The start of 2017 has already been a very active and tragic year in weather. The Weather Channel stated that, “the number of severe weather reports is more than double the average to date.” As of May 3^rd, there has been a reported preliminary count of 650 tornadoes. Leading, for the most confirmed tornadoes so far this year, is Georgia. They have had 55 confirmed tornadoes, as of April 5^th. The state of Georgia also broke its record for the most tornadoes in a two-day span from the severe weather outbreak that occurred on January 21^st & 22^nd. Tragically, there have been 32 deaths related to tornadoes, 16 of those in the state of Georgia alone. Furthermore, The Weather Channel also states that the, “severe thunderstorms are largely responsible for the record number of U.S. billion-dollar weather-related disasters in the first three months of 2017.” Not only has this severe weather season been very active, it has also been slightly unusual. The states of Massachusetts and Wisconsin both have had tornadoes reported; the earliest in a year since their record-keeping began.

This proves the fact that severe weather can happen almost anywhere and anytime; the time to be prepared is now. With the year not even halfway over, we can expect to see even more severe weather. Is your community’s warning system up to date and ready? Give us a call today and we will get to work on your early warning system! 

Sources:

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/monthly/newm.html

https://weather.com/storms/tornado/news/tornadoes-january-february-march-2017-fast-start

https://weather.com/storms/tornado/news/severe-weather-hail-tornado-wind-damage-2017-mid-april

https://weather.com/storms/tornado/news/georgia-most-tornadoes-so-far-2017