Wednesday marked a big milestone for severe weather... we set the record for most days without a tornado-related death in the United States.
Preliminary Tornado Deaths from 2012
Wednesday marked 197 days without a tornado death. The old record was 195 days in 1987. The last time a tornado-related death was recorded was on June 24th, 2012. The tornado and subsequent death were due to tropical storm Debbie in Florida.
This streak is impressive when you consider some of the tornado outbreaks we experienced during that span, including the Christmas Day outbreak that produced more than 20 tornadoes last December.
2012 U.S. Tornado Trend
One possible reason for the new record was the relatively quiet tornado season we had in 2012. The 10-year average for tornadoes in a given year is just over 1,300 twisters. Preliminary reports show well under 1,000 tornadoes in the U.S. in 2012.