How 2024 became such an exceptional year for tornadoes

Experts say 2024’s tornado outbreaks set it apart, even in a year full of extreme weather. The U.S. recorded the highest number of tornadoes in a decade.

In a year full of extreme weather, experts say 2024’s spate of tornado outbreaks, in particular, set it apart.

From January through November (the latest month for which official counts are available), the U.S. recorded 1,762 tornadoes — the highest number in a decade, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The twisters tended to be strong and destructive, the records show, especially the unusually powerful tornadoes that spawned from Hurricane Milton in October.

“It was kind of like death by 1,000 paper cuts,” said Victor Gensini, a professor of meteorology at Northern Illinois University. “We didn’t have an unprecedented number of violent tornadoes, and there wasn’t a month with absolutely stellar activity — outbreak after outbreak after outbreak — but when you start aggregating them all together, what you get is a pretty significant year for severe weather.”

Tornado outbreaks were among the nation’s costliest weather and climate disasters this year. As of Nov. 1, NOAA had tallied a total of 24 weather disasters that each caused at least $1 billion in damage. Of those events, six were tornado outbreaks, including a cluster of storms over three days in July that produced more than 79 tornadoes across Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and New York. An outbreak that hit Iowa in May also made the list — it spawned a devastating tornado that killed five people and cut a 44-mile path across the southeastern part of the state.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/2024-tornado-outbreaks-activity-high-rcna185446

---