Deadly February severe weather

 

Severe weather for parts of the Deep South today (Source: NOAA)

 “Severe weather” is defined as a thunderstorm that contains any of the following: hail 1” in diameter or larger; wind gusts of 58 mph or greater; or a tornado. Severe weather is less common in the United States during the colder winter months than it is during the rest of the year. However, it’s more frequent during February as compared to December or January.  

When severe weather does occur in February, it can most often be found on or near the Gulf Coast. That’s because weather conditions are more favorable for it there than other parts of the country. Nevertheless, some February outbreaks have occurred in other parts of the United States, making them very unusual.

2023: A two-day severe weather event occurred across the Midwest and into the Ohio Valley on February 26-27. Over 300 severe weather reports were recorded by NOAA with the majority being severe wind gusts.  Wind gusts as high as 95 mph was observed in Jetmore, Kansas, and 114 mph in Memphis, TX. A total of 32 tornadoes were also recorded by NOAA. Fortunately, there were no fatalities.

2020:  A rare severe weather outbreak occurred on February 7 in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The National Weather Service confirmed that five tornadoes touched down between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. in the DC Metro Area. Maryland, Virginia and DC don’t typically see tornadoes during the month of February.  

An EF0 occurred in Leesburg, Virginia and had winds of 85 mph. It was on the ground for three minutes with a track of 3.3 miles. According to National Weather Service records, this tornado broke the previous record of April 16 (1993, 2011) for earliest Loudoun County tornado.

There also was an EF1 in Montgomery County, Maryland, near the town of Dickerson that had wind speeds of 95 mph and a track of a mile. Two more EF1 tornadoes occurred: one each in Frederick and Carroll counties.

2016:  An even larger severe weather outbreak occurred on February 24. More than 30 tornadoes touched down between Pennsylvania and Florida. There were three confirmed fatalities due to an EF1 tornado in Sussex County, Virginia. A powerful EF2 tornado with 125 mph winds also occurred in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. That followed the nearly 70 tornadoes that developed on February 23 along the U.S. Gulf Coast, which caused a total of six fatalities.

2008:  A severe weather outbreak from February 4 – 6 included over 600 cases confirmed by NOAA, with more than 130 tornadoes. The most active of the three-day period was February 5 when over 500 cases of severe weather were reported from Texas to West Virginia. A severe weather outbreak that covers that much geography is more common in April or May. What made this severe weather outbreak especially tragic was that 28 people lost their lives.