FOX Weather spoke with National Weather Service Director Ken Graham about the recent severe weather siege and the historic geomagnetic storm. Graham also provided an early preview of the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season, which is expected to be very busy.
A spring severe weather season under a diminishing El Niño helped propel the fifth month of the year to become the second-most-active May for tornadoes, hail and damaging winds, only to be outdone by 2011.
Through the first 28 days of May, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center received nearly 5,700 reports of severe weather, including 475 tornadoes.
An average May only produces somewhere in the neighborhood of 275-300 tornadoes, meaning tornadic activity was some 70% above average.
Most of the tornadoes occurred during outbreaks from May 6-10, May 19-24 and May 25-27, which accounted for at least 300 of the initial reports.
AT LEAST 25 KILLED ACROSS 7 STATES DURING MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK
Iowa leads the country with the most tornadic activity so far this year, which is a bit unusual for the Hawkeye State.
Through the Memorial Day weekend, National Weather Service offices had reported 98 tornadoes, with Texas, Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma finishing out the top five.
The deadliest tornado occurred in Cooke County, Texas, where seven people were reported to have lost their lives during a nighttime twister.
According to studies, tornadoes that occur at night are more than twice as likely to result in deaths than those that happen during the day. Often, these tornadoes cannot be spotted before it is too late or occur when people are sleeping.
In addition to tornadoes, the FOX Forecast Center tracked at least three derechos during May, which produced hurricane-force winds across communities in Texas, the Plains and the Midwest.
A derecho that struck Houston resulted in at least eight deaths and over 1 million power outages in the metro on May 16.
Some of the damage was comparable to Hurricane Alicia, which struck the region in August 1983.
Several buildings across Houston suffered damage in Thursday’s storm, including high-rises whose officials say every floor has at least one window completely blown out.
WHAT ARE EL NINO AND LA NINA CLIMATE PATTERNS?
What caused the uptick in activity?
Many forecasters believe a weakening El Niño played a significant role in the uptick of severe thunderstorm activity during the late spring.
The spring season, which consists of March, April and May, is typically the busiest period for severe weather as the jet stream allows plenty of warm moisture to stream northward and aids in the instability needed for thunderstorms.
During episodes of El Niño, severe weather outbreaks are usually less common as the jet stream does not promote clashes of air masses.
Other statuses of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or what is commonly referred to as the ENSO, promote upticks in severe weather activity compared to the El Niño state.
The weak state of the El Niño to even neutral conditions in the Pacific allowed for around 1,000 reports of tornadoes in the U.S. through the first five months of the year.
The country averages around 1,300 tornadoes annually, meaning the country is already well on its way to seeing at least an average year for tornadic activity.
Tornado trend of initial reports for 2024.
(FOX Weather)