1. Southeastern Drought – A drought of historical proportions began gripping the Southeast U.S. in 2007, and despite some small relief in recent weeks from light rains, rainfall deficits continue to grow in many areas. In January, abnormally dry conditions were limited to the area from the Smokies down into western Georgia. That had expanded across the northern half of Alabama by the end of February. By the end of March, moderate to severe drought covered much of eastern Tennessee and Alabama. Through April and May, the drought area grew until it covered much of the Southeast. In June, things got worse, as exceptional drought conditions centered on Alabama. Some gains were made in July, but by the end of August, exceptional drought conditions covered southern Tennessee, much of Alabama, northern Georgia and southwestern North Carolina. The area of exceptional drought has actually expanded through October and November with little relief so far in December. By December 27th, 35% of the lower 48 states and 78% of the SE were in moderate to exceptional drought. The latest seasonal outlook through May indicates that the drought will persist in the SE.
2. A 1.7 mile wide tornado devastated 95% of the town of Greensburg KS on May 4th. Ten people died despite excellent warnings. It was the first tornado to receive an EF5 rating using the new Enhanced Fujita scale. It was also the first F5 tornado in the United States since the Midwest City, Oklahoma tornado in May 1999.
3. Disaster occurred on March 1st as an EF4 tornado struck Enterprise High School in Enterprise Alabama shortly after 1 p.m.. Eight students were killed in the tragedy, which occurred as the students huddled in a designated shelter area while the tornado approached. A concrete wall collapsed on the group. A total of nineteen people lost their lives that day across Georgia and Alabama.
4. Florida suffered its worst tornado disaster since February 1998 as severe thunderstorms produced tornadoes in central Florida during the early morning of February 2nd. Twenty-one fatalities were reported as tornadoes struck portions of Sumter, Lake and Volusia Counties. Most of the fatalities occurred in mobile homes as the tornadoes struck the communities of Lady Lake, Paisley and DeLand as people slept.
5. The Atlantic Hurricane Season was active, but quiet headline wise. There were fifteen named storms, and five hurricanes. Only one hurricane made landfall in the U.S. Humberto became one of the fastest intensifying hurricanes on record in the hours just before landfall near Galveston in September, going from tropical depression to hurricane in just nineteen hours. There were two category five hurricanes, Dean and Felix. Both made landfall as Category Five hurricanes, the first time there have been two cat five landfalls in the same year in the Atlantic. Tropical storm Noel was the deadliest Atlantic tropical cyclone of the year. 141 people lost their lives across Hispaniola as heavy rains from Noel spawned floods and deadly mudslides in late October.
6. Extreme drought in May caused horrible wildfire conditions in Georgia and Florida that charred about 474,000 acres in Georgia and 229,000 acres in Florida, forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate the area
7. Wildfires, which began on November 24, charred over 4,600 acres in southern California. More than 14,000 residents evacuated their homes and more than 50 homes were destroyed.
8. A massive winter storm battered the Midwest during the week of December 10th. Missouri and Oklahoma were especially hard hit with one to two inches of inch accumulating on exposed objects. Up to 800,000 homes were without power, many of them for up to a week. The Governor of Oklahoma said it was the most devastating ice storm ever to hit the Sooner State. A total of 36 people were killed.
9. Tornadoes in Mexico are rare, but a devastating tornado along the Texas-Mexico border killed ten people on April 24th. The tornado first touched down in Piedras Negras, Mexico at 7 p.m. CDT. Three people were killed and 87 were injured in Mexico. The twister crossed the Rio Grande River and crossed into Texas, killing seven and injuring 74 in Eagle Pass. Five U.S. fatalities occurred in a single mobile home. Two schools were destroyed and hundreds of homes damaged. The sewage treatment plant in Eagle Pass was also heavily damaged.
10. A powerful storm struck the Pacific Northwest between December 1-3. Winds gusted to 129 mph at Bay City, Oregon. Trees and powerlines were felled over a wide area. Widespread flooding produced mudslides. Several counties were declared disaster areas.
