Mid-November 2005 Tornado Outbreak

Mid-November 2005 Tornado Outbreak

F4 tornado behind James Madison Middle School in Madisonville, KY on November 15, 2005 by Leonard Costanzo.
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	November 15, 2005
Tornadoes confirmed	49 confirmed
Max rating1	F4 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak2	6 hours, 5 minutes
Damage	$68 million
Casualties	1 fatality, 108 injuries
Areas affected	Midwestern United States, Tennessee River Valley
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado

¹Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

The Mid-November 2005 outbreak was an unseasonably strong tornado outbreak on November 15, 2005 in the Midwestern United States. It occurred along a cold front separating warm, humid air from the southeast from cold Arctic air to the north and northwest. At least 50 confirmed tornadoes have been reported in the central United States in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee over that afternoon and evening. Strong winds and large hail caused additional damage throughout the region. The National Weather Service confirmed 49 tornado touchdowns during the outbreak.

The strongest tornado was an F4 tornado on the Fujita scale; it occurred in the vicinity of Madisonville, Kentucky and Earlington, Kentucky. It was also the strongest tornado recorded in the United States in 2005.

The Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma had issued a "high risk" for severe weather over an area from northern Mississippi to central Indiana. Such a declaration is unusual (particularly for November) and means that there is a significant threat for severe thunderstorms with widespread tornadic activity. When the first tornado watches of the afternoon were issued, the SPC had declared a Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) for destructive tornadoes in several of the tornado watches, a highly unusual alert which notifies that frequent and dangerous tornadoes are possible, and by late that evening, no less than 49 tornadoes (including ten strong tornadoes and one violent tornado) were confirmed, and several more unconfirmed tornadoes were reported (and later confirmed as microbursts). Fortunately, the tornadoes were centered over more rural areas and damage was scattered but severe over many communities. There were numerous injuries, but remarkably, only one person was killed. The low casualty toll was likely due to the fact the outbreak was well-predicted and primarily occurred in the afternoon when people are most aware of the situation.