The blockbuster film “Twisters” opened in theaters throughout the U.S. in mid July within the midst of a record-setting month and 12 months for twister frequency, which has contributed to billions in crop losses this 12 months.
In response to preliminary information from the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Middle, twister studies in Might and July had been greater than double the common of tornadoes from 1991 to 2022. In response to the company, solely two days in Might noticed zero tornadoes.
On Might 21, an EF-4 twister, the second most damaging twister based mostly on a score system by the Nationwide Climate Service, carved a 44-mile path of destruction throughout southeast Iowa. Authorities confirmed 5 fatalities and 35 accidents.
By June, residents of Greenfield, Iowa, started to note the consequences of twister injury to corn crops. The twister ripped freshly planted corn out of fields and deposited it miles away. Residents discovered corn rising out of unlikely locations, like storm drains, sidewalks, close to avenue indicators and cracks within the concrete, in keeping with WTVA.
Tornados and different extreme climate occasions like excessive wind storms and hail can injury tens of hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in a single occasion. The Illinois Farm Bureau estimates that extreme climate occasions prompted over $21 billion in crop losses in 2023.