Map of Tornado Deaths Through the Years

The graph shown here helps show the deadliest kinds of weather in the USA. Over the past 10 years, "heat" has caused the most deaths, but in 2011 tornadoes caused over 550 deaths. CLICK HERE to see a larger version of the graph shown on the right.

In fact 2011 was the deadliest tornado year in decades. How does it compare to other years in the past several decades? This week's resource is an interactive map that allows you to find out. CLICK HERE to view the interactive, which is provided by The New York Times. You can select any year on the scroll bar above the map (beneath bar graph) to look at a certain year, or you can let run (and pause it).

Also, The NY Times also has a page that features before and after aerial photos of the Joplin, Missouri tornado. CLCICK HERE to see that. Below those photos you will find a link to street-level before and after photos - pretty impressive!

Here is a link to NOAA's 2012 Severe Weather Summaries. Choose "large hail", "wind damage", or "tornadoes" at the top of the map to see where these different types of severe weather happened.