The town of Joplin, Mo., might be hit by a 2nd tornado days after being savaged by a tornado that killed more than a hundred individuals. Weather reports reveal a storm front is converging on the lower Midwest which will bring heavy rain, winds and a strong likelihood of tornadoes. A five state area is presently at risk of tornado outbreak.
Tornado risk extremely high in five states
MSNBC explains that a storm system has produced tornadoes already after starting in the south of the United States and continuing with more tornadoes after hitting Joplin, Mo., on Sunday, May 22 and killing 116. People are warned with a thunderstorm advisory to watch for strong winds, tornadoes and hail in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and the northeast corner of Texas. The tornado risk was commented on by a National Weather Service official. The official said the risk is "not through … not by a long shot." USA Today reports that there's a chance a tornado may hit just as bad as the one that hit Joplin. As the week progresses on, the chance will go down though.
Huge storms during La Nina
Tornadoes have been the cause of 482 deaths this year. The increased strength of storm systems and tornadoes is being credited to La Niña, a periodic weather phenomenon brought on when the tropical Pacific Ocean cools. When the Pacific cools, jet streams become stronger because of more cool air increasing to the atmosphere, causing storm systems to become more severe and increasingly prone to tornadoes. Even though the tornado outbreaks in the Midwest have been terrible, they're ordinary storms, reports Yahoo News. Tornadoes typically take place in low pressure systems which will develop as a weather pattern in areas. These patterns don't just change very effortlessly. Last month, several tornadoes tore across several states and killed more than 300 individuals.
Billions in insurance to be lost
Insurance companies are projected to post losses in the billions, according to Reuters. The recent Mississippi river flooding and other natural disasters in the United States for instance tornado outbreaks are anticipated to cost various insurance companies up to $10 billion this year, compared to a normal year's outlays of $2 billion to $4 billion. All of the insurance companies in the world might have to pay up to $55 billion this year. This is just for the damage the New Zealand and Japan earthquake have caused. There have been 1,151 tornadoes in 2011, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is busy rebuilding weather battered towns. Since 1947, the Joplin tornado is the deadliest one that has hit. In 1947, 181 individuals were killed in Woodward, Okla., from a tornado. The Joplin tornado was, at one point, three-quarters of a mile across and generated wind speeds of almost 200 miles an hour.
Citations
MSNBC
msnbc.msn.com/id/43147795/ns/weather/
USA Today
usatoday.com/weather/storms/tornadoes/2011-05-23-tornadoes-hit-plains_n.htm
Yahoo News
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_sci_midwest_storms_science;_ylt=AjjcCUBXXogIBRiQGeOupzqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNjM21oOHRnBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwNTI0L3VzX21pZHdlc3Rfc3Rvcm1zBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDNgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDcmVsYXRlZA--
Reuters
reuters.com/article/2011/05/24/us-insurance-disasters-idUSTRE74M6GH20110524
