Thirty-two people were killed on Sunday after a surge of storms and tornadoes devastated communities across the South and Midwest in the United States.
Cars line up along the road as cleanup continues from Friday's tornado damage, in western Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S., April 2, 2023. /CFP
In Memphis, Tennessee, two children and an adult were found dead on Saturday after the storm's heavy winds knocked trees onto several houses, according to the Memphis Police Department.
In Tennessee's McNairy County, officials reported that an additional two people had died, having reported seven deaths earlier on Saturday, according to local media. The Tennessee Department of Health on Sunday reported that there were an additional three weather-related deaths in three more counties, but did not provide more details.
In Owen County, Indiana, the bodies of a couple were found at a campground in McCormick's Creek State Park, according to the state's Department of Natural Resources.
Another 15 deaths from the storm, which generated tornadoes in several areas, were earlier reported in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Delaware, Mississippi and Alabama. Scores of people were injured and many buildings damaged or destroyed.
The National Storm Prediction Center warned of severe weather on Sunday in parts of north and northeast Texas around Dallas and Fort Worth, including very large hail, significant wind gusts and a "strong tornado or two." Dallas Fort Worth International Airport was under a ground-stop order for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon, and flights were delayed as heavy rain, hail and strong winds hit the area.
A man sits next to debris in Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S., April 02, 2023. /CFP
The U.S. is by far the king of tornadoes and other severe storms.
"It really starts with kind of two things. Number one is the Gulf of Mexico. And number two is elevated terrain to the west," said Victor Gensini, a Northern Illinois University meteorology professor.
Look at Friday's deadly weather, and watch out for the next week to see it in action: Dry air from the West goes up over the Rockies and crashes into warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, and it's all brought together along a stormy jet stream.
In the West, it's a drumbeat of atmospheric rivers. In the Atlantic, it's nor'easters in the winter, hurricanes in the summer and sometimes a weird combination of both, like Superstorm Sandy.
With colder air up in the Arctic and warmer air in the tropics, the area between them - the mid-latitudes, where the U.S. is - gets the most interesting weather because of how the air acts in clashing temperatures, and that north-south temperature gradient drives the jet stream, said Northern Illinois meteorology professor Walker Ashley.
Then add mountain ranges that go north-south, jutting into the winds flowing from west to east, and underneath it all the toasty Gulf of Mexico.
The Gulf injects hot, moist air underneath the often cooler, dry air lifted by the mountains, "and that doesn't happen really anywhere else in the world," Gensini said.
(With input from Routers and AP. Cover: Lane Lovelady helps Dee Fulford salvage her family's belongings, Sullivan, Indiana, U.S., April 2, 2023. /CFP)
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