Derecho!

I'm not absolutely confident that wasn't exceeded.

Updated at 12:38 p.m. ET] The death toll from severe weather in Alabama has reached 162, Alabama Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Yasamie August said Thursday. The overall death toll is as many as 247 people in six states. I think the deaths will beat the Superoutbreak, unfortunately. I used to work part-time for the Census and even in Maryland I'd find these little trailers out in the woods on an unnamed dirt road that had no mailing address; I can't imagine how many of those there are scattered around the Southeast in these damage swaths, where people wouldn't even know to look for anyone.

CNN Live Blog: Updated at 11:53 a.m. ET] In the DeKalb County, Alabama town of Rainsville, 25 bodies were recovered near one parking lot in the center of town, said Israel Partridge, a local business owner who teaches search and rescue and volunteered to help the Rainsville Fire Department Wednesday night. Rainsville Police Chief Charles Centers confirmed the 25 dead, adding eight were in one trailer park. Many people are unaccounted for, Centers said.

I know the suburbs of Cincinnati and Louisville were hit in 1974, and Xenia is hardly a small town, but I'd argue the Superoutbreak did a better job of missing medium and large cities than this outbreak. Also, the population in the South has increased and spread out since then.

Honestly EF3-4 damage actually looks more spectacular at first glance than EF5; you have an actual house or building that you can at least tell was a building but which is utterly flattened. The thing about F5s is that you're left with a foundation slab and the wreckage is 2 miles away.

Well, it's women who are into the wedding. REALLY into the wedding.

Chad Meyers was completely hideous when they had him on briefly on Anderson Cooper at 10PM last night; he basically proclaimed the outbreak "over" because the "atmosphere was cooling." I think roughly 20 people were killed after 10PM last night.

Far more people in this country care about the wedding than these tornadoes; it's simple ratings. And CNN, for example, has spent big money moving their whole staff to London. What's really unseemly is when they are in London interviewing Dame Edna or some fashion designer and laughing it up and then the anchors have to turn around and do their frowny concerned face to talk about the tornadoes. And there is a regional component; 200+ killed in NY or LA and they'd drastically cut the wedding coverage.

I wonder if anyone has looked at the whole sprite/blue jet thing above strong tornadic supercells.

And what percentage of the leveled buildings have been searched so far?

And there's not the level of specific storm shelters or underground shelter there is in, say, Oklahoma. And these are the rare tornadoes that can kill you in the interior bathroom of a real house.

Go back and find the beginning of the Japan Tsunami thread on the main board (in no way, shape, or form am I suggesting the numbers will be comparable, just the trend of reports.)

CNN has Tuscaloosa tornado video tagged with "apparent tornado" at the bottom. Also Chad Myers rather stupidly talking about how everything should be weakening at the moment. EDIT: He just proclaimed the outbreak "done."

This could be the one that gets Atlanta eventually.

Confirmed TOG for the cell SW of Tuscaloosa... AT 428 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AND STORM SPOTTERS WERE TRACKING A LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO. THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR JENA...OR 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NORTHPORT... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH. THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... NORTHPORT...COKER AND 8 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LAKE LURLEEN STATE PARK AROUND 440 PM CDT. BRYANT DENNY STADIUM AND MCFARLAND MALL AROUND 445 PM CDT.

Another line of sups developing over central MS - one NE of Jackson should go nuts soon.

Saying this won't match the 1974 Superoutbreak isn't declaring a bust.

That embedded rotating galaxy from MS to TN might be the first long-tracker of yesterday and today; interesting to see how long it turns out to be.