Tornadoes Hit Midwest

Tornadoes ripped through parts of the Midwest Friday night. Powerful storms created funnel clouds in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota, causing injuries to people and totaling impressive amounts of property damage. According to the National Weather Service, a two mile wide tornado tore through the town of Wayne, Nebraska. Other tornadoes were also spotted near Sioux City, Iowa, Jefferson, S.D., and Moville, Iowa. Thankfully no one was killed during the storms and the people injured do not appear to have life threatening injuries.



Tornadoes are defined as narrow, rotating column of air that extends to the ground. They are caused by the contrast of air masses, heating and cooling, and low-pressure forming near the ground. Friday's tornadoes damaged several local homes, businesses, and wreaked havoc on state and local parks. Tornadoes in places such as Nebraska are more frequent during the summer months and they are much more infrequent at this time of year. The tornadoes came at an odd time in other respects as well. Winter storms have hit the Rocky Mountain states hard over the past few days and Tropical Storm Karen is close to making landfall in the southeast. The powerful storms are just another reminder that the world's climate is continuing to change and powerful storms such as these could possibly become more severe in our near future.

Sources:
http://www.weather.com/news/midwest-severe-weather-tornado-destroys-multiple-homes-nebraska-20131004
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/04/us/nebraska-tornado-western-storms/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Smith, Keith. Environmental Hazards: Assessing Risk and Reducing Disaster. Sixth Edition. (New York: Taylor and Francis Group, 2013). 247.