Four dead and at least 35 injured as Iowa town hit by tornado.

Four people have been confirmed dead and at least 35 have been injured after a tornado hit the town of Greenfield in Adair County, Iowa, on Tuesday 21 May 2024. The tornado carved a 1.6 km path through the town, damaging or destroying 153 homes, including the the town's hospital, and leaving much of the town without power. Volunteers have come from across the State of Iowa to bring emergency supplies and help with the clean-up effort.

Damage caused by a tornado that hit the town of Greenfield in Iowa on Tuesday 21 May 2024. Cody Scanlan/Des Moines Register.

The tornado is estimated to have been a four on the enhance Fujita scale (or an EF-4 tornado); such a tornado will produce sustained windspeeds of 333–418 km per hour, potentially strong enough to damage even well-built structures, with frame homes completely destroyed and cars thrown like missiles. 

Tornadoes are formed by winds within large thunderstorms called super cells. Supercells are large masses of warm water-laden air formed by hot weather over the sea, when they encounter winds at high altitudes the air within them begins to rotate. The air pressure will drop within these zones of rotation, causing the air within them so rise, sucking the air beneath them up into the storm, this creates a zone of rotating rising air that appears to extend downwards as it grows; when it hits the ground it is called a tornado. 

Tornadoes can occur anywhere in the world, but are most common, and most severe, in the area of the American mid-west known as 'Tornado Ally', running from Texas to Minnesota, which is fuelled by moist air currents from over the warm enclosed waters of the Gulf of Mexico interacting with cool fast moving jet stream winds from the Rocky Mountains. Many climatologists are concerned that rising temperatures over the Gulf of Mexico will lead to more frequent and more severe tornado events.

Simplified diagram of the air currents that contribute to tornado formation in Tornado Alley. Dan Craggs/Wikimedia Commons/NOAA.

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Dust devil observed from the surface of Mars.

NASA's  Perseverance Rover has observed and recorded an dust devil from the surface of Mars. These storms are well recorded from space-based observations made by satellites orbiting Mars, but ground-based observations are much rarer, in part because rovers on Mars are usually closed down when dust storms approach them, to prevent them from being damaged.

NASA’s Perseverance rover captured this Martian dust devil moving east to west at a speed of about 19 kmph along Thorofare Ridge on  30 August 2023. The video has been sped up 20 times, is composed of 21 frames taken four seconds apart, and has been digitally enhanced in order to show maximal detail. NASA/JPL/Caltech.

Dust devils are a phenomenom known on Earth as well as Mars, although the lower gravity and thinner atmosphere of Mars means that the Martian devils tend to be both taller and slower moving than their Earthly equivalents. This storm was about 4 km away from the rover when it was observed, and was moving along a portion of the western rim of Jezero Crater known as Thorofare Ridge at a speed of about 19 kmph. The storm of the dust devil is not visible, but based upon its shadow, it is estimated to have been about 2 km high, with the basal portion being about 60 m wide.

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One person dead after tornado hits town in Switzerland.

 One person has died and another fifteen people have been injured on the morning of Monday 24 July 2023, after a tornado hit the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds in Neuchâtel Canton, Switzerland, close to the border with France. The person killed is described as having been in their fifties, and to have died when they were hit by a falling crane from a construction site. Damage has been reported to a village hall, a church, a school and about fifteen houses in Switzerland, and about thirty houses on the French side of the border, although no injuries have been reported in France. The storm is reported to have been associated with a thunderstorm which swept along the north side of the Jura Mountains, bringing with it winds gusting at up to 217 km per hour.

A house damaged by a tornado in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, on 24 July 2023. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP.

Thunderstorms occur when warm, moist bodies of air encounter cooler, drier air packages. The warm air rises over the cooler air until it rises above its dew point (the point where it cools to far to retain its water content as vapour), and the water precipitates out, falling as rain, sleet or hail. Warm moist air passing over the surface of the Earth acts as an electrical generator, creating a negative charge in the cloud tops and a positive charge at the ground (or occasionally in a second cloud layer). The atmosphere acts as an electrical insulator, allowing this potential to build up, until water begins to precipitate out. This allows a channel of ionised air to form, carrying a current between the clouds and the ground, which we perceive as lightning.

Tornadoes are formed by winds within large thunderstorms called super cells. Supercells are large masses of warm water-laden air formed by hot weather over the sea, when they encounter winds at high altitudes the air within them begins to rotate. The air pressure will drop within these zones of rotation, causing the air within them so rise, sucking the air beneath them up into the storm, this creates a zone of rotating rising air that appears to extend downwards as it grows; when it hits the ground it is called a tornado. 

