The 2009 U.S. tornado season — noteworthy, until recent days, for a twister count nearly 40 percent lower than a year ago — erupted with deadly consequences Friday. Powerful thunderstorms, which first exploded late Thursday in the Plains, churned east Friday, spawning dozens of tornadoes across six states from Tennessee and Alabama into the Carolinas. One twister killed a woman and her 9-week-old infant in central Tennessee while violent thunderstorms ripped roofs off buildings and destroyed dozens of homes in Murfreesboro, 30 miles southeast of Nashville. The 35 reports of twisters late Friday made it the most active day of the 2009 severe weather season. It marked the sixth time this year that 20 or more tornadoes dipped from U.S. skies in a single calendar day. Ten such days had occurred by this time last year, including three days with more than 50 touchdowns.
Chill confirms ‘lake wind’ season
Chicago is in the midst of its “lake breeze season,” widely recognized to run from March into the first weeks of June. An easterly wind blows of Lake Michigan’s chilly waters 42 percent of the time in April.
———-
Weather Report is prepared by the WGN-TV Weather Center, where Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN News at 11:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
IN THE WEB EDITION: For updated weather news, forecasts by ZIP code and local radar images, go to chicagotribune.com/weather or wgntv.com
