NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY

APRIL 2006

1st-8th...Thunderstorms battered eight states across the Midwest with
tornadoes and hail as big as softballs, killing at least 23 people,
injuring scores and destroying hundreds of homes. Tennessee was hardest
hit, with tornadoes striking five counties and killing 19 people along
one 25-mile path Sunday, the National Weather Service said. The Highway
Patrol sent teams to the area Monday with search dogs. Betty Sisk said
she and her 13-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son took cover in a
closet until the twister blew their house apart and threw them into the
yard. "By the time the (tornado) sirens started going off, it was at
our back door," Sisk said Monday. "I didn't hear a train sound, I heard
a roaring." Nothing remained of Sisk's wood-frame home Monday but the
concrete steps. A nearby house was destroyed, and Sisk said she had
been told the elderly couple who lived there were dead. Another
neighbor's home was blown about 30 feet off its foundation. Severe
thunderstorms, many producing tornadoes, also struck parts of Iowa,
Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. Strong wind
was blamed or at least three deaths in Missouri. A clothing store
collapsed in southern Illinois, killing one man. The weather service's
Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said it had preliminary
reports of 63 tornadoes. Most of the Tennessee deaths were reported
around the Gibson County towns of Bradford and Dyer, said James Brown,
assistant emergency management director for the county. Among the dead
were a family of four from Bradford, officials said. Tennessee
officials estimated 1,200 buildings were damaged in Gibson County
alone. About a half-dozen tornadoes struck Arkansas and one destroyed
nearly half of the town of Marmaduke, according to a fire department
official. Hail 4 inches in diameter slammed right through the roof of
one mobile home in Arkansas, weather service meteorologist Newton
Skiles said. About 30 miles from Newbern, part of the southeast
Missouri city of Caruthersville was wiped out, said Randal Lee, a
sheriff's department dispatcher. Mayor Diane Sayre said there were no
known deaths in the city of 6,700. One Kentucky county declared a state
of emergency early Monday as rescue workers struggled to get to rural
areas where roads were blocked by power lines and trees. Severe
thunderstorms also struck Indianapolis as thousands of fans left a free
John Mellencamp concert that was part of the NCAA's Final Four weekend.
Two storm systems pounded the West Coast and parts of the East on
Monday. Hail and high winds were reported from the Carolinas, Georgia,
eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and New York. Woodsfield, Ohio, saw
large marble-sized hail falling and gusty winds. Farther north, light
to moderate snow fell over Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Out West, steady
rain fell across much of California all day. The Pacific Northwest saw
periods of rain while southern Cascades received light to moderate
snowfall.
Rain continued Wednesday in California, while chilly rain and wet snow
provided an uncomfortable reminder of winter in the Northeast. Rain
prompted flood watches and warnings in central and southern California.
Rain and high-elevation snow fell in the Rockies. Wind gusted to 50 mph
in the Southwest, while low humidity and stiff winds created dangerous
fire conditions in the southern Plains, Florida, Georgia and Virginia.
The Northeast saw rain and snow, including a few inches in parts of New
England.
Severe thunderstorms intensified Thursday across the Plains. Tornado
watches were posted for eastern Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma, while a
severe thunderstorm watch was in effect for parts of Missouri and
Arkansas.
Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms struck Tennessee on Friday
afternoon, killing at least seven people, peeling away roofs and
flipping cars over, officials said. All seven deaths were in Sumner
County northeast of Nashville, said Eddie Boatwright, spokesman for the
Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Fire Chief Joe Womack said three
bodies were pulled from the wreckage of homes in a subdivision of
Gallatin, about 24 miles northeast of Nashville. Tornadoes were also
reported in the Nashville suburbs of Goodlettsville, Hendersonville and
Ashland City, and in Holladay, about 90 miles west of Nashville. The
storms flattened trees, knocked down power lines and damaged homes and
other buildings.
At least seven people injured in the storm were being treated at
Hendersonville Medical Center Friday afternoon, spokeswoman Marissa
Murphy said. The hospital was operating on emergency power because its
regular electric service was knocked out. At Volunteer State Community
College in the Nashville suburb of
Gallatin, several people suffered cuts and scratches, spokesman Eric
Melcher said. Two campus buildings were severely damaged, Melcher said.
Emergency
workers searched other buildings in an attempt to account for all
students.
Three car dealerships near the college were devastated, with 250 cars
totaled. In Ashland City, a tower that held the tornado warning siren
was destroyed. In Cheatham County, just west of Nashville, Sheriff John
Holder said the tornado passed over his office.

