Sunday’s tornado outbreak could be costliest November weather event in U.S. on record

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/11/19/sundays-tornado-outbreak-could-be-costliest-november-weather-event-in-u-s-on-record/

Falling at the end of hurricane season and prior to major winter storms, November has historically eluded billion dollar weather disasters in the U.S.  But economic damages from Sunday’s tornado outbreak could exceed $1 billion says a leading risk modeling firm, making it the most expensive weather disaster to occur in November in 25 years of records.

“Given evidence we’ve seen, it’s likely it will exceed $1 billion,” says Matt Nielsen, a meteorologist at RMS, a firm that projects and assesses disaster losses. “If we compare it to some of the other analog [similar] events for this year, the billion dollar number seems to be consistent.”

* In Washington, Ill., alone, about 1,000 homes were damaged or * Illinois governor Pat Quinn declared 13 counties disaster areas in the state.

* In Indiana, 12 counties have reported widespread storm damage.

* Destructive thunderstorms and tornadoes also occurred in Kentucky and Missouri.

“The thing that set [the outbreak] apart is that it occurred farther north [than usual],” Nielsen says. “Usually at this time of year we see outbreaks further south, where there is a much lower population density.