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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
The recent tornado outbreaks and flooding events of April 2011 in the regions of the Mississippi and Ohio River basins (MORB) had a strong impact in the lives of the afflicted communities. The floods and the hundreds of tornadoes spotted in a few days destroyed thousands of homes, killed more than 300 people, damaged the electricity grid, and led to states of disaster. The magnitude of these events points to extreme climate conditions in the MORB region during the past spring. Yet, tornado outbreaks in the MORB region have occurred before. In this presentation we discuss the climatological factors that influence tornadic activity and precipitation extremes in the MORB region. The discussion is based on a recent publication by Muņoz and Enfield (2011), (http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00382-009-0688-3), which analyzes tornado activity and precipitation extremes in the MORB region in the months of March-April for the past 57 years.The recent extreme events are discussed with respect to the findings documented in Muņoz and Enfield (2011) and other relevant studies.The potential of climate monitoring is also introduced.
Host: Matthew Hecht, email: mhecht@lanl.gov