Weekly Wrap-Up: Tornadoes Ransack Central US; Rain, Snow Complicate Germanwings Recovery

By Michael Kuhne, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

March 27,2015; 11:01PM,EDT

 

 

Dangerous, severe thunderstorms developed across areas of the Central U.S. this week, following an unprecedented lull in severe weather through the middle of the month.
According to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, they had issued only four tornado watches and zero severe thunderstorm watches from the beginning of 2015 to March 23. By Wednesday, thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes developed in the southern Plains, which resulted in structural damage, injuries and one fatality.
A line of severe thunderstorms erupted across southwestern Missouri early Tuesday evening and advanced eastward through northern Arkansas Tuesday night. The storms produced large hail across many areas of southwestern Missouri.
Following Tuesday's storms, warm, moist air surged into the central and southern Plains, sparking another round of severe storms. Damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes occurred Wednesday evening as storms rumbled across Oklahoma, southern Kansas, northwestern Arkansas and southern Missouri.

AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions issued a "critical weather forecast" at 4:27 p.m. CDT Wednesday, notifying clients that there was potential for tornadoes to strike in central Oklahoma.
Multiple tornadoes were reported across Oklahoma and areas of Arkansas on Wednesday evening.
A tornado touched down in Moore, Oklahoma, which resulted in flipped vehicles and the closure of I-35, Norman, Oklahoma, NWS office reported Wednesday night. Minor injuries were reported across Moore, Oklahoma, along with structural damage. As the storm barreled through the region, tens of thousands were left without power.
AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions issued a tornado warning more than 15 minutes advance of the Moore, Oklahoma, tornado to allow for safety precautions to be taken by clients in the area.
One person was killed after a tornado battered a mobile home park in Sand Springs, Oklahoma.
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Meanwhile, the temperature roller coaster continued in the East this week. Warmer air surged into the East Wednesday into Thursday ahead of the storm producing severe weather over the Central U.S. Highs climbed into the 60s and near 70 F from New York City to Washington, D.C., on Thursday. By Friday, temperatures were plunging again to chilly levels, where they will remain into the weekend with some pockets of snow around.
In the West, temperatures soared in portions of the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest by Thursday, and record highs fell across California and Oregon. Los Angeles climbed back into the 90s, after having set a new March record of four-consecutive days at 90 F or higher from March 13-16.
In international news, an Airbus A320 carrying 150 people crashed in southern France Tuesday morning.
The aircraft was flown by Lufthansa's low-cost carrier Germanwings and crashed amid clear skies near the town of Barcelonnette about 100 km (65 miles) north of Nice, according to Reuters.
Weather conditions deteriorated in the hours following the crash. Rain, snow and gusty winds added to the challenges of recovery efforts in this remote and rugged area on Wednesday.
France's Interior Ministry confirmed that debris from Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 has been found in the mountains 6,500 feet above the crash site, according to the Associated Press.
Several AccuWeather.com meteorologists and staff writers contributed content to this article.