This Past Weeks Tornado Outbreak at a Glance

A developing intense low pressure system resulted in an unstable air mass over parts of the Southern United States on October 24. The most intense tornado hit Rice, Texas where a high school was heavily damaged(see a youtube video by clicking the title of this tornado by Jason Mclaughlin) and several people were reported to be injured. That tornado was rated as an EF2. Another notable tornado, an EF1, hit Mobile, Alabama early on October 25.

There were a total of 74 confirmed tornadoes so far. 38 EF0s, 28 EF1s, and 8 EF2s
Of the 74 12 have been confirmed in Alabama.

As the low explosively deepened to become the most intense extra tropical low of non-tropical origins ever recorded in the continental United States, reaching as low as 953 mb (this is a record) over northern Minnesota this was basically like an inland medium-sized Category 3 hurricane, (just like the movie Day After Tomorrow) storms developed on the associated cold front late on October 25. A high risk of severe storms, the FIRST to be issued in OCTOBER since October 24, 2001 and the first in any fall month since November 15, 2005, was issued for parts of the Midwest including most of Indiana early on October 26, with both a tornado outbreak ahead of the front and a major derecho event as well was expected from the Gulf Coast to the upper Great Lakes. That morning, a few tornadoes struck, primarily around Lake Michigan, including a confirmed EF2 tornado four miles east of Peotone, Illinois, and another EF2 in Cridersville, Ohio, with more tornadoes reported near the Ohio River. Later that day, a confirmed EF1 tornado struck Middlesboro, Kentucky.In addition, widespread intense wind damage was also reported from Mississippi northward to Michigan.
The cold front tracked eastward on October 27 as the storm weakened. Additional tornadoes developed across the Mid-Atlantic states as the atmosphere remained unstable.In the end, it was one of the largest October tornado outbreaks ever recorded, even though none of the tornadoes were stronger than EF2.
We had a total of 18 confirmed tornadoes in Alabama for all of 2010 until the Oct 25th-27th outbreak when we dded 10 more to that. We are not even in our secondary tornado season yet so many more tornadoes may come before the end of the year. This is Alabama and we have been known for our warm and stormy Winters so stay weather aware.