no injuries have been reported. Storm shelters are being constructed in many public buildings throughout Tornado Alley, and the new Elementary School in Oklahoma City is building a storm shelter in preparation for the tornado season. http://kfor.com/2014/03/28/new-downtown-elementary-to-add-tornado-shelter/

If you all recall, last year was a heavy-hitting tornado kind of year. Moore, Oklahoma was pounded with the strongest tornado of the year by an EF-5 tornado which followed almost the same path of almost equal-strength tornado which also devastated Moore, Oklahoma on May 3, 1999. This tornado which occurred on May 20, 2013, killed 24 people and demolished 1,100 homes. Yesterday it was reported that students of Joplin, Missouri (which got nailed by an EF-5 tornado on May 22, 2011), are going to visit the students of the Elementary School in Oklahoma City. http://www.newson6.com/story/25089623/joplin-students-to-visit-moore-children-who-lost-school-to-tornado

Biggest Tornado News of Yesterday
Yesterday, an EF-1 tornado reportedly touched down and damaged homes in Northern California. That doesn't happen every day! Fortunately, although 12 to 20 homes had roof damage, no one was misplaced from their homes, and there were no injuries reported. Northern California finally got some rain though! parts of the state recorded up to 2". http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Tornadoes-hit-Northern-California-damaging-homes-5355635.php#photo-6079979

For more Tornado News, visit this site: http://www.wxusa.com/tornadonews.htm