Tornado's Explode over Northern Nebraska

Tornadoes exploded over central Nebraska late Thursday afternoon, causing extensive damage in Kearney.

The storms destroyed the sprawling Expo Building at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds, home of rodeos and demolition derbies. Copeland Hall at the University of Nebraska at Kearney lost its roof.

At least 50 to 60 houses were reported damaged and more reports were pouring in.


There were no immediate reports of serious injuries, authorities said.

Much of Kearney, with a population of nearly 30,000, was without electricity. More than 1,400 customers in Aurora and York also were in the dark. Interstate 80 between Aurora and York was closed Thursday evening due to downed power lines.

Several cars from a Union Pacific train derailed.

Gov. Dave Heineman declared a state of emergency. He plans to visit Kearney in a National Guard helicopter this morning.

Later storms also hit western Iowa, where a Monona County sheriff's deputy spotted a tornado that touched down briefly about a mile east of Turin, Iowa, about 7:15 p.m.

Dave Roseberry, manager of the Kearney fairgrounds, said the Expo Building was destroyed.

"It's completely gone," he said.

Adam Eickman and fiancee Stacy Ostdiek, both 25, said they watched from the basement of a neighbor's residence as the tornado flattened their small apartment building.

"I'll never forget that sound, you could hear it doing all kinds of damage," Eickman said. "It was scary and I'm still shaken. Everything is a blur right now."

Ostdiek said debris swirled everywhere.

"We heard the windows shattering in the basement apartment and that's when we knew it wasn't going to be good," he said.

Kelly Barnes watched from his basement apartment as a car parked next to his spun around and landed on his Buick.

"The wind hit suddenly and then it was all over," he said. "It only lasted eight to 10 seconds, but that's all it took to destroy everything. Everything just turned black. Sand and dirt were flying everywhere. It was very eerie."

Carroll Sheldon, who lives on a hill in northeast Kearney, watched from the deck on his house as the storm gathered about 15 miles southwest of town. He saw four or five funnel clouds form.

The funnels "formed and formed, and then they sort of blended together when they came toward town. Then the wind and rain hit and you couldn't see anything," Sheldon said.

He estimated winds at 100 mph.

Several semi-trailer trucks overturned on I-80.

Mark Becker, a Nebraska Public Power District spokesman, said a power line wrapped around a toppled semi. Officials told the driver to stay inside the truck until the line could be de-energized.

Darren Lewis, the emergency management director for Buffalo County, said the northeast area of Kearney appeared to sustain the most damage. The UNK campus is in west Kearney.

Laura Larsen, 22, who recently graduated from UNK and lives nearby, said the roof was missing from a building in the Stratford apartments in the northeast part of town. The clubhouse roof collapsed, and cars were piled on one another in the parking lot.

At the fairgrounds, Roseberry and co-worker Marc Zelzany were inside the Expo Building when the storm demolished it. Neither man was hurt.

Wind took Roseberry's pickup and threw it into the building. "A corner of the building is laying on the truck now," he said.

Tornado researchers expect the 2008 tornado season to join 1998, 1974 and 1953 as among the busiest and deadliest years the country has seen.

The number of tornadoes so far in 2008 - 1,191 - is nearly double what it was for the same period in 2007, said Harold Brooks, a researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla.

At this time in 2007, 659 tornadoes had been reported. In the past 10 years, the average number of tornadoes has been 1,254.

Tornadoes in 2008 also have proved to be deadlier than those in previous years - 111 people already had died this year from U.S. tornadoes as of Sunday. By the end of May 2007, 74 people had been killed by U.S. tornadoes.

7 People Die in Iowa Tornado centered around HUGO and PARKERSBURG

Seven people died in tornadoes that blew through the Midwestern United States on Sunday, with six reported dead in Iowa and a toddler in Minnesota, authorities said Monday.

Authorities in Iowa had reported that seven people died in Sunday's storm but lowered that total to six on Monday, said Bret Voorhees, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

A tornado touched down at about 6 p.m. Sunday in the north-central Iowa town of Parkersburg before moving 10 miles east to New Hartford, Voorhees said.

Spotters also reported a tornado near Dunkerton -- about 40 miles east of Parkersburg -- that they said caused considerable damage and flung debris as the storm moved at 23 mph. Marble-size hail fell in Waterloo, where authorities reported significant damage to homes, trees and power lines.

"Early reports indicate that these communities have suffered severe and widespread damage, and I plan to visit the region very soon to offer my support to those affected," Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said in a statement. He declared disaster areas in three counties.

