Tornado Outbreak Escalated Wednesday On Annivesary Of Epic, Tragic Joplin Tornado

A lightning flash illuminates a huge tornado going through
Jefferson City, Missouri last night. Photo via Twitter by Jaclyn Morrow.

Monday was the anniversary of the 2013 Moore, Oklahoma tornado that killed 24 people and caused $2 billion in damage. That area was on high alert for a repeat: There was a high risk of more big tornadoes on Monday.  

That didn't fully pan out, luckily, as the tornadoes weren't as strong or as numerous as expected.

Luck ran out Wednesday elsewhere, though. On the ninth anniversary of an even worse tornado disaster, this one that destroyed much of Joplin, Missouri and killed 161 people, another giant twister touched down on the outskirts of Joplin Wednesday evening.

The good news is Wednesday night's tornado did not slam through the city of Joplin, sparing its surely freaked out residents. The bad news is the tornado hit other towns just north of Joplin,  killing at least three people. The parent supercell thunderstorm kept marauding northeastward from there, dropping more big tornadoes.

Those included a devastating one that hit Missouri's capital of Jefferson City. So far, we have reports of 20 injuries there and lots of damage. Houses have collapsed, roofs are gone from schools and other buildings in Jefferson City.

On top of all that, the Missouri River in Jefferson City is expected to crest at its highest level in 24 years,  which will flood some downtown streets.

Wednesday night's tornadoes are part of an ongoing series of severe weather that I talked about yesterday. There's no rest of the weary. Some more tornadoes are forecast in various locations in the middle of the nation daily through at least next Tuesday.

I imagine flooding in the middle of the country, already very bad, will worsen, too, with moderate to high risks of new flooding from heavy rain ongoing at least today through Saturday.  This is a long running disaster, with no signs of quitting.

Occasionally, this awful weather extends its tentacles outside the Midwest. Today, the Northeast is under the gun with the threat of severe weather, and even maybe a few tornadoes in Pennsylvania and New York, and parts of surrounding states.

Some of those storms that get going in New York could hold together by the time they reach western Vermont later today.  That means a couple places could see strong, gusty thunderstorm winds and maybe some small hail.

The severe threat in Vermont isn't nearly as high as it is in New York and Pennsylvania, but it's something to be watched. If you get any kind of severe thunderstorm warning later today, get inside a sturdy building and wait it out. The storms will be moving fast, so it won't last long.

Another dose of severe thunderstorms is likely Saturday, though those storms will go south of Vermont. We'll just get rain and maybe some rumbles of thunder.