Hyperactive tornado season continues with Memorial weekend twisters
As of May 28, the NOAA has recorded 1,016 tornado reports for 2024.
A severe weather outbreak over Memorial Day weekend spawned several tornadoes that killed at least 22 people across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky, devastated communities and left hundreds of thousands without power.
The spree of bad weather began Friday, May 24. The storm dropped four confirmed tornadoes in North Texas before moving eastward – including at least two EF3 twisters; one northeast of Celina that saw 165 mph winds, and another that moved from Montague County, to Cooke County and then Denton County with winds that hit 135 mph.
The storm system dropped a tornado in western Kentucky on Sunday that came dangerously close to many areas that were hit by an EF4 tornado in December 2021. The 2021 twister was on the ground for four hours and traveled around 200 miles. It caused an estimated $3.5 billion in damage, in particular to the cities of Mayfield and Dawson Springs, Kentucky. Sunday’s tornado mostly spared both of these cities, but devastated the small community of Charleston; less than five miles north of Dawson Springs.
As of May 28, the NOAA has recorded 1,016 tornado reports for 2024, including 55 that were possibly EF2 or higher. This is the second highest number of tornadoes recorded to-date in a year behind only 2011. Hail and wind have also played significant roles in storm damage across the U.S. this year, with 4,613 reports of wind damage and 3,146 severe hail (above one inch in diameter) reports so far.
Prior to the most recent storm outbreaks, April had seen the highest number of severe weather reports in 2024 with a total of 384 tornadoes, 1,294 severe wind reports and 758 reports of severe hail. With a couple of days still to go in the month, May has preliminarily managed to eclipse those numbers with 469 tornadoes, 3,475 reports of severe wind and 1,640 reports of severe hail.
States of emergency have been declared in many of the affected areas, including parts of Kentucky, Iowa and Texas.
At this time, the total amount of damage done by these holiday weekend storms is yet to be determined, but officials have offered guidance for those affected.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear encouraged citizens to take photographs of their property before beginning clean up and to report their damage to local county emergency management officials.
The Kentucky Department of Insurance also offers the following tips for those who have storm damage:
- Contact your insurance agent as soon as possible to file a damage claim.
- Take action to prevent further damage to your property by covering holes in the roof or broken windows, and removing as much water as possible from the house. Do not make permanent repairs until your claims adjuster has inspected the property.
- When the adjuster arrives, be sure to ask them for identification and keep a note of their name, local phone number and company.
- Move important papers and other items not covered by insurance to a secure location.
- Create a detailed list of damaged items.
- Keep all of your receipts (for tarps, wet/dry vacuums, etc.) and document the time spent securing your property.
- Avoid contractor scams by only dealing with reputable licensed and insured local contractors. When you’ve chosen a contractor, insist on a written contract that includes a description of the work to be completed, the total cost and the completion date.