Meanwhile, a Minnesota twister killed a 2-year-old and seriously injured nine others -- including another child -- in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The tornado struck Hugo, about 25 miles north of the Twin Cities, destroying 50 homes and damaging another 150, city manager Mike Ericson said.

The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado in Hugo that touched down just after 5:30 p.m. Sunday, and authorities reported twisters in nearby Coon Rapids and Blaine.

Video footage from the scene showed chairs, televisions, shingles and other debris tossed into the streets of Hugo. Nickel-size hail and larger pelted the suburb.
Sgt. Rick Boone of the Coon Rapids Police Department said a twister cut through the middle of town, downing trees and causing minor damage to several homes. No fatalities or injuries were immediately reported.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty planned to meet with local authorities Monday afternoon and tour the affected areas. Also Sunday, authorities in Moore County, Texas, reported sightings of three twisters.

On Saturday, tornadoes formed over northern Oklahoma, skipping across the rural landscape and severely damaging a hog farm about an hour northwest of Oklahoma City. There were no reports of injuries, officials said. However, two people were found dead Saturday in south-central Kansas in a car accident that authorities said a tornado caused.

As a storm roared over his head, shaking his house and sending the family belongings flying all over the place, all Jason Akins could do was put his arms over his wife, two sons and two neighbor kids and hope for the best.

"I was worried something was going to fall on us," said Akins, a Hugo resident who went from a carefree Sunday barbecue to holding on for dear life in his basement in a matter of seconds.

Akins' house was severely damaged when severe thunderstorms packing large hail and a possible tornado swept through the small St. Paul suburb, killing at least one person and destroying dozens more homes during a devastating tear through the north metro area.

A 2-year-old child was killed and the child's sibling was critically injured and taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Washington County Sheriff Bill Hutton said. The children's parents also were hospitalized with injuries sustained in the family home.

At least eight others were injured and taken to area hospitals and some community residents who were out of town for the long holiday weekend will be coming home to a disaster zone.

Town officials said they were confident that Hugo will be declared a disaster zone after Gov. Tim Pawlenty surveys the damage Monday. City Administrator Mike Ericson said municipal department heads planned to meet Monday morning to make cleanup plans, and an emergency City Council meeting was scheduled.

The two-storm system started in the northwest corner of the metro area, pelting Monticello, Albertville and Maple Lake with baseball-sized hail that shattered windows and car windshields. Rolling one right after the other, the first storm front carried a tornado through Coon Rapids that sent trees toppling into houses and power lines crashing to the ground. The second storm dumped more heavy hail and drenching rain on the landscape just minutes behind the first.

The Hugo area appeared to be the hardest hit, with homes wiped out and debris scattered throughout neighborhood. Residents reported a tornado in the area, but the National Weather Service was waiting on damage reports before confirming that.

"It certainly looks awfully likely," meteorologist Todd Krause said.

Twenty more residents were initially listed as missing, but most of them were out of town at the time of the storms. When Akins, his wife Georgia and the four children emerged from the basement of his home, they saw a neighbor's house completely leveled and the washing machine in the Akins' front yard.

The top level of Hugo Public Works Director Chris Petree's home was completely ripped off and the storm lifted his house off the foundation and slammed it back to the ground as the family huddled in the basement.

"All you hear is glass breaking and wood tearing and breaking in half," Petree said. "I put my daughter down first, my wife on top of her and then I bear-hugged on top of them."

Through it all, Petree's wife kept screaming for the family dog to join them, but it would not follow. Once the storms passed, the family returned to ground level and were joined by one happy pooch about 15 minutes later.

Hugo Mayor Fran Miron estimated about 50 homes were destroyed. Another 300 to 400 homes were evacuated because of safety concerns created by downed power lines and leaky gas lines. The American Red Cross set up a shelter for displaced families at a local elementary school, but most were able to find friends and family to stay with, spokeswoman Courtney Johnson said.

"It's horrible," Hugo City Administrator Mike Ericson said. "The citizens are very shook and scared."

Emergency crews descended on the scene to help the injured and assess the damage. Sen. Norm Coleman planned to visit the area Monday morning and Gov. Tim Pawlenty was scheduled to assess the damage on Monday afternoon.

Power has been restored to most of those who lost it during Sunday's severe storms.

Xcel Energy spokeswoman Patti Nystuen says fewer than 700 customers are without power in the east Twin Cities area, including the hardest hit city of Hugo.

And fewer than 80 customers remain without electricity in the west metro area.

