120 tornadoes and counting...
This tornado spotted two miles west of Henryville, Ind. before it crossed I-65 around noon on March 2 | Evan Bentley | photoblog.msnbc.msn.com
On Tuesday a cold front sliding down from the Rockies collided with a mass of warm moist air rising up from the Gulf of Mexico spawning a band of violent weather—including several tornadoes—stretching across the nation's center... and on it goes
The Early March 2012 tornado outbreak is a major tornado outbreak currently ongoing over a large section of the Southern United States into the Ohio Valley region. The storms have resulted in at least 37 fatalities.[1] It is the deadliest US tornado outbreak in March since at least the 1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak, which killed 40.[2] - A major tornado outbreak struck the region less than 72 hours prior to this storm, killing 13 people, including 6 in Harrisburg, Illinois alone, the result of an EF4 Tornado. A moderate risk of severe weather was issued for March 2 a day in advance for a large area from near Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Dayton, Ohio as an intense storm system tracked across the region in a very high shear environment.[3] Intense tornadoes were possible.[3] On the morning of March 2, it was upgraded and a high risk of severe weather was issued for Middle Tennessee and central Kentucky, later extended into Central and Southern Indiana and southern Ohio.[4][5] The Storm Prediction Center mentioned the potential for significant tornadoes.[5] Multiple PDS tornado watches were issued shortly thereafter.[6][7] - Early March 2012 tornado outbreak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Storm Prediction Center Tornado Watch 66: EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FROM 1055 PM
UNTIL 500 AM CST. (March 2 & 3)
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.*****THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 85 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF MOBILE ALABAMA TO 5 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF LA GRANGE GEORGIA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU6).*****REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
Storm Prediction Center - Current Convective Watches
NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
UPDATE
(BBC; 3 March 2012, 18:00 ET)
A school bus is crushed into a business on the east side of U.S. 31 in Henryville, Ind., after powerful storms stretching from the U.S. Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes in the north wrecked two small towns and killed at least eight people Friday, March 2. | C.E. Branham | photoblog.msnbc.msn.com
US authorities in several Midwestern states are searching for survivors and clearing damage after a string of powerful storms and tornadoes left at least 37 people dead.
A total of 90 tornadoes and 700 severe weather events were reported on Friday.
-- Correspondents say it will be impossible to make an immediate assessment of the full extent of the damage.
Tornadoes occur all year round in the US, although the strength of this week's storms was unusual for the time of year - the peak period is March to May in the southern US and later further north.
'Completely gone'
At least 18 people died in Kentucky, reports said, and another 14 in neighbouring Indiana.
The small town of Marysville, Indiana, was almost completely destroyed, with the town's water tower one of the few buildings to remain undamaged, local reports said.
Clark County Sheriff Danny Rodden said that residents had been warned of oncoming storms but added: "This was the worst-case scenario. There's no way you can prepare for something like this."
...A toddler was in a critical condition in hospital in Kentucky after being found alive and alone in a field near the town of Salem, southern Indiana... (the girl, Angel Babcock, later died)
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