Major Spring Storm

Continuing to discuss the major storm in the nation's midsection...

There were 16 additional tornado reports on Thursday. They ripped through houses and tore down power lines. There were also 70 wind reports. Trees were knocked down and power poles were snapped in half, knocking power out to thousands. A 62 mph wind gust was reported in Missouri along with a 65 mph wind gust in Kansas. 56 hail reports, quarter to dime inch size, were also reported. In Texas, several tractor trailers were blown off the road and according to one trucker, tree limbs actually came through his front windshield!

This has been quite an active year for tornadoes. So far this year, the US has had 559 tornadoes; the most reports coming from Missouri with 86 and Mississippi with 73 tornadoes. At the same time last year, the US only had only seen 517 tornadoes.

I mentioned it before, but the backside of the system some impressive late season snow is falling. Even as I'm writing this, much of Minnesota, upper Wisconsin, and upper Michigan are under winter storm warnings. Heavy snow is expected in these regions with an additional 4-7 inches expected. Keep in mind, many of these locations have already picked up approximately 6" of snow. Blizzard warnings are also in effect for parts of the Dakotas where northerly winds are howling between 20-35 mph along with blowing snow. A man in Duluth, Minnesota called the storm a frozen tropical storm and compared it to his experience during Hurricane Rita, according to one report I watched.

Good news though (at least for the middle part of the country), the severe weather should be coming to an end soon as the storm moves east.

Picture courtesy of The Weather Channel