 DISCUSSION: As we again turn the clocks back into recent historical weather events that have impacted Thanksgiving holiday travel, we go back to November 2004. During the period from 23 to 24 November 2004, there was quite a prolific severe weather event which impacted portions of the Southeastern United States. Attached below is an exact excerpt from the Alabama Weather Blog team which details this event with more specific and detailed accounts of how this event unfolded.
"An unusually moist and warm air mass combined with a strong storm system brought severe weather to Alabama during a two-day period starting on the afternoon hours of November 23rd, 2004, and lasting through the 24th, the day before Thanksgiving. After this intense storm system had spawned 54 tornadoes over the two-day period from the 22nd to the 23rd back to the west, the severe weather continued in a destructive and deadly way as it made its way into the state. A grand total of 16 tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service assessment teams. One person was killed and another five were injured throughout the event, and damage estimates were near $3.5 million. The first tornado touched down just southeast of the community of Detroit in northern Lamar County at approximately 9:38 PM CST and headed on a 13.9-mile path of damage to the northeast before lifting to the southeast of Hamilton in Marion County. Several homes were damaged, with a few of those left uninhabitable. Numerous outbuildings were damaged or destroyed, along with three large grain silos. One of those silos was deposited over 200 yards away from where it stood. This tornado was rated an F1 and grew to a width of 250 yards at its widest point. There were no more tornadoes through the remainder of the 23rd, but several more touched down starting during the predawn hours on the 24th, with one of those rated as an F2 that affected the Thomaston area in Marengo County. It touched down at approximately 4:31 AM just to the north of the Shiloh Community and stayed on the ground for 11.9 miles, growing to 200 yards wide at its widest point along the damage path. Numerous trees and power lines were downed, along with damage to several homes and mobile homes. Two people suffered injuries, but no deaths were reported. The twister lifted just after it crossed Chickasaw Bogue just southeast of Thomaston. The next significant tornado touched down at approximately 6:24 AM just to the southwest of Autaugaville and carved a path of damage for 9.7 miles and grew to a width of 500 yards at its widest point. As it moved northeast, several mobile homes, boats, and travel campers were destroyed at Clark’s Landing. Before approaching the Forester Community, the twister took down two high voltage power line towers. In Forester, several structures were damaged or destroyed. The tornado was on the ground for 13 minutes before lifting shortly after crossing Autauga County Road 13 just west of Prattville. No injuries or deaths were reported with this tornado. The next strong tornado would touch down at approximately 7:09 AM on the property of Talladega Superspeedway, damaging concession stands, the Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) garage area, and destroying a digital leaderboard. Debris was strewn all throughout the infield and into Victory Lane before the tornado moved northeastward. Unfortunately, this F2 tornado would be the one that would cause the only death in the state of Alabama throughout the event. A few houses and outbuildings were damaged in the Eastaboga area before it moved into Bynum. Two mobile homes were heavily damaged by fallen trees, with one of those trees killing a 75-year-old woman. It continued into the Coldwater area and into the southwestern part of Anniston, damaging more buildings and knocking down numerous trees. The last tornado of the event for Alabama was a weak F0 that touched down in Lee County near Opelika at approximately 8:09 AM and stayed on the ground for 0.2 miles. The damage path was only 30 yards at its widest point, with a few structures receiving minor damage along with a few trees and power lines being knocked down. Overall, this pre-Thanksgiving storm system spawned 104 tornadoes total, from Texas through the southeast to Florida and South Carolina, and even producing a few weaker tornadoes up in Indiana. A grand total of four people died and another 39 were injured throughout the event and causing over $30 million in damages. As you can see, we have plenty to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day in 2017. While it is beautiful and cool this year, we are in the prime part of our Fall Severe Weather Season. To learn more about this particular severe weather event with more details and photographs about it, click on the following link. To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz
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A More Detailed Look at the Tornado Outbreak of November '92 (credit: Alabama Weather Blog)11/22/2017  DISCUSSION: In relation to the last post within this section "Weather History," the Global Weather and Climate Center team brings you an updated and more elaborate version of the story captured in the previous article. That article being about the very infamous tornado outbreak which occurred just days before Thanksgiving in November of 1992. Attached below is the exact discussion written by the Alabama Weather Blog team which all are encourage to read since it has truly phenomenal detail within it.