Nystuen says about 20,000 lost power Sunday during the worst of it.

Crews are expected to restore power on Monday to the remaining customers affected by the storms.

Temperatures reached into the 80s during the day and mixed with cooler temperatures higher up in the air to create "an unstable atmosphere," Krause said. Forecasts called for cooler temperatures and calmer weather on Monday as the cleanup effort gets under way.

About 100 people have died in U.S. twisters so far this year, the worst toll in a decade, according to the weather service, and the danger has not passed yet. Tornado season typically peaks in the spring and early summer, then again in the late fall.

The Red Cross is accepting financial donations to help the victims of the Hugo tornado and other local disasters. Anyone who is interested can call 612-460-3700.

The city of Hugo is also looking for people to assist with the clean-up effort. If you're interested in volunteering call the Hugo City Hall at 651-761-6300.

Tornadoes tear through northern Oklahoma

Supercell storms plowed across northern Oklahoma state Saturday spawning several tornadoes that crushed structures and sent debris flying miles away, US media reported.

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned that the storms would drop "a few tornadoes near an outflow boundary where wind shear is very favorable for rotation. Other scattered severe storms are possible farther southward through Oklahoma this afternoon and evening."

Local television KWTV filmed the large tornadoes, near the towns of Hennessey and Bison, around 2000 GMT, perched close to the system in a helicopter as tornado funnel clouds -- black shadows against a grey-sky backdrop -- churned up ground below, sending rocks, splinters of wood and other debris skyward.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or fatalities.

A NWS spokesman in Norman, Oklahoma told AFP the "well-developed" tornadoes hit Kingfisher and Garfield counties.

Emergency officials are assessing damage after a slow-moving storm system dropped several tornadoes today in northwestern Oklahoma.

A tornado warning remains in effect in Garfield County at the center of a tornado watch area in north-central Oklahoma.

Television footage showed a twister causing damage to barns in a rural area of Kingfisher County, and several tornadoes touching down in the area near Hennessey and Bison.

A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Emergency Management Department says officials are still working in the areas affected by the tornadoes and it's too early to report any damage or injuries.

Fifteen counties are included in the tornado watch area that stretches from the Kansas border to the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.

It is not set to expire until 7 p.m. Central time.

Global Climate Change, sparking a change in the USDA Garden Map

Every gardener is familiar with the multicolor U.S. map of climate zones on the back of seed packets. It's the Department of Agriculture's indicator of whether a flower, bush or tree will survive the winters in a given region.

It's also 18 years old. A growing number of meteorologists and horticulturists say that because of the warming climate, the 1990 map doesn't reflect a trend that home gardeners have noticed for more than a decade: a gradual shift northward of growing zones for many plants.

The map doesn't show, for example, that the southern magnolia, once limited largely to growing zones from Florida to Virginia, now can thrive as far north as Pennsylvania. Or that kiwis, long hardy only as far north as Oklahoma, now might give fruit in St. Louis.

Such shifts have put the USDA's map at the center of a new chapter in the debate over how government should respond to climate changes that were described in a report last year by a United Nations-backed panel of scientists. The panel said there was "unequivocal" evidence of global warming fueled by carbon dioxide emissions, which have created an excess of the greenhouse gases that help keep the Earth warm.

Climate change is boosting interest in energy-saving hybrid cars and compact fluorescent light bulbs — and reshaping how people garden. Across the agricultural industry, the subject is driving a dispute over climate maps that involves economics, politics and meteorological standards.

At nurseries across the nation, it has become common knowledge that the government's climate map is out of date. And yet the nursery industry, which had $16.9 billion in wholesale sales in 2006, has joined the USDA in taking a conservative approach to changing the map.

So what does this mean to Rochester? Should the region be placed in a different zone? Can we now grow plants seen in states south of us?

Well, the answer is yes and no, according to local horticulturalists and landscapers. They say gardeners should definitely still count on Memorial Day as a plant date even if the weather seems warmer earlier.

Generally, the lower the zone number, the colder the region. The Rochester region is generally zone 5. Because of the effects of Lake Ontario, however, there have always been wide swings in the region, with some properties near the lake in zone 6, or even zone 7, while the higher elevations south of Rochester dip into zone 4, says Walter Nelson, horticulture program leader for Cornell Cooperative Extension in Monroe and Ontario counties.

Nelson says the changes, even locally, are being widely debated.

"The sum game: Area gardeners are growing plants they might not have been able to grow in years past, (but) if we get a cold snap at the wrong time, that (will be) a reality check," Nelson says.

