A massive tornado outbreak that struck more than a dozen states in the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio valleys last Friday and Saturday has now reached over 100 confirmed twisters, according to a FOX Weather analysis of National Weather Service storm surveys.
And the number may continue to climb as NWS storm-survey teams still work to complete investigations over dozens of tornado-damaged areas.
The twisters have killed at least 31 people across six states and left more than 150 injured.
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So far, one tornado has been designated as an EF-4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale – a twister that tore through Keokuk County in Iowa, packing a peak gust of 170 mph and leaving three people injured.
There have been 10 tornadoes rated at an EF-3 so far, including deadly tornadoes that hit Little Rock, Arkansas, Wynne County, Arkansas, Jasper and Crawford counties in Illinois, Sullivan County in Indiana and the Covington and Hornsby/Mount Pleasant areas in Tennessee. Some of those tornadoes may still be upgraded to higher ratings as more data comes in.
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NWS storm survey teams found 27 tornadoes reaching EF-2 status, 39 EF-1s and 20 EF-0s. There are six confirmed tornadoes that have yet to be classified.
The grim milestone comes as that same region is under threat of another severe weather and possible tornado outbreak again Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.
A large area of severe thunderstorms is expected to develop from Tuesday afternoon through the overnight hours in a swath extending from southeastern Minnesota, southern Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and western Indiana southward to portions of Missouri, Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas.
These storms will pose threats of destructive wind gusts, large hail and tornadoes, some of which could be long-track, EF-2 or stronger tornadoes.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has rated two areas in their level 4 of 5 severe weather threat for Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, including Springfield, Missouri, a large swath of northwestern Arkansas and much of eastern Iowa, including Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Iowa City.
The severe weather threat spreads east into Wednesday, covering much of the Great Lakes and Ohio and Tennessee valleys.