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Tornadoes and flooding kill at least seven in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

At least seven people have died and many more have been injured as tornadoes and severe storms swept across the southern United States on Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 April 2020. At least three people died and more than twenty were injured when a tornado hit the town of Onalaska in Polk County, Texas, destroying 46 houses and damaging 245 more. Two people died in the city of Madill in Marshall County, Oklahoma, which is reported to have suffered severe damage after being hit by a tornado. In Louisiana a man is reported to have died after falling into a drainage ditch in the city of Mansfield in DeSoto Parish, and a woman is reported to have died in a storm in the town of Lecompte in Rapids Parish. Elsewhere the city of Adel in Cook County, Georgia, is reported to have suffered damage to a number of properties after being hit by a tornado, as is the city of Tallahassee, in Leon County, Florida. In Alabama two emergency workers are reported to have been injured by a falling tree in the city of Anniston in Calhoun County, while attempting to rescue a homeowner trapped by an earlier treefall. Around 150 000 homes and businesses across the southern US are reported to be without electricity due to fallen power lines.

A tornado over the city of Madrill, Oklahoma, at about 5.00 pm local time on Wednesday 22 April 2020. NBC.

Tornadoes are formed by winds within large thunder storms called super cells. Supercells are large masses of warm water-laden air formed by hot weather over the sea, when they encounter winds at high altitudes the air within them begins to rotate. The air pressure will drop within these zones of rotation, causing the air within them so rise, sucking the air beneath them up into the storm, this creates a zone of rotating rising air that appears to extend downwards as it grows; when it hits the ground it is called a tornado.

Tornado damage in Woodworth, Louisiana. USA Today.

Tornadoes can occur anywhere in the world, but are most common, and most severe, in the area of the American mid-west known as 'Tornado Ally', running from Texas to Minnesota, which is fuelled by moist air currents from over the warm enclosed waters of the Gulf of Mexico interacting with cool fast moving jet stream winds from the Rocky Mountains. Many climatologists are concerned that rising temperatures over the Gulf of Mexico will lead to more frequent and more severe tornado events.

Simplified diagram of the air currents that contribute to tornado formation in Tornado Alley. Dan Craggs/Wikimedia Commons/NOAA.

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Tornadoes kill at least eight in Mississippi and Arkasas.

At least seven people have died as a series of tornadoes swept across Mississippi on Sunday 12 April 2020, with another person having lost their life in a storm in Arkansas. The storms also hit Louisiana, where over 200 homes were destroyed, as well as Florida, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa. As well as the obvious wind-damage the storms caused widespread flooding, and disruption to power distribution networks, with about 750 000 people across ten states losing electricity supplies.

The remains of a house in Monroe City, Louisiana, where between 200 and 300 homes were destroyed by a tornado on Sunday 12 April 2020. Monroe City/Facebook.

Tornadoes are formed by winds within large thunder storms called super cells. Supercells are large masses of warm water-laden air formed by hot weather over the sea, when they encounter winds at high altitudes the air within them begins to rotate. The air pressure will drop within these zones of rotation, causing the air within them so rise, sucking the air beneath them up into the storm, this creates a zone of rotating rising air that appears to extend downwards as it grows; when it hits the ground it is called a tornado. 

Tornadoes can occur anywhere in the world, but are most common, and most severe, in the area of the American mid-west known as 'Tornado Ally', running from Texas to Minnisota, which is fuelled by moist air currents from over the warm enclosed waters of the Gulf of Mexico interacting with cool fast moving jet stream winds from the Rocky Mountains. Many climatologists are concerned that rising temperatures over the Gulf of Mexico will lead to more frequent and more severe tornado events.

 Simplified diagram of the air currents that contribute to tornado formation in Tornado Alley. Dan Craggs/Wikimedia Commons/NOAA.

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Tornado injures six in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

Six people have been injured and a number of buildings destroyed after a tornado swept across the city of Jonesboro in Craighead County, Arkansas, on Saturday 28 March 2020. The incident happened at about 5.00 pm local time, and flattened a number of houses as well as damaging businesses, destroying cars, and derailing a train. Tornadoes were also reported at several more locations in Arkansas and Iowa on the same day, but no other significant damage has been recorded.

Tornado sweeping through the city of Jonesboro, Arkansas, on Saturday 28 March 2020. Reuters.

Tornadoes are formed by winds within large thunder storms called super cells. Supercells are large masses of warm water-laden air formed by hot weather over the sea, when they encounter winds at high altitudes the air within them begins to rotate. The air pressure will drop within these zones of rotation, causing the air within them so rise, sucking the air beneath them up into the storm, this creates a zone of rotating rising air that appears to extend downwards as it grows; when it hits the ground it is called a tornado.

Damage caused by a tornado in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on Saturday 28 March 2020. CNN.

Tornadoes can occur anywhere in the world, but are most common, and most severe, in the area of the American mid-west known as 'Tornado Ally', running from Texas to Minnisota, which is fuelled by moist air currents from over the warm enclosed waters of the Gulf of Mexico interacting with cool fast moving jet stream winds from the Rocky Mountains. Many climatologists are concerned that rising temperatures over the Gulf of Mexico will lead to more frequent and more severe tornado events.

Simplified diagram of the air currents that contribute to tornado formation in Tornado Alley. Dan Craggs/Wikimedia Commons/NOAA.

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