Tornado update
As ground surveys continue, portrait of a monster emerges.
Looking at the early results of the storm surveys, it's frighteningly easy to understand how last week's tornado outbreak in the Southeast became the deadliest since 1950.
It may be some time before the final death toll is certified, but the recent estimates are pushing it toward 350.
It's also going to take awhile to get an official count of the numbers of twisters.
The National Weather Service in Birmingham, Ala., this morning posted updates on the findings of its survey teams, and what they show is the portrait of one of the most-monstrous events ever orchestrated by the atmosphere.
At least one EF-5 -- the most-powerful category on the Enhanced Fujita scale -- has been verified in nothwestern Alabama. It took out thousands of trees and destroyed at least 100 buildings.
The EF-5 designation means the storm had winds of at least 200 m.p.h. The scale stops at 200, but keep in mind that a Doppler unit measured a peak wind of 318 m.p.h. in a twister in 1999.
Weather service investigators also documented that an EF-4 with winds up to 190 m.p.h. traveled all the way from southwest of Tuscaloosa to Birmingham.
It cut an incredibly wide 1.5-mile path along the way -- that's roughly the distance from Rittenhouse Square to the Delaware River.
That one, alone, was blamed fopr 65 deaths.
The preliminary tornado count for the outbreak was 211, and the most-recent monthly estimate for April nationwide stood at 871.
Coming into this year, the April record for the whole nation was 267, set in 1974. It has been one horrific season.
For the latest on the storm surveys, see the Birmingham weather service site.