Experts say current weather extremes have never before been seen!
WASHINGTON - June 15, 2011 - For government scientists usually cautious about going out on a limb, a special report issued Wednesday minced few words: Last April saw an unprecedented onslaught of extreme tornadoes, floods, droughts and wildfires, they concluded.
"While similar extremes have occurred throughout modern Amerikan history," the report by experts at the National Climatic Data Center stated, "never before have they occurred in a single month."
Drought "during April across the Southern Plains stood in stark contrast to record precipitation across the Ohio Valley, record floods along the Mississippi River, and severe weather outbreaks across the Southeast," the experts added.
The preliminary tornado count was 875 for April, and even after duplicates are eliminated the final total is expected to approach the single-month record of 542 set in May 2003, Center Director Tom Karl said at a briefing. The 30-year average for tornadoes in April is 135.