9th-15th..A storm system brought rain Wednesday to the Great Lakes
region and western New England. Rain also continued in soggy northern
California. The heaviest rain produced by the Eastern storm system fell
in Michigan. In the West, flood watches and warnings remained in effect
in much of northern California.
Tornadoes tore across a university campus overnight, ripping walls off
a church and sorority house, crushing houses and cars, and killing a
woman in a mobile home southeast of town. University of Iowa sophomore
Melissa Fortman huddled with friends in the basement their sorority as
the sirens sounded, then decided to run upstairs for her homework just
as the tornado hit. The twisters swept across eastern Iowa, with the
worst damage in a path from Iowa City southeast through the small town
of Nichols, about 20 miles away, the National Weather Service said.
Gov. Tom Vilsack declared a state of emergency for Johnson, Jones and
Muscatine counties. In Iowa City, 21 people were reported treated at
hospitals for storm-related injuries, none believed to be
life-threatening. As many as three tornados touched down in Iowa City.
Downtown, half the roof of St. Patrick's Catholic Church was torn off.
Store windows were shattered, some buildings were partially collapsed
and homes and apartments were heavily damaged. Thousands of homes were
without power Friday morning. The storm system knocked down trees and
power lines in northwest Illinois communities as well after crossing
the Mississippi River around 10 p.m. In neighborhoods across Iowa City,
people pilled up tree limbs, splintered wood, brick and roofing
materials as they cleared streets and yards. In a downtown parking lot,
cars sat amid broken glass and metal parts, with one vehicle overturned
and others blown several feet from their original parking spots. Police
said a roof collapsed at a pedestrian mall. A water line broke and
there were concerns about gas lines. Firefighter Darrall Brick looked
on with dismay after the storm as he watched some people walking around
downed power lines. The Iowa National Guard deployed 25 soldiers early
Friday morning to provide security, keep people away from danger spots
and help assess damage, said spokesman Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood.
MidAmerican Energy reported early Friday morning that about 7,000 homes
and businesses in eastern Iowa were without power _ including 6,200 in
Iowa City. Officials said crews would work through the night but could
not say when the power would be restored.
A storm complex that spawned tornadoes and hail in the Upper
Mississippi Valley moved eastward and weakened, producing moderate rain
through parts of New England. Out West, rain and high-elevation snow
fell over Washington, and snow
advisories were in effect for much of the Cascades range into Saturday
morning.
Hazardous fire weather remained for parts of the southern Plains and
the Southwest.
16th-22nd...Across the East, a low pressure system located in the
Southeast triggered scattered showers and thunderstorms across the
South. A few severe thunderstorms were reported, with 2 inch hail
reported in Cedar Bluff, Alabama and Kennesaw, Georgia reporting
golfball size hail. Hail larger than grapefruit fell in Hogansville,
Georgia. A tornado was spotted in St. Clair County, Alabama. In the
central portion of the country, a low pressure system spinning in the
Dakotas continued to bring snow and gusty winds to the western Dakotas,
eastern Montana, and northern portions of western Nebraska. Snowfall
amounts to over 2 feet were observed, along with wind gusts over 60
mph. Deadwood, South Dakota reported 46 inches of total snowfall. In
Rushville, Nebraska, an 84 mph wind gust caused damage to electrical
lines and a mobile home. Blowing dust created low visibilities in the
central and northern Plains. Also with the system, scattered showers
and thunderstorms developed in the Upper Midwest. Further south,
another area of showers and thunderstorms developed across Texas and
into the Lower Mississippi River Valley. In the West, snow continued
across areas of the northern Rockies and northern High Plains. Snowfall
amounts to nearly 2 feet were reported in Montana, along with gusty
winds over 50 mph.
Thunderstorms flared Thursday in the South as a cold front collided
with humid air from the Gulf of Mexico. The storms produced golf
ball-sized hail. Severe storm watches were posted for parts of Texas,
Arkansas and Alabama. Rain fell in the northern Plains. The
precipitation followed heavy snow that blanketed the region earlier
this week.
In the East, showers and thunderstorms developed along a cold front
over much of the rest of the region. Some of the thunderstorms became
severe. Hail was reported in Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,
and Georgia. 1.50 inch hail fell in Canton, Tennessee, with hail up to
golfball size in Oliver Springs, Tennessee. Many locations reported
over an inch of rainfall, with nearly 2 inches in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Flooding was reported in Louisville, Kentucky, and funnel clouds were
reported in Marion county, Alabama and Kiln, Mississippi.
In the central region, scattered showers and thunderstorms moved across
the Lower Mississippi River Valley. Trees and buildings were damaged by
the wind in Louisiana, and small hail fell. Further north, showers and
isolated thunderstorms developed over the Upper Midwest as a low
pressure system stalled across the area. An additional half an inch of
rain fell in Minnesota.

23rd-30th...Heavy rain fell in the Northeast on Sunday, continuing a
wet weekend for the region. Areas of rain stretched from the Great
Lakes to the Mid-Atlantic region, but New England received the brunt of
the precipitation. Bridgeport,
CT. received nearly 5 inches by mid-afternoon, and many other areas
received more than 2 inches.
Severe weather pushed into the Southeast on Wednesday, producing
tornadoes in South Carolina and thunderstorms and hail elsewhere in the
region. The roof of at least one house was torn off and hail up to an
inch in diameter was reported. Severe thunderstorm watches were posted
in coastal areas. Rain, some of it heavy, and strong wind spread from
Louisiana through the Florida Panhandle. Showers moved into the
Mid-Atlantic by late afternoon. The storms were blamed on low pressure
pushing moisture north from the Gulf of Mexico.
Rain and thunderstorms moved across the Plains on Friday. Storms were
reported in the southern and central Plains and produced some hail in
central and northern Texas. Lighter rain moved through the Dakotas and
Minnesota.