Tornadoes of 2008 - Synopsis

Synopsis

The winter months of January and February (usually a fairly quiet time of year for severe weather) were unusually active in 2008 in the US, with several major outbreaks taking place. The first major outbreak took place on the week of January 7, which was unusually far north for January. February saw a new record for tornadoes in that month, with one of the most prolific outbreaks in recent years (and the deadliest since 1985) taking place on February 5, and three smaller outbreaks also taking place later in the month. March was also fairly active, but not at record levels. Steady activity in the first week of the month, an outbreak on March 15 and additional activity at month's end were mostly responsible. April was also active, which was due to steady tornado activity throughout the month despite the fact there were no prolific outbreaks.

From the beginning of May until mid-June, severe weather was frequent and widespread across the US. Beginning with a significant outbreak on May 2, there were many major outbreaks over that period with smaller outbreaks occurring almost daily. Over that six-week period, well over 600 tornadoes were reported in the US, with many destructive tornadoes over that time frame. The worst tornado events were on May 10, May 22–23, May 25 and June 11.

After that, activity calmed down somewhat to a more normal pace in the second half of June and into July with several smaller severe weather events. The summer and early fall months from July to September ran somewhat above average in the US; tropical cyclones and their remnants were mostly responsible from mid-August through mid-September, particularly from Tropical Storm Fay, Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike which each resulted in large numbers of tornadoes (mostly weak). Activity dropped significantly in October, with below normal activity and no major outbreaks. The relative inactivity continued into November, which was also below normal. Activity returned to a slightly above normal rate in December, with most of the activity in mid-month.

Overseas, the months of July and August were quite active in Europe though, with several significant tornado events, including at least one major outbreak.

NOAA concluded there "is no evidence for a detected change in tornado activity to date due to greenhouse gas emission increases."