Bruce Zaretsky, a landscape designer and president of Zaretsky and Associates in Penfield, agrees that some people have grown plants that couldn't be grown in Rochester a few decades ago. For example, a Webster client grew a camellia, which Zaretsky hadn't seen north of Long Island.

However, what is happening is that borderline zone 5 plants such as rhodys, hydrangeas and dogwoods are blooming longer and are flowering better because the area isn't seeing as many low-temperature mornings that would freeze the buds off, he says.

"It seems to me that our winter climate has mellowed in the 22 years I've been up here," he says, allowing people to experiment with more flowers. They just have to take care to protect the plants if the weather changes.

Christine Froehlich, executive director of the Rochester Civic Garden Center and a resident of Sodus Point, Wayne County, is a relative newcomer to the area, having moved here five years ago. What she sees as a bigger issue than temperature is the unpredictability of weather systems.

"It does seem to me that it's gotten a bit warmer," she says. "But it seems like we have more variability than we used to have. As a gardener, you definitely can't count on things the way we used to. It seems we have more severe weather changes — severe drought, severe rain."

Whether Rochester is zone 5 or zone 6 might not matter much to the average gardener who might like to experiment with different plants anyway.

But it's a key issue for commercial growers, worried that their losses won't be sufficiently covered by the Federal Crop Insurance Corp.'s Nursery Crop Insurance Program, which covers them for losses caused by weather-related events such as flooding. If growing zones move north because it's warmer, there's still a possibility of cold snaps, and it's unclear exactly how nursery insurance programs would deal with that risk.

And analysts say many in the nursery industry nationwide are worried that adjusting the climate maps would encourage customers in cooler areas to buy tender, warm-weather plants that would be unlikely to survive a cold snap. That could cost them money because many businesses offer money-back guarantees on plants.

The nation's climate zone map designates 11 major belts for growing plants, from the relative cold of zone 1 — which includes Fairbanks, Alaska — to mid-range temperatures of zone 6 (which includes parts of Missouri, Tennessee and southern Pennsylvania) to the heat of zones 10 and 11, which include Hawaii and southern Florida.

Changing boundaries for various zones to reflect recent warming could "have a significant impact on certain growers of certain plant species," says Dave Hall of National Crop Insurance Services, an organization that represents crop insurance companies.

Economic factors shouldn't be placed above the science of climate change, says meteorologist Mark Kramer, who lives in Westchester County, who worked on the 1990 USDA map that remains in effect, as well as a proposed update in 2003 that showed a warming trend. The USDA rejected the 2003 map.

"If nature changes, industry should change with it," Kramer says. "If the weather changes, we shouldn't operate with zones and systems that aren't appropriate."

USDA officials reject suggestions that the agency's resistance to changing the 1990 map reflects a reluctance to acknowledge the potential impact of climate change.

The agency's delay in releasing an updated map has led another group to release its own climate map. In 2006, the Arbor Day Foundation put out a map based on data from 1991 to 2005 that shows a significant northward movement of warm zones for plants and crops.

"Everyone's entitled to their opinion," says Woodrow Nelson of the Arbor Day Foundation of the USDA map. But he says his group, which provides low-cost trees, was seeing trends that it wanted reflected in a map for growers.

"Flowering dogwoods and southern magnolias and even crape myrtles that are so popular in the South are now having great success all the way up into Pennsylvania and even up into Michigan," Nelson says. "Douglas firs and Colorado blue spruce, which were historically mountain trees, are becoming a very popular landscape tree in the Midwest. With the millions of trees that we're putting into the hands of people across the country, the most recent data available is important. Data from 30, 40 years ago is really kind of irrelevant in the life of a young tree."

More than a Dozen Tornado's hit Kansas and Oklahoma

Forecasters said Saturday that at least a dozen tornadoes spun across western and central Kansas a day earlier, destroying numerous homes, downing trees and injuring several people.

The National Weather Service in Dodge City said there were at least 10 twisters that touched down in central Kansas, while the Goodland office reported seven or eight in the western part of the state.

At least four people were hurt in Stafford County, including one person who was taken to a Wichita hospital with serious injuries, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department.

Meanwhile in Colorado, where a large tornado devastated the northern farm town of Windsor, residents were expected to return to their homes in an area of town that officials had earlier deemed unsafe following Thursday's twister.

Natural gas leaks and the threat of explosions had kept hundreds of residents from their homes on Friday.