"Title: November 21-23, 1992: A Devastating Weekend Before Thanksgiving The weekend prior to Thanksgiving in 1992 ended up being a violent and deadly one as severe weather swept through the Midwest and the Southeast United States. A southerly flow from the Gulf of Mexico in the lower levels combined with colder westerly winds making the perfect combination for the development of long-lasting severe storms. Once the severe storms started firing off during the early afternoon hours of the 21st, there was nearly no break in tornado activity until the morning hours on the 23rd. By the end of the event, there were 95 tornadoes reported stretching from southeastern Texas up to southwestern Maryland, and as far north as northeastern Indiana. 26 people lost their lives and another 638 were injured. The first tornado of the event touched down at approximately 1:30 PM CST just outside of the town of Glen Flora, Texas. Rated as an F1, this twister damaged or destroyed many barns on its 1/2 mile damage path. This will be the first of many that struck Texas on the 21st. The strongest of the 14 tornadoes that touched down in Texas on the 21st was rated F4 and had a damage path of 30 miles stretching from near Galena to near Dayton. It touched down at approximately 3:27 PM in a wooded area near the Houston Ship Channel, before rapidly intensifying and widening to one mile. The most severe damage along its path occurred in the Channelview area, where 271 homes were heavily damaged or destroyed, with 14 of those left with no walls standing. It crossed the San Jacinto River before weakening and dissipating. Even with its intensity and wide damage path, no deaths and only 15 injuries occurred with this monster. Only one other F4 tornado has hit the greater Houston area, that was on September 12, 1961, in Galveston. The system then moved into Louisiana and eventually into Mississippi throughout the rest of the 21st and into the predawn hours of the 22nd, spawning 18 more tornadoes between the two states. The worst of those 14 tornadoes was a long-track F4 that had a damage path in Mississippi of 128 miles, stretching from just outside of Hopewell to just west of Sherwood. A total of twelve people were killed, which eight of those were in mobile homes. Another 122 people were injured as this monster tore across seven counties while damaging or destroying at least 700 homes, including well-built brick mansions. Another F4 dropped to the earth just after midnight near Wisner, Mississippi, and stayed on the ground for approximately 40 miles before lifting in Newton, Mississippi. Over 120 residential structures were either damaged or destroyed and a large church was leveled. Fortunately, most of the damage path went through the Bienville National Forest and other sparsely-populated areas. Even though no structures or lives were lost in the forest, the loss of timber was up in the millions of dollars. Before the morning of the 22nd was over with, another seven tornadoes struck Mississippi before the system moved over into Alabama and Tennessee. Two people died in Clarkson as an F1 twister destroyed one home and severely damaged four additional homes. One more death occurred in Wahalak from an F2 tornado as it chewed up a damage path over 27 miles long stretching from Bloomfield to Dinsmore. Alabama had a total of 13 tornadoes touch down ranging in strength from F0 to F2, with no deaths and 53 injuries. The tornado with the most injuries occurred just outside of Sardis City where multiple structures were damaged and twelve people were injured. Tennessee only had one tornado for the day, but it was a deadly one. An F1 touched down just northwest of Bolivar and stayed on the ground for 16 miles before lifting west of Toone. One person was killed and three others were injured, while the tornado caused up to $50,000 in damages. Georgia was next on the system's hit list and a total of eleven tornadoes touched down, killing seven people and injuring 157 more. The worst twister hit just northeast of Etheridge and carved a path of destruction of 32 miles to just southeast of White Plains. This twister got up to 1 mile wide in spots and destroyed a total of 134 homes, killing five people and over 300 head of cattle. Another F4 was on the ground for a total of 20 miles starting near Pine Mountain and lifting near Hickory Flat. No deaths reported, but 325 homes and businesses were destroyed or damaged, including a church in Woodstock that was in the middle of service. While tornadoes were causing havoc in Georgia, more tornadoes were forming well north in the states of Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. A total of 20 tornadoes hit these states throughout the afternoon and evening hours. Six of those became F3s, while one more became an F4 monster that crossed the Ohio River twice on its nearly 27-mile path of destruction from Worthville, Kentucky, to just outside of Antioch, Indiana. It killed one person and threw debris up to five miles away from where it originated. Late on the night of the 22nd and into the morning hours of the 23rd, the system continued