Wisconsin Feb. 1st, 2011
tornado damage tuscaloosa, al
Tuscaloosa, Alabama tornado damage.

2011 had some pretty ridiculous weather and ended up a historic extreme weather year.  811 inches of snow in Squaw Valley, extreme drought, monster floods, EF-5 tornados, wildfires, heat waves, hurricanes, & big snow in big cities.  There were 12 extreme weather situations in 2011 that caused $1 billion damages or more.  The most being $10.2 billion, the least being right around $1 billion.  Lives, property, and futures were lost.  It was a remarkable year for extreme weather and Noaa.gov is working on improving warning systems to protect life and property.

 

#1 – Ground Hog Day Blizzard in East/Northeast 

Wisconsin Feb. 1st, 2011

– January 29th- February 3rd

– 2 Feet of snow in Chicago

– 36 Deaths

– $1.8+ billion in damages

 

#2 – Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes (April 4-5)

tornado house damage
Tornado damage in Franklington, Louisiana

– 46 Tornadoes in Central & Southern States

– 9 deaths

– $2.8+ billion in damages

 

 #3 –  Southeast/Midwest Tornadoes (April 8-11)

Tornado damage near Arthur, Iowa

– 56 tornadoes in Central & Southern States

– 0 deaths

– $2.2+ billion in damages

 

#4 – Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes (April 14-18)

tornado takes out town
Tornado damage in Gloucester County, Virginia

– 177 tornadoes in Central & Southern States

– 38 deaths (22 in North Carolina)

– $2.1 billion in damages

 

#5 – Southeast/Ohio Valley/Midwest Tornadoes 

tornado damage tuscaloosa, al
Tornado damage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

– April 25th – 28th

– 343 tornadoes in Central & Southern States 

– EF- 5 tornado touched down in Northern Alabama killing 78

– 321 deaths (240 in Alabama)

– $10.2+ billion in damages

 

#6 – Joplin, MO Tornado & More (May 22-27)

tornado damage in joplin, mo
Tornado damage in Joplin, Missouri

– 180 tornadoes in Central & Southern States

– EF-5 hit Joplin, Missouri & killed 158 ( It was the deadliest single tornado to strike the U.S. since modern tornado record-keeping began in 1950)

– 177 deaths 

– $9.1+ billion in damages

 

#7 – Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes & Severe Weather

big tornado
Tornado tearing up Nebraska

– June 22-28th

– 81 tornadoes in Central States & damaging wind and hail in the Southeast States

– 3 deaths

– $1.3 billion in damages

 

#8 – Southern Plains & Southwest Drought & Heatwave

heat and drought in usa 2011
Heat index for USA

– Drought & severe heat in Drought Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, southern Kansas, and western Louisiana.

– $10 billion in damage via crops, livestock, & timber

 

#9 – Mississippi Flooding

mississippi flooding rescue boat
Rescue boat on flooded street

– Spring-summer 

– 300% of normal rainfall in Ohio Valley + snowmelt caused historic flooding

– $3-4 billion in damages

 

#10 – Upper Midwest Flooding

minot, nd flooding
Missouri river flooding at Minot, North Dakota

– Missouri & Souris rivers flooded due to above average Northern Rocky Mountain snowpack melt + above average rainfall

– 11,000 people evacuated

– 4,000 homes flooded

– Many levees ruptured

– 5 deaths

– $2+ billion in damages in USA & $1+ billion damages in Canadia.

 

#11 – Hurricane Irene

hurricane irene nasa
Irene’s final landfall in New York City

– August 20-29th

– Made landfall as a Category 1 Hurricane in North Carolina before moving north up the East Coast

– Final landfall in New York City caused major rainfalls that delivered more damage

– Trees & downed power lines caused widespread moderate to severe damage 

– Vermont ski resorts and communities hit hard

– 7 millions homes without power

– 45 deaths

– “Irene was the first hurricane to hit the U.S. since Ike in September 2008 and was the most significant tropical system to make a direct landfall in the Northeast since Hurricane Bob in 1991.” – noaa.gov

– $7.3+ billion in damages

 

#12 – Texas, New Mexico, Arizona Wildfires

smoke from space
2011 wildfire smoke from space

– Spring-Fall

– Drought & heat set up perfect conditions for historic wildfires in the Southwest

– Bastrop Fire in Texas was the most destructive in Texas history, destroying 1,500+ homes

– Las Conchas Fire in New Mexico was states largest wildfire, burning 150,000+ acres and damn near burned University of California’s Los Alamos Laboratory where they made “The Bomb.”

– 3 million acres burned in total in Texas

– $750 million in damages just in Texas

– 5 deaths

– $1+ billion in total damages

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