Officials were meeting with residents to plan their return, incident management team spokesman Dan Hatlestad said. "With no power, it may be an unpleasant place to live, but it's up to the homeowners," Hatlestad said.

The tornado, with wind speeds between 111 mph to 165 mph, tore through a 35-mile stretch of northern Colorado, killing one person and injuring dozens. It tipped 15 rail cars off the tracks in Windsor, about 70 miles north of Denver.

In Kansas, the weather service sent out survey teams Saturday morning to determine the size of the twisters. Ed Berry, science operations officer in the Dodge City office, said many of the twisters appear to be significant in size.

In Stafford County, at least seven homes suffered major damage, along with damage to several other structures, power lines and trees, Watson said Saturday.

A man in Gove County suffered minor injuries after his car was blown across Interstate 70 into a ditch, according to George Lies, emergency management director for Logan and Gove Counties.

Lies said two tornadoes hit in Gove County, with at least a dozen homes sustaining major damage.

One twister was on the ground south of Quinter, went back into the clouds as it went over the town, then dropped back down on the other side, damaging four rural houses.

Portions of Kansas also have been hit hard by flooding, with as much as 8 inches of rain falling in a 48-hour period, according to Chris Foltz, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Goodland.

Tornado's and May Flash Floodings in Southern California

Sierra Madre police and fire officials are clearing debris from mudslides today on the heels of a wild spring thunderstorm that wreaked havoc across Southern California on Thursday.

Minor mudslides repeatedly shut down parts of two streets in the area of Sierra Madre known as the Canyon, along Little Santa Anita Canyon on Skyland Drive and Woodland Drive, said James Carlson, a city spokesman. No homes have been damaged and no injuries reported, he said.
"Thursday evening we had our first mudflow and started voluntary evacuations -- and after the rain subsided, we ended cleanup efforts at 1 a.m. today," Carlson said. "But then we got new reports before 7 a.m. again that new flows had occurred at the same two locations. So we decided to open an emergency operations center, ask for voluntary evacuations and close the roads."

Voluntary evacuations are still in effect this afternoon on Skyland and on Woodland north of Mary's Market and non-resident traffic is not allowed in the area, Carlson said. The evacuation center is Sierra Vista Park, 611 E. Sierra Madre Blvd., and sandbags are being provided to residents.

Sierra Madre's City Council held an impromptu meeting at 1 p.m. today, voting to declare the mudslide area in a "state of local emergency," Carlson said.

"What it does is allows us to get aid for manpower and equipment from surrounding areas, and may allow us to receive reimbursement for the costs from the state and federal government," he said.

Plows were brought in to clear the muck, mostly on Woodland, but there is no immediate danger to the homes, he said, adding, "We're still keeping an eye on the situation."

The weather conditions were very different from those nearly a month ago, when about 1,000 residents were evacuated from 200 homes in the upper part of Sierra Madre during a wildfire as Southern California broiled in record-breaking heat. The Sierra Madre fire ended up scorching more than 580 acres over a week and primed the area for mudslides.

While rain will be widespread throughout the region today, it is not expected be as severe as Thursday's wet weather, the National Weather Service reported. Still, authorities are watching out for flooding and mudslides.

Rain was heaviest in the San Gabriel Mountains in the Sierra Madre area -- about half an inch on Thursday alone, the highest total in the region.

Los Angeles County has a 20% chance of thunderstorms for most of the day, said National Weather Service specialist Stuart Seto. In Orange County, there is a 30% chance of daytime showers, rising to 40% tonight and Saturday during the day, falling back to 30% Saturday night.

"The low pressure in Nevada is now moving into Southern California, so that means more showers would spread westward -- toward Ventura and Santa Barbara counties," Seto said. "For us, we will see more activity today but we don't know how severe. There'll be more showers over a larger area, though."

Seto said temperatures along the coast and inland would be in the mid-60s to low-70s, and the region would remain blanketed by clouds with a 20% chance of showers through Saturday evening.

A snow advisory is in effect for Southland mountains, except the Santa Monica range, until after 8 p.m. tonight in areas above 5,500 feet, the National Weather Service said. The service also issued a flash flood warning for the Antelope Valley until 7 tonight. That area could get an additional one to two inches of rain.

As of this afternoon, there are no major road or freeway closures related to the weather in the Los Angeles region, said California Highway Patrol spokesman David Porter. In Arcadia, the Baldwin Avenue onramp to the westbound 210 Freeway was closed after it flooded this morning. CalTrans is working to remove the water and has partially opened the ramp, Porter said.