barreling off to the east, spawning 12 more tornadoes across the Carolinas and up into Virginia and Maryland before moving over the Atlantic Ocean. Two of these reached F3 in intensity, both in North Carolina. The first killed two people and injured ten on its 5.5-mile path of destruction through Hillsborough. The second started off near Barclaysville and crossed through eight counties on its 160-mile path of destruction before dissipating just north of Elizabeth City. 21 students were injured when the twister picked up and carried a 28,000-pound school bus more than 75 yards before slamming it back to the earth. This tornado would be the longest-tracked tornado ever recorded in the state of North Carolina. One more thing we can be thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday is not having to deal with severe weather, especially in light of this event and the fact that November is a secondary tornado season for parts of the country." To learn even more about this historic severe weather event, click on this link. To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz Remembering a Historic Late November Tornado Outbreak (credit: This Day in Weather History)11/21/2017  DISCUSSION: As we turn the clocks back to November 21 - 23, 1992, there was a truly impressive tornado outbreak which slammed portions of the Southeast and the Mid-Atlantic states. As quoted from the "This Day in Weather History" team:
"During this particular severe weather event, there was no break in tornado activity from 1:30 pm on the 21st when the tornadoes started in Texas until 7:30 am on the 23rd when the last tornadoes lifted in North Carolina. On this date, severe thunderstorms spawned six tornadoes within 70 minutes in the Houston metro area. At one time, there were three on the ground in Harris County. The strongest, an F4, tracked 20 miles through the eastern suburbs of Houston destroying 200 homes and damaging 1,000 more. In total, 23 tornadoes struck Mississippi and Alabama. An F4 tornado killed 12 people on a 128-mile track through 7 Mississippi counties. The deadliest tornado of 1992, an F4 tornado killed 12 people on a 128-mile path through 7 counties in Mississippi." Thus, this story reinforces the point that regardless of the time of year, there is always a threat for deep convective storm outbreaks across various parts of the nation. Moreover, that people should always be prepared for the coincident impacts of higher-impact severe weather events. To learn more about this historic severe weather event from back in November of 1992, click on either this link or this other link. To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: As we turn the clocks back to November 10th, 1975, we arrive at fairly historic day in north-central United States weather history. On that mid-November day back in 1975, a strengthening low-pressure system was approaching the northern Plains states from the southwest. As a result of this low-pressure system's trajectory, increasingly stronger southerly flow developed out ahead of the deepening low-pressure system. This stronger southerly flow created strong localized wind flow in the vicinity of the Great Lakes and consequently induced the formation of large waves across a good portion of Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior. Due to particularly high waves on Lake Superior, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald ended up sinking 17 miles northwest of Whitefish Point which is located at the northeastern tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula on Lake Superior. While the cause of the sinking is unknown to this day, strong winds and high waves likely played a significant role. Sadly, the crew of 29 members was lost from this event. Thus, it goes without saying that even a simple Fall-time low-pressure system has the ability to create havoc in even the smallest localized regions.
To learn more about this particular event, click on the following link. To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: As we look all the way back to November 5th, 1991, we find ourselves at the occurrence of a truly destructive and horrific tropical weather event for the islands of the Philippines. On November 5th, 1991, Tropical Storm Thelma struck the Philippines with a major blow by way of an excessively rainfall event which induced many instances of widespread flash flooding. As a result of this widespread flash flooding, many villages, towns, and cities were completely overwhelmed by the onset of the excessively large amounts of rainfall which ultimately took the lives of at least 3,000 people. This is quite a common occurrence with weaker tropical cyclones due to the fact that even though they do not contain a larger, stronger wind field, there is quite often very heavy rainfall associated with these weaker tropical cyclones. With weaker tropical cyclones, there is also a greater propensity for weaker tropical cyclones to move somewhat slower than stronger tropical cyclones since there is often less larger-scale ambient atmospheric forcing to increase their forward speed.
