Meteorologists say warmer weather has brought unusual November weather to the central Midwest: tornadoes.
The National Weather Service said Tuesday that as many as four tornadoes were reported afternoon in central and northeast Iowa on Monday, while three were spotted a day earlier in south-central Nebraska. The storms caused light damage and no injuries in both states, authorities said.
Tornadoes aren’t seen so far north and west most years in late fall, said Rich Thompson, lead forecaster for the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. He blamed warmer weather this year for allowing a northern shift of a typical late-fall storm track.
“Usually it’s just cold and the storm track shifts south,” Thompson said.
November tornadoes in Nebraska are especially unusual. Only seven have been confirmed in Nebraska since 1950, including the three on Sunday, though others may have gone unseen or unreported over the years, according to weather service meteorologist Mike Moritz.
For Iowa, 41 confirmed tornadoes hit in November from 1980 through 2015, according to weather service data.
Thompson said most of the nation’s tornado danger in late fall is in the Deep South, noting a Monday report of a tornado sighting in Louisiana. Weather service statistics show that from 1950 through 2014, Texas had the most confirmed November tornadoes, followed by Alabama and Mississippi.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OMAHA, Neb. — Nov 29, 2016, 5:51 PM ET
