The Meteorological Supper Starts on June 1st and ends on August 31st. The summer of 2014 was very active in terms of tornado outbreaks mainly across the Midwest states. So why was the summer of 2014 so active?

First of all an El Nino was rapidly developing. This El Nino formed in the Summer of 2014 and lasted till Spring of 2016. In 2016 conditions went from El Nino to La Nina. The El Nino is believed to have caused a shift in the jet stream. Also you had a lot of lows developing out of the Rockies. As these storms moved eastward they tapped into the strong winds, active jet stream, and of course the heat. All of these things came together to produce an active Summer tornado season.

I decided to look back on some of the most destructive tornado outbreaks from June 1st to August 31st.

June 3rd/4th 2014- The Storm Prediction Center issued a Moderate and High Risk for places like Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa for long tracked EF2 or higher tornadoes, damaging winds over 80 mph and baseball sized hail. On June 3rd a high end EF3 tornado did major damage Bern Kansas. Likewise a high end EF2 tornado did severe damage in Oakland Iowa. In addition, to tornadoes there was several reports of damaging straight line winds, and large hail. Overall, 14 tornadoes where confirmed.

June 16th-18th-A large scale tornado outbreak occurred in Montana, Wyoming, The Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. A very strong storm system developed out of the Rockies. This storm system had cold air aloft. The cold air, strong winds, and surface heat combined to produce a very destructive tornado outbreak across so many states. A total of 76 tornadoes occurred. A third of the tornadoes where EF2 or higher type tornadoes. 5 of the tornadoes where EF4 type tornadoes.

The first significant tornado occurred in Stanton tornado. This Tornado was an EF4 that produced $2.25 million in damages. A second EF4 tornado impacted Stanton, Cumming and Wayne Nebraska this tornado also caused $14.25 million in damages. A third EF4 tornado occurred in Dixon Nebraska causing $3 million in damages.

In Wisconsin a high end EF2 tornado hit the main city of Plattevill Wisconsin doing $12 million in damages.

On the 17th an EF3 tornado caused 14 million in damages when it tore through the town of Dane Wisconsin.

A significant EF3 tornado occurred in Custer Montana. This tornado impacted several farmlands but damage was unknown.

On the 18th EF2 and and EF4 tornado occurred in South Dakota one of the worst occurred in Jerauld and Beadle. This tornado did $4 million in damages.

Overall 3 people died in this tornado outbreak, hundreds of people where injured. Also over $150 million in damages was done by this outbreak.

June 30th/July 1st Dereco. A complex of Storms developed in Minnesota and Iowa. As the storms rapidly developed they turned into a Derecho. The Line of severe storms would make it all the way to Western Pennsylvania. A lot of these storms produced 80-90 mph damaging winds. However, there was also several tornados produced by this Derecho. Overall, 44 tornadoes where confirmed. Damage was estimated to be over $100 million. Thankfully nobody was killed.

July 8th Tornado Outbreak. A strong storm system moved into the states of New York and Pennsylvania. This storm system caused the development of severe storms. The storms not only produced damaging winds 70-80 mph but tornadoes as well.

One of the worst tornadoes from this outbreak was the Smithfield NY EF2 tornado. This tornado killed 4 people and caused millions of damage.

A second EF2 tornado occurred in New Albany PA doing millions of dollars of damage.

Overall, 14 tornadoes occurred in the two states. In addition to tornadoes, there was several wind damage reports from thunderstorms. Damage was estimated at $300 million across the two states.

July 27th- A frontal system caused several severe thunderstorm outbreaks. A severe thunderstorm outbreak occurred in Wisconsin and Michigan producing 2 tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds. A second severe thunderstorm outbreak occurred in Pennsylvania, and Maryland producing 2 tornadoes and lots of damaging winds.However, tornadoes occurred in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. In these states strong EF2 or higher types of tornadoes occurred.

2 EF1 tornadoes occurred in Eastern Kentucky doing damage to several farms. One of the strongest tornado occurred in Claibourne County TN. This Tornado destroyed several homes, businesses, and farm houses. This tornado was rated an EF3 with winds over 140 mph. Another EF2 or higher tornado occurred in Harrison WV doing severe damage. A total of 9 tornadoes occurred in WY, KY, and TN.

August 31st 2014. Another tornado outbreak occurred in the states of South Dakota, Iowa, and Minesotta. A lot of these tornadoes where EF0 and EF1 tornadoes. On the other hand, this outbreak produced a lot of tornadoes. Over $20 million dollars worth of damage was done. A total of 40 tornadoes occurred across SD, MN, and IA. However, 33 of the tornadoes occurred In Iowa. This outbreak was infamous for several waves of storms producing tornadoes.

In conclusion, the Summer of 2014 was destructive concerning tornadoes. The hardest hit states where Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, New York, and Pennsylvania. Several other places also had tornadoes as well. Due to conditions changing to El Nino this caused an active jet stream most in the Midwest. As a result several storm systems kept going over the jet stream. This is why a lot of states such as Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin got hammered with multiple outbreaks.