Attached in the following paragraph is an exact excerpt from part of the larger account of this tropical cyclone event per the story written by the History.com team. "The storm dubbed Thelma (or Uring in the local language) approached the southeast islands of Leyte, Samar and Negros from the east. It stalled there, dumping tremendous amounts of rain on the tiny islands and causing deadly flooding. As this was the first major flood in local memory, the islands were caught seriously unprepared. Fifty-three people were killed on Negros, and on the nearby island of Leyte, the damage was even greater." To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: As we look back only 12 years ago today, we arrive at the occurrence of a very historic severe weather day with respect to Indiana and Kentucky state weather history. More specifically, November 6th, 2005 is the anniversary of the Evansville, IN tornado which was a more contemporary but still historic severe weather event. First off, this destructive tornado occurred during early November which is fairly unusual for that part of the Ohio River Valley at that time of the year. Though, in this severe weather event's defense, there tends to be a secondary peak in tornado occurrence during the early/mid-Fall time-frame which makes not quite as unusual as one may think for this part of the Ohio Valley within the Central United States.
As a solid point of comparison, attached below is an exact excerpt from the NWS Paducah, Kentucky office on how this particular severe weather event stacked up with previous severe weather events in the state of Indiana and Kentucky. Also, note the tornado was rated an F-3 still due to the fact that the EF-scale for rating tornado intensity did not come into the picture until February 1st, 2007. "At the time, the deadliest tornado in Indiana since 1974 took the lives of two dozen persons in the middle of the night and 230 others were injured. A mobile home park on the southern outskirts of Evansville suffered the vast majority of the fatalities and injuries. This F-3 tornado crossed the Ohio River three times during its 41-mile trek across three Ohio River counties of southwest Indiana as well as Henderson County, KY." To learn more about this particular severe weather event in greater detail, click on the following link. To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: There is no question that some past tropical cyclones throughout the course of history often have the ability to make their mark on history. That is, both the history of a given region and the history of the people who chose to live in that given region at the time of a given atmospheric event's impact. As we look back at what is now referred to as the Yankee Hurricane of 1935, this storm was certainly no exception to that rule. Back in the first week of November 1935, this tropical cyclone which impacted both the Bahamas and South Florida in a direct strike. As noted in the post (courtesy of the This Day in Weather History team), this particular hurricane was the only tropical cyclone in recorded history to impact the city of Miami, Florida by coming in out of the northeast. Hence, it goes without saying that this was a historic tropical cyclone at the time based on the relative lack of ability for the region to prepare for a powerful tropical cyclone landfall.
To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz Historic Snowfall/Tornado Event in the North-Central U.S. (credit: This Day in Weather History)11/2/2017   DISCUSSION: As we turn the clocks back to November 1st, 2000, we arrive at very historic tornado and snowfall event which impacted the North-Central United States. Back on November 1st, 2000, a tornado event on the 1st of November was a rare and unusual weather phenomenon to occur so late in the year in North Dakota. Several tornadoes, with five distinct paths, hit south-central North Dakota causing property damage and injuries. The majority of the damage and injuries occurred in the Bismarck area. Forty-two homes suffered minor to moderate damage. The tornadoes were rated F-0 and F-1 on the Fujita scale, packing winds up to 90 mph. Another unusual phenomenon, these tornadoes traveled from east to west. At the same time these tornadoes were occurring, snow began to fall in the far western area of North Dakota. Winter storm watches and warnings were posted across north central and western North Dakota that afternoon. Thank you to the "This Day in Weather History" team for helping to provide this story in weather history.
To learn more about other past historic weather events from around the world, be sure to click here! ©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz |
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