Incredible New Years Eve Tornado Outbreak Photos

The December 31st tornado outbreak that I was blogging about before I left town for New Years got worse, and in fact turned out to be a quite notable outbreak, with 47 tornado reports and (so far, by my count) 26 confirmed tornadoes, including 6 strong twisters having an EF-3 Fujita rating (click below to see reports on a Google Map).

The National Weather Service wrote on their Facebook Page today: "It was a tragic way to end the year on Friday as several dozen tornadoes tore through several states along the Mississippi Valley, with several more tornadoes reported on New Year’s Day. December 31 now ranks as one of the top ten tornado days for 2010.*" Despite the loss of six lives, the NWS is credited for saving many additional lives through their accurate Tornado Warnings.

The photo above is of the Fort Wood, Missouri tornado (I assume that's one of multiple vortices crossing the main tornado) and below is damage from the Rolla County, Mississippi twister. These and two dozen other photos taken by NOAA in Missouri, Illinois, and Mississippi can be viewed by clicking on any picture.

*NOAA's current count is 38 tornado reports, putting New Year's Eve as number 9. If that rises to the SPC number of 47, that would make it number 5; only four days in 2010 featured more than 50 tornadoes.