Los Angeles County health officials are cautioning beachgoers about ocean water quality around storm drains, creeks and rivers.

Bacteria, debris and trash are likely to be carried by these outlets, said Dr. Jonathan Fielding of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

"Fortunately, discharging storm drains, creeks and rivers only comprises a small portion of the beach, and therefore, anybody who wants to go to the beach this Memorial Day weekend will be able to enjoy their outing," he said.

Areas of the beach away from storm drains, creeks and rivers are exempt from the advisory, which will be in effect until 7 a.m. Sunday.

The storm system's most severe damage Thursday was reported in Riverside County, where dark, towering funnel clouds spun across communities east and west of the 215 Freeway corridor.

Shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday, one of two funnel clouds tossed a line of 30-ton rail cars off their tracks and overturned a tractor-trailer truck, blocking the northbound lanes of the 215 Freeway.

Rush-hour traffic backed up for at least eight miles, according to the Highway Patrol. The truck driver was pulled from the wreckage and taken to a hospital with minor to moderate injuries.

The tornado then headed toward Perris, where it caused power outages and minor damage before dissipating.

"I drove through it and have never seen weather like this," said Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez, spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Hail turned neighborhoods white in Baldwin Park and Irwindale, drawing crowds of children into the streets to play with the ice. Snow dusted higher elevations and lightning strikes were reported in Mira Loma and other inland areas as the storm drifted south and west.

Flooding and rockslides closed sections of Interstate 10 in central Los Angeles County and the 60 Freeway east of Riverside.

With the possibility of even more thunderstorms today, motorists were being cautioned to avoid entering flooded intersections where their vehicles could become trapped.

In Irwindale in the San Gabriel Valley, police Thursday had to rescue motorists stranded in three feet of flood water, said police Sgt. George Zendejas. Five vehicles had to be towed out of the intersection of Irwindale Avenue and East Adelante Street.

In Orange County, walls of water, mud and debris -- some 8 feet high -- battered eastern canyons that had burned in last year's wildfires, leaving behind a muddy mess but little damage and no injuries.

The county's eastern canyons saw an inch and a half of rain in a half-hour period, authorities said.

Officials closed the roads to mud-swept Modjeska, Silverado and Williams canyons and worked to rescue residents stranded in two homes near the back of Williams Canyon. They were not hurt and were waiting for roads to clear so they could leave, said Mike Blawn, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority.

Authorities dispatched bulldozers and other heavy equipment to clear the roadways and stand by in the event of more heavy rains. By late Thursday afternoon, canyon residents started to clear mud, dead trees and hundreds of rocks the size of basketballs from their properties.

Two canyon residents barely escaped the avalanche of boulders, mud and tree trunks that went roaring at them in Modjeska Canyon.

"It was out of control," said Tim Adams, 56, a resident of nearby Silverado Canyon who went to help his brother-in-law, Bill LaBar. "It was like big chunks of chocolate ice cream melting, with trees and rocks flowing through it."

Adams and LaBar got into four-wheel drive vehicles and sped away, going around and over boulders and downed trees.

"I have always said when it got bad, I would get out," said LaBar, who usually ignored mandatory evacuation orders. "It's the baddest I've ever seen it."

Global Climate Change increasing number of Tornado's

Not two weeks since tornadoes killed at least 23, and flattened parts of Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia, North Carolina and Mississippi, a big twister killed one person in northern Colorado, the AP reports. Several homes were destroyed, trucks and tractor trailers flipped, and other damage reported.

A rare pair of tornadoes in Southern California also derailed a freight train and caused other damage, according to the Los Angeles Times.

And though spring is typically only the start of tornado season, this is just the latest spate of killer tornadoes in the United States this year. Already, the death toll from tornadoes is 101, nearly 63% above the average over the past three years. It's the deadliest on record since 1998, and it's on pace to be the deadliest ever recorded.

The 868 reported tornadoes through May 18 is far ahead of the total typically seen by this time of year. It's typically July by the time this many tornadoes have been recorded in the past, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

The U.S. has already been hit by 68% of the tornadoes expected in an typical year, when compared to the 10-year average. The year is only about one-third through, and we've only just entered the typical tornado season. 2008 has been unusual because the winter produced so many damaging storms.

However, the preliminary count used to make these comparisons is somewhat inflated. Experts expect the final count to be somewhat lower, given that the same storm can be reported several times, and so overcounted.

Still, this could be a harbinger of things to come. Some scientists have warned that global warming will create conditions that make violent tornadoes more frequent.