2008 Review - Jan. 2, 2009

From T. Sullivan: How would you rate this past year’s weather compared to
previous years?

     2008 will go in the record books as an active year. We dealt with hail, flooding,
ice, tornadoes, snow, ice, and wind, and many grass fires. We’ve had worse years,
but these past 12 months have kept us busy. Oklahoma had a total of 69 tornadoes,
which is well above the average of 53.

     On May 11^th we had our deadliest outbreak of tornadoes since May 3, 1999. At
least six were killed from the Pitcher, Oklahoma tornado, including one infant. I
spent a couple of days there after the storm, and it was some of the most widespread
damage I have ever witnessed.

     Nationwide, the top couple of events were Hurricane Ike, which made a
direct hit on Galveston in mid September. Not only did it cause major damage
there, but the system travelled into the Midwest, creating destructive winds and
storms from Texas to Ohio.

     The Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak in early February killed at least 57 people. Eighty-seven tornadoes occurred during this outbreak, killing at least 57 people. It is rare to have a high risk issued from the Storm Prediction Center, but as early as Feb. 5^th is almost unheard of. 

     Here’s hoping for a much quieter 2009.