March 12-15 marked biggest severe outbreak of 2024 so far in US
As feared, the weather went wild during the middle of March as hundreds of severe thunderstorms spanned several days over the middle of the United States.
This multivortex tornado was spotted forming as it barreled across a field near the Ohio communities of Bluffton and Williamstown on March 14.
Part of the same storm system responsible for up to 5 feet of snow in Colorado produced hundreds of violent thunderstorms from Wednesday to Friday over the central United States.
The storm warned about by AccuWeather meteorologists days in advance lived up to its billing. Following a couple dozen reports of hail on Tuesday night, more than 100 incidents of severe hail occurred on Wednesday. Swarms of severe storms erupted on Thursday afternoon and evening from the southern Plains to the Ozark Mountains, the middle Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley.
There were at least 400 filtered reports of severe weather on Thursday alone, as of Saturday morning. Filtered reports eliminate duplicate, redundant data. Of these, more than 200 incidents of severe hail occurred, including 3-inch diameter hail or larger in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Of these, hail reached 4 inches in diameter in Oklahoma, Illinois and Arkansas.
On Thursday evening, a massive 5.25-inch diameter hailstone fell on Ada, Oklahoma. That's bigger than the width of a grapefruit or DVD!
The largest hailstone ever measured in the U.S. was nearly 8 inches in diameter and weighed nearly 2 pounds, near Vivian, South Dakota, on July 23, 2010, according to the National Weather Service.
The lower limit of severe hail is 1 inch in diameter. Large hail is defined as hailstones with a diameter of 2 inches or greater. As hailstones surpass 1 inch in diameter, the risk of property damage increases exponentially. When hail reaches the size of baseballs (2.75 inches) or larger, there is a high risk of serious injury or fatalities to humans, pets and livestock if caught out in the open. The massive hail this past week damaged hundreds of vehicles in Missouri alone.
During the three-day severe weather event, which spanned March 12-15, there were at least 23 confirmed tornadoes with the investigation continuing this weekend.
Of these twisters, the strongest storm, the Selma-Winchester, Indiana, tornado, has been rated at least EF-3 strength and was responsible for more than three dozen injuries and total destruction in some areas on Thursday.
A tornado rated as EF-3 strength also tore a path through Indian Lake, Ohio, on Thursday evening and has taken the lives of three people with more than a dozen injuries.
Members of the Huntsville Volunteer Fire Department searched damaged homes following a severe storm in Lakeview, Ohio, Friday, March 15, 2024. Severe storms with tornadoes have damaged homes and businesses in the central United States. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
During the outbreak, which spanned March 12-15, there were more than 600 filtered reports of severe weather, making it the biggest outbreak of the year so far. Before this past week, the severe weather outbreak from Feb. 27-28 brought just over 200 filtered reports of severe weather, including 26 tornadoes and about 50 reports of severe hail. The number of hail reports of 1 inch or more in diameter from March 12-15 was more than 370.
Into the early part of the week, the risk of severe thunderstorms, including damaging winds and hail, will generally be confined to the northern half of the Florida Peninsula. The greatest threats may be from flash urban flooding and lightning strikes.
A storm that tracks eastward across the Interstate 10 corridor during the middle of this week will be monitored by AccuWeather meteorologists for the potential of severe weather.
Most likely, severe weather from the system this week will be confined to near the Gulf Coast initially. However, there is a chance that if the storm strengthens, it could turn northward along the Atlantic coast and potentially result in severe weather as far to the north as coastal areas of the mid-Atlantic region by next weekend.
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