Today is the anniversary of one of the most significant tornado outbreaks in U.S. history and also the anniversary of the seventh deadliest American twister. On April 24, 1908, a total of eighteen tornadoes ripped across the landscape of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. The outbreak actually lasted into the early morning hours of the 25th in Georgia.

The action started before dawn in Mississippi and Tennessee. The first killer tornado of the day touched down in Rapides Parish in Louisiana. It would be the first of a family of tornadoes that carved a 105 mile path all the way into Mississippi. The tornadoes is infamous for the number of plantations that it destroyed. The tornado crossed the Mississippi River near Vidalia, Louisiana, passing just north of Natchez. Reports indicated that many antebellum homes resembled a deserted battlefield after the storm. A total of 91 people died in these storms.

The deadliest tornado event of the day touched down about 11:45 a.m. in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. This family of tornadoes would result in the deaths of 143 people along a 155 mile path. This makes it the seventh deadliest tornado family in U.S. history. At Amite in Tangipahoa Parish, the twister was reportedly two miles wide, and twenty nine people perished in the storm. Crossing into Mississippi, the F4 tornado fell with hellish fury on the small town of Purvis in Lamar County. The town was reportedly “leveled to the ground” and fifty five people were killed.

During the afternoon hours, the action shifted to Alabama. A tornado touched down in southeastern Walker County near Dora at 2:40 p.m. It killed twelve people at Bergens, which was mostly destroyed. It moved into northern Jefferson County, resulting in fatalities near Warrior. The F4 tornado chewed across the southern side of Albertville in Marshall County, where fifteen people perished. Another killer tornado struck Cherokee County during the early evening.

A total of 310 people died in the outbreak, including 155 in Mississippi.

One of my favorite things about this blog is that we can sit down at the keyboard and "chat" with you--almost like it is on a one-to-one basis at the kitchen table while enjoying a fresh cup of coffee or a good cold Buffalo Rock. (For you that are out of this region, Buffalo Rock is a ginger ale soft drink bottled in Birmingham. It has been my favorite since I was a kid)

Since my fingers are itchy to hit the keyboard--I love to read and write-- here are some thoughts I wanted to expunge. (Some worthless)

GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY
After I had to totally ignore Little Miss Molly yesterday, she was determined that it would not happen a second day in a row. I was still asleep this morning when she became airborne and landed on the king-sized bed, plowed under the sheet and grabbed my wrist wanting to play. Reminded me of an airplane coming in for a landing and skidding on the runway. Only her rear end and tail was visible and that little tail was swishing. Sure enjoyed our early walk facing that biting NW wind. She was extremely assertive and wanted to stay out forever. Two old crows were furnishing the only music. First crows we had seen in two weeks...strange how they disappear at times, only to return.

GREAT THUNDERSTORM PICTURE
Many thanks to Gina Ritter for emailing a very interesting photograph of a distant thunderstorm last night. I think James used it on the 10 o'clock news and you can also see it on todays video update by Brian Peters. Gina took the picture around 7:30 pm looking toward the SE. The NWS had just issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Jefferson County and the thunderstorm was centered NW of Hueytown. This means that Gina was looking at that storm from 45 to 50 air miles away. She lives in Nauvoo which is way up in NW Walker County along the Winston County line...or about 15 miles NW of Jasper.

SPEAKING OF WARNINGS
I counted 31 warnings that the NWS, Birmingham issued from 6 o'clock last evening until the storms moved away late last night. But there were also warnings before 6. This also does not count warnings issued by the NWS in Huntsville and Mobile. Busy, busy time. Had to be at least 60 different warnings in the state--almost all of them Severe Thunderstorm.

AND THIS RARE TORNADO WARNING
It was issued late Saturday afternoon by the NWS in Pendleton, Oregon for a county in Southern Washington. A trained storm spotter actually spotted the tornado on the ground near Toppenish, Washington.

CAN'T ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS
I personally wish I could answer all questions posted in the comments section of this blog...especially during times of severe weather. It is physically impossible. We are so busy in those times that we don't even have time to scratch our head.

THANKS TO BILL MURRAY
He did the Friday Afternoon E-Forecast, 7-day discussion and the weatherfax for me...otherwise I could not have made it. During times of severe weather, I also do radio coverage for the Cox Radio downtown stations while David Black does the Red Mountain group. If a tornado warning is out for Jefferson or surrounding counties, we go into wall-to-wall coverage which can take a big block of time. Bill also did a great job keeping the 7-day discussion updated.

A NICE SNOW FOR THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
It is going to happen overnight tonight and early Sunday. The NWS, Knoxville, says as much as five inches will accumulate. This is especially true for the higher elevations such as Clingman's Dome, Mt. Leconte and Newfound Gap. The wind will be gusting close to 50 mph at times and the wind chill will fall into the teens. Up in extreme NE Tennessee, snow was already occurring at Stone Mountain, in Johnson County at midday. This is near Mountain City, Tennessee. As much as 6 inches could accumulate across that area.

Enough of my babbling. I am outta here for my 8th cup of fresh coffee for the day...

I've posted the video update for April 23. I featured a picture sent in by Gina Ritter of a thunderstorm over Jefferson County as seen from Nauvoo. Really a great example of the isolated nature of the thunderstorms yesterday.

With a uni-directional flow thunderstorms simply did not rotate. A couple of thunderstorms showed rotation - on in the Montgomery area and one in extreme northern Cherokee County - but no tornadoes reported in Alabama to my knowledge.

Hail was the big thing in Alabama - and nationwide, too. SPC logged 171 hail reports. Many of those from Alabama fell in the three-quarter inch to one inch category with some reaching golfball size.

The isolated nature of the storms meant that everyone did not get rain. I only recorded 28 hundredths of an inch at my house. Most rainfall reports I saw were less than a half inch. Horseshoe Bend in Tallapoosa County reported nearly an inch (0.98" ) for the greatest amount I saw.

Windy today as the pressure gradient remains tight while the low pressure center pulls northeast away from us. The mixing that accompanies the wind will help to keep temperatures up tonight and early Sunday morning which means we probably won't see widespread freezing temperatures. Could still be nippy with frost possible Monday morning especially if the wind dies off.

Have a great weekend.

-Brian-