“April showers bring May flowers,” goes the old adage.
For residents of East Tennessee, these “showers” and their correspondent high winds brought broken windows, totaled cars and power outages during the late weeks of April and early May. For residents of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Joplin, Mo., loss of life cast a deeper pall on the devastation the storms have left in their wake.
In the month since these storms and tornadoes hit, citizens of the states affected have begun the process of rebuilding and healing and in doing so, to make sense of the meteorological phenomena which brought about these storms.
52 Tornadoes: Tripling a 37-year record
While the effects of the storms are easily visible in news casts and ongoing efforts to return to normal life, their importance in terms of weather phenomena may be understated at this point.
“We had quite a bit of severe weather,” meteorologist Sam Roberts said. ” March, April and May are peak months. What we saw was not untypical, definitely more active than normal.”
The overall number of tornadoes nationally from the 2011 outbreak versus 1974 were 331, opposed to 148. Roberts, who works with the National Weather Service in Morristown, said the combined 52 tornadoes in eastern Tennessee nearly tripled the record of 18 set during the Tornado Super Outbreak of 1974.
“(This spring) was more extreme in terms of numbers,” Roberts said. “April 27 was the No. 1 event of all time.”
Though the majority of tornadic activity and subsequent destruction occurred on or around April 27, Roberts said the signs of an active season have been apparent since late winter, due to a “very active troughing pattern.”
As for the future of precipitation in the area, Roberts offered some hope for what is looking like a record-breaking summer for the heat index.
“We’re ahead of schedule for precipitation for the year,” Roberts said. “But if we don’t see an increase in the immediate future, we could possibly move into a drought.”
Hail Dings: the Salt-Rust of the South?
A long-standing tradition in states above the Mason-Dixon which experience severe weather in the winter dictates that the road salt that keeps thoroughfares passable also leads to oxidation of paint and the quicker accumulation of rust. Thus cars in those areas often have noticeably greater wear after a certain age.
The same can be said of cars around town since the storms of late spring, in regards to hail damage. From dings the size of a dime to shattered windshields and broken off side mirrors, the structural damage of vehicles has become an accepted reality.
A change which few have met with resignation is the structural damage to homes. While some areas escaped with little to no lasting impact, others lost roofs, paint and entire buildings.
Though precise numbers are still being tallied as insurance companies calculate and award claims damage, some preliminary figures from provider State Farm give some perspective of the financial losses to the private and business sectors.
According to a press release dated May, the company tallied $2.5 billion in paid claims through the month of May, with more still pending.
“The country has been hit hard with an unprecedented succession of horrible weather and horrific losses,” State Farm Executive Vice President Brian Boyden said in the release. “From the claims volume and types and extent of damage, you can easily characterize these storms as a ‘Spring Hurricane.'”
These numbers reflect one provider, but as State Farm noted, “the three most devastating April hailstorms, windstorms and tornadoes would be the seventh most costly homeowners’ catastrophe in the company’s 90-year history.”
