America's worst tornado occurred 100 years ago today.  Weatherwise, Stan Changnon The path began a little farther to the southwest in Missouri than shown here but I wanted everyone to see the detail of this horrific storm's damage. Six hundred ninety-five (695) were killed. At times, the tornado was two miles wide and, like Joplin, some did not realize a tornado was approaching. Of course, there was no warning system. 

Many have asked questions how my proposed National Disaster Review Board will function and why it is (now) an absolute necessity. I answer those in a guest piece at Dr. Roger Pielke, Jr's The Honest Broker  substack. A link, that will get you through the paywall, is here .  If, after reading my piece, you think it is a good idea, please retweet the link to the blog. And, please contact your congresspeople. These days, that is very easy. Just go to their websites and click on "Contact." There is a place to type in a message (and maybe forward the above link) and you are done.  It isn't just the billions of dollars in disaster losses. For the first time in decades, death rates are creeping up again.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in a comment. Thank you. 

Unfortunately, we have another Great Plains blizzard in the offing.  The probabilities represent at least a "moderate" chance of "impacts" (i.e., closed roads, etc.). If you live in the area from north central Kansas to Upper Michigan, please prepare accordingly. 

Updated 11am Monday: -- original posting -- You may have awakened to this 'news' at the Drudge Report this morning.  Drudge links to the Irish Times ,  an Ireland-based newspaper that detests President Trump. Their headline is below. I believe the  preliminary  death toll is now up to 36 --mostly from the tornadoes.  The Irish Times, and others, are -- intentionally or not -- confusing layoffs at the National Weather Service (NWS) with the parent agency the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The former is a lean agency that issues the tornado, blizzard and dust storm warnings that were needed the past few days and the latter has traditionally had lots of fat that has been or could be cut.  For example, NOAA's cartoonist(s) has been laid off.  I can assure you the layoffs of the NOAA cartoonist(s) and in-house video staff have nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of the storm warnings mentioned above! The newspaper focused on ...

1pm Update: Another tornado watch has been issued: Currently, tornado watches are in effect for the areas outlined in amber.  The brown area is the forecast through this evening where there is a significant risk of tornadoes. From time to time I will provide additional realtime information on Twitter/X @usweatherexpert.

After more than 28 hours at the forecast desk in less than 2 days, I must call it a night.  If you are in one of the tornado watches, please continue to monitor the weather situation.

Tornado Watch until 4am, it includes Birmingham, Atlanta and Mobile.  This watch is in effect until 1am. Please make sure you have a weather radio or other system that will awaken you if a tornado warning is issued.  We now have "particularly dangerous tornado situation" tornado watches in effect for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. While the second and third in 12 hours, this type of tornado watch is rare. Note that "numerous strong tornadoes" are forecast to occur.  If you live in these areas, it is essential that you follow the latest weather information and  that you are prepared to go to your tornado shelter immediately if a warning is issued. If you need to clean or declutter your shelter area, do it now.  If you live in a mobile home, I suggest you see if you could spend the afternoon with a friend or relative in a conventional home. Know where your community shelter is located; map and list here .  Shelter recommendations